NEWS RELEASE
What a phenomenal year Bethany has been blessed to have. Edwin E. Akins, Chairman of Trustees, announced that William R. (Bobby) Smith, member, former clerk, and now Deacon Emeritus of the Statesboro Primitive Baptist Church, has recently resigned from the Board of Trustees of Bethany after serving a total of 58 years. Bro. Bobby joined the Board of Trustees of Bethany in 1960 and has served in many capacities, including Chairman, a position that he held for over four decades. During this time, he has seen Bethany grow from the humble beginning of Faith Cottage Bethany Home for Ladies (founded 1923), the addition of Bethany Home for Men in 1951, and the addition of Bethany Assisted Living of Vidalia in 1999. Given the highly regulated skilled nursing home industry and the desire of the Board of Trustees to ensure that the quality of the healthcare being provided at the long term care facilities remains at the highest level possible, in 2013, the Board of Trustees affiliated with PruittHealth, a Southeast regional leader in long-term health care, sold the long term care facilities and the assisted living facility in Vidalia and Millen to PruittHealth, with a vision to design and construct a state of the art assisted living and memory care facility in Statesboro. The founding of The Lodge at Bethany, the first Assisted Living Community in Statesboro, Bulloch County, Georgia, was a life-long vision and dream of Bro. Bobby, and he has certainly been the steady and calm force to bring this to fruition. Even though his love of education resulted in the Education Building in Vidalia being named in his honor, it was the desire of the Board of Trustees to honor his 58 years of untiring service to the organizations of Bethany. To honor his dedicated service to Bethany and the Board, the Board of Trustees conferred the title of “Trustee Emeritus” to Bro. Bobby, and on October 18, 2018, a Live Oak Tree was planted on the front lawn of The Lodge at Bethany as a symbol of hope and prayer for those whom Bethany serves. Bro. Bobby thanked the Board of Trustees for the opportunity to be a part of the long and honorable history of Bethany and pledged his continued support and love for the organization. “Today, the Lodge at Bethany is here to serve, and I pledge to continue in that service in my role as Trustee Emeritus. Bethany has always been a part of my life and always will be.” The first stated belief of Bethany is that “We are called to serve” based on Mark 12:30-31. Bro. Bobby Smith was given to us to serve. He has completed 58 years of service to others. The Lodge at Bethany is the result of dedicated service by him and other individuals through the years that believed and acted on the “call to serve.” Carolyn Phillips, Chair of the Board of Trustees of the Bethany organizations, has announced some changes in the membership of the Board of Trustees, the governing body for all of the Bethany corporations that support the Community of Care in Statesboro, Georgia. Mr. Waters was elected to Board membership on the Board of Trustees of Bethany to fill an unexpired term left by the retirement of R. L. Akins in October of 2023. He is a Bulloch County native, having grown up in the Upper Black Creek Primitive Baptist Church and throughout his lifetime has been a member of the Mount Union Primitive Baptist Church, Ambrose, Georgia, Shannon Avenue Reformed Baptist Church, Plant City, Florida, and then upon returning to live in Bulloch County, Mr. Waters and his family became members of the Lanes Primitive Baptist Church in Stilson Georgia in 1997 and have remained there, currently serving in leadership positions within the Church as a Deacon and Secretary of the Board. For Mr. Water’s entire professional career, he has served with Helena Agri- Enterprises and predecessor organizations in various capacities since he began in 1985 and until he retired in 2022. He is married to Lisa Sanders Waters and has two adult sons, Scott Waters (who is a licentiate minister in the Primitive Baptist denomination) and Chad Waters. Mr. Jones was elected to the Board membership of the Board of Trustees to begin an initial term on 01 January 2024, after the retirement of Edwin E. Akins. Mr. Jones returned to his hometown of Statesboro, Georgia in 2020 after living and working for many years in the Washington, D.C. area. A graduate of Statesboro High School, he went on to earn a degree and an officer’s commission from the United States