Troyeville Baptist Church

My bank account problem has been resolved! Thanks for the prayers! I feel the need to go shopping. Hahaha

I wanted to tell you about the church services at Troyeville Baptist Church....where I work and worship. Troyeville Baptist is pastored by Cheryl Allen. The service begins at 9:30 and has a lot of praise and worship time. There are a few hymns mixed with praise choruses. Between songs they have prayers and greeting time and announcements. The order of worship changes weekly. There are always lots of songs. Worshipping God is why we are there on Sunday, so they spend a lot of time worshipping through song.

Although the service starts at 9:30, many people dont come on time. They trickle in the whole service. I sit near the front and Im always surprised when I turn around at the end of a service to see MANY more faces.

Pastor Cheryl usually bases her sermon on one Bible passage, then she jumps around the Bible with other verses that support her sermon. Her sermons usually skim the surface of important issues. She says that's designed to make you read your Bible at home and stay for Sunday School to learn more. It is also designed that way so that she doesn't overwhelm the many new Christians in the church. They get the basics of what they need.

The service is followed by tea time in the fellowship hall. And Sunday School is at 11:00. So far I have gone to the children's Sunday School and the Youth Sunday School. Mostly to help and do research to find out what they may need in the way of resources. I may get brave and try an adult class soon.

The church is a mix of white and black people. The white people are usually the more wealthy members who have the most training in discipleship and leadership. They are the people who have been at the church for a long time and have seen the neighborhood and face of the church change drastically over the years. Pastor Cheryl is spending a lot of time trying to train the leaders to train the other people in the church. Her idea is for everyone to complete discipleship training and then go train someone else....faith partners that can support each other. The black people at our church are from the neighborhood around the church. Some of them are very poor in their pockets but rich in faith. The affects of apartheid still influence the way the different races interact. But the church has many friendly people and all of them seem to be working together despite their social, economic and cultural differences. They have found the one bond that holds them together....our God!

I look forward to meeting more people and learning more about the church. Its also interesting being on the church staff. The church building is old and beautiful, but in need of many repairs. Because it is old, there are many nooks and crannies that are filled with piles of 'hidden treasures' that needs to be sorted, prioritized and cleared out. I hope to help with this job soon. Many of the hidden treasures are toys and supplies for the Day Care. I hope to catalog and sort these things soon, so I can make a list of things we need. Its hard to know what you need when you dont know what you have. I'