Naval Academy. He served on active duty as a Naval Flight Officer and completed successful operational deployments throughout the Pacific and Indian Oceans. Following his naval service, Mr. Jones committed his career in the private sector to building and delivering systems and capabilities that ensure the safety and security of our nation, its allies, and our communities at home. With a background that includes leadership, sales and client services, program management, marketing, partner management, talent acquisition, strategic planning, and executive support, he currently serves as the Director of U.S. Federal Sales at L3Harris Technologies, a global defense company, where he delivers mission-critical communications solutions to customers in the U.S. government market. Prior to joining L3Harris, Mr. Jones served in various engineering and project management positions at Lockheed Martin and drove the sales growth and success of several software companies, including SAS – the world’s largest privately held software company. He is a member of the U.S. Naval Academy Alumni Association, the U.S. Naval Institute, the Armed Forces Communication and Electronics Association, and the Georgia Sheriffs’ Association. Jeff is a lifelong member of the Primitive Baptist denomination, and he currently serves on the Board of Deacons of the Statesboro Primitive Baptist Church. Chairman Phillips commented: “R.L. Akins and Edwin Akins both served honorably the best interests of Bethany for a number of years. R.L. served a total of six (6) years and Edwin served for twenty-nine (29) years. Both of these individuals provided great insight into the formative years of the Bethany Community of Care that exists in Statesboro, Georgia today and their influence and wisdom will be enjoyed for years to come by Residents and Families as individuals are served within the organization. Edwin’s leadership not only as a Board Member, but as the Chair and Vice-Chair for many years, has been meaningful during the initial planning, construction, and opening of not only The Lodge at Bethany, but also The Cottages at Bethany. We remain grateful for the combined years of service that these individuals have given to this organization.” Chairman Phillips commented: “Not unlike R.L. Akins and Edwin E. Akins were, so Kenny and Jeff are committed to the Beliefs, Invitation and Values of Bethany and we welcome their expertise and experience, passion and commitment to service as the newest members of the Board of Trustees.” Bethany continues the mission established in 1923 with the founding of Faith Cottage in Vidalia through the ministry of The Lodge at Bethany, a forty-eight (48) unit Assisted Living Community, located in Statesboro as well as the expansion of the Senior Community in the construction of twenty-three (23) Independent Living residences, The Cottages at Bethany. Bethany, 77 Bethany Way, Statesboro, Georgia 30458, www.bethanyway.org. 912.764.7960. The Continuing Fellowship Team was formed several years ago by the Primitive Baptist Foundation. Its purpose was to share love, hope, and encouragement with our Brothers and Sisters in Christ, focusing primarily on our sick, elderly, and bereaved friends and loved ones. The Team has a new name, “SONshine Fellowship Team”. Sister Michelle Harris will lead the team. Other members include Elder Lindy Webb, Jr. and Sisters Iona Jones, Sylvia Durden, and Kay Guy. The primary focus of the group is to share encouragement through a ‘card ministry’ within our denomination. Attached is an announcement prepared by Sister Michelle. PLEASE READ IT CAREFULLY AND SHARE COPIES WITH OTHER BROTHERS AND SISTERS IN YOUR CHURCH. Keep a copy handy and refer to it often! The team’s success in reaching others depends heavily on all of us sharing names and contact information with them. As mentioned in her announcement, they welcome other volunteers to help send messages of encouragement, and for creating new cards to use in this important ministry. Please pray for Sister Michelle, this team, and all who will benefit from their ministry. For more information, to volunteer for service, and to send recommendations for potential recipients, please contact Sister Michelle or any member of the team. She can be reached at: Michelle Harris 109 Manor Ridge Dr. Woodstock, GA 30188 770-845-9673 Michellemch55@gmail.com In Christian Service, Elwyn Our Music Workshop Outreach group has exciting news! We now have new CDs available with 50 additional hymns of piano accompaniment music from our Hymns of Grace. A couple of years ago, the Music Workshop made copies of three CDs with piano music recordings of 50 hymn selections available to our churches. Brother Larry Morrison has been using them in services at United Primitive Baptist Church in Swainsboro, GA. He contacted us about the possibility of making more CDs with additional music selections. Following his suggestions, we now have three new CDs available. Like the original CDs, the new ones have 50 additional hymns. We have labeled these ‘4’, ‘5’, and ‘6’. You can now have access to a full set of six CDs to accompany Hymns of Grace singing. Who knows? If there is interest, maybe ‘7’, ‘8’, and ‘9’ will happen in the future! If you are interested in receiving copies of the three new CDs, or the full set of six, please contact me at (912) 685-6223 or rmthrift@hotmail.com. We will need a mailing address for the person who will be receiving the CDs. Hopefully, God will bless this labor of love, especially for our churches who have difficulty with the music ministry of their church. We thank God for blessing this project. We pray God will bless all our Primitive Baptist churches everywhere. In Christian Service, Becky Becky Thrift, Chairman PB Music Workshop It has happened again! There’s a mysterious misprint in Lesson 2 of our current Bible Study booklet for Young People and Adults. This is the second time this has happened. We are working hard to find what causes the problem and correct it. We have never encountered this issue before, and don’t understand why it happened to just one page of the entire booklet, and only the header information rather than the entire page. In the meantime, here is a ‘Fix’ for it. Attached is a corrected version of the affected section of the lesson on page 10. Two versions are attached. One is MS Word. One is PDF. This is to help assure that you can copy at least one of them. Perhaps you might want to print a copy, cut out the printed part and paste it in your booklet over the affected section of the page. Or, you might prefer just to write in the missing parts in your booklet. We apologize again for this inconvenience. We hope you find our Bible Study literature enlightening, refreshing and a great blessing. Your comments are always welcome. For the Bible Study Literature Committee Elder Mike Newman Chairman Elwyn Deal
The Board of Trustees for Camp Hillview would like to share that a 28 foot Live Oak Tree has been donated to the camp. It was delivered, planted, staked, and is beautiful! We would like to thank the person(s) who wish to remain anonymous for this great gift to our beloved Camp Hillview. We pray many future generations will enjoy and treasure this gift of love. Blessings, Linda B. Crosby, Sec. GPBYC The Primitive Baptist Foundation has been affected by the COVID-19 virus pandemic in unprecedented ways. First, we had to cancel our 2020 Annual Meeting of Directors, which has never happened before. Next, we had to figure out the legalities of operating the Foundation in the absence of a duly elected set of Officers and Executive Committee Members (EC) as is always done at the Annual Meeting, which also has never happened before. There are no provisions in the constitution or bylaws for such an emergency, nor is there any precedent. After the meeting cancellation, the Officers and Executive Committee set about exploring options to continue operations, and to develop a plan that is simple and effective in helping us meet our obligations. We have developed a plan we believe satisfies both requirements. In short, doing two things: 1) Declare this to be a ‘state of emergency’ for the Foundation and implement a temporary management plan, and 2) Request all officers, and EC members whose terms would expire at the 2020 Annual Meeting, to continue serving on an interim basis until the 2021 Annual Meeting, April 27, 2021. Attached is a document which explains this in more detail. We hope you will read it carefully and share it with others. We ask Pastors and Clerks, especially, to help us make sure your church’s PB Foundation Director and Alternate Director receive copies of the attachment since we do not have email addresses for many of them. A final special request: Please remember in your prayers all Officers, Executive Committee Members, special Foundation committees and task forces, and others who assist in carrying out the duties of the Foundation.
At Music Workshop 2018, the Metter Primitive Baptist Church, with the help of members of others of our churches and regular Workshop attendees, presented the musical drama, A Picture of Calvary. This compelling account of the life, death and resurrection of our Lord, through dramatic portrayals of some who were with Him throughout His ministry and at the cross, was truly a blessing for those who attended. Director of Music, Sister Becky Thrift of the Metter Church, directed our choir in several favorite sacred numbers, including “Behold Our God,” “Mary, Did You Know?” and “Were You There?” supported by the accompaniment of several of Workshop’s finest musicians. This presentation is now available on DVD! If you are interested in obtaining a copy of this moving program, please contact Mark Simms via email or regular mail at: 117 Elliswood Drive Statesboro, GA 30458 – markalansimms@gmail.com – (770) 315-3433 Be sure to provide your mailing address! There is no charge for the DVD. However, if you can make a donation to help with the expense of producing this video, it will be greatly appreciated. Any amount, large or small, will be very helpful. We want to express our deep and sincere appreciation to Angelique Harville and Chip Lane, who very generously volunteered to film this presentation. Angelique is a member of Lanes Primitive Baptist Church and plays the role of Mary Magdelene. She and her partner, Chip, have also provided video services for us in previous productions at Music Workshop. They are owners of First City Films, a production company based in Savannah, GA. Their first feature film, Untouched, was recently distributed to Amazon, iTunes, Google Play and other video-on-demand markets. Chip and Angelique also cast for independent films and regional and national commercials. Together, they have co-written three screenplays and are developing several more. Chip has written and directed several short films, produced several feature films and is a working actor, guest starring in popular films and television shows. Angelique is a full time actor in TV and film, producer and assistant director. As a 1st AD, she has worked on numerous feature films. Again, we thank them for their significant contributions in making this program available to you. We also want to give special thanks to Brother Chris Chambers of the Statesboro Church for his many hours of diligent work in formatting and reproducing the DVD’s. Chris chairs the Technology Committee of the Workshop Board and we truly appreciate his dedication to this project and his tireless efforts to facilitate the technology needed each year during Workshop Week. Let us hear from you if you’re interested in having a copy of A Picture of Calvary. We encourage you to take advantage of this offer and pray that you will be blessed by it! The Primitive Baptist Foundation and the Primitive Baptist Scholarship Foundation are now beneficiaries of the AmazonSmile Foundation. Never heard of AmazonSmile? Amazon, the online shopping giant, established this charitable foundation and donates a portion of its proceeds to the foundation for distribution to eligible charitable organizations. Both of our Foundations are now approved to receive funds from AmazonSmile. AmazonSmile will send 0.5% of the money they receive from our purchases to the charity we designate.
Simply put, these are unrestricted ‘donations’ from the AmazonSmile Foundation to our Foundations. This is an excellent and easy way for those of us who order products from Amazon to help support our own programs and activities. AmazonSmile offers customers the same selection of products, prices, and convenient shopping features as Amazon.com. The shopping experience is identical and there is no extra cost to the consumer. The true beneficiaries, of course, will be those involved in our programs for Widows of Ministers, Church Loans, The Library and Archives, Church Growth and Communication activities, the Ministers Retirement Plan, the Scholarship Fund and others. To take advantage of this opportunity, here’s how to sign up: > In your web browser, do a search for or go to smile.amazon.com. > If you are already an Amazon customer, simply sign in as you usually do with your Amazon.com account (same email address and password). > You can then click on ‘Select a charity’. The website lists five of AmazonSmile’s ‘spotlight charities’. Drop down below that to the block that says ‘Or pick your own charitable organization’, type in ‘Primitive Baptist’ and click ‘Search’. The list that appears will contain numerous Primitive Baptist organizations. Look for ‘Primitive Baptist Foundation Inc. (Roswell, GA)’ and ‘Primitive Baptist Scholarship Foundation Inc. (Statesboro, GA)’. Select one, then follow instructions to complete the signup. > When you finish these steps, your name and the organization that you selected will appear at the top of the webpage. You’re ready to shop! Bookmark it for quick and easy access in the future. If you do not have an Amazon account, you can create one from this opening page and follow the instructions to do the same as above. When you return to this site in the future, your name and the charitable organization you selected will automatically appear. REMEMBER: Use smile.amazon.com rather than amazon.com! Michelle Harris shares the following comments about her experience: I use smile.amazon.com whenever I shop Amazon, and that is often. After registering, whenever I enter the site, my name and charity are displayed at the top of the page. The shopping experience is identical to what I was doing previously with Amazon. And I especially like the option of direct shipping of gifts to family out of state! We all have many choices for charitable organizations to support. We hope you will seriously consider designating the PB Foundation or the PB Scholarship Foundation to benefit from shopping that most of us will do anyway. A note about the ‘amount’ our Foundations could receive. The 0.5% rate is one-half of one percent (not 5%). That translates to 50 cents for each $100 of purchases. While it is not a large percentage, it is in the range of interest that many checking and savings accounts are currently paying. Any amount will be helpful, of course. However, we should not assume this will replace any of our regular church and individual contributions to our Foundations, nor should we allow it to. Special thanks to Darryl and Michelle Harris for sharing this important information and for making arrangements for the PB Foundation to participate. God bless, and thanks for your consideration. |
What Is This?This section of the website is dedicated to sharing any special reports, updates, and/or general news of those involved in or associated with Progressive Primitive Baptists. Archives
January 2024
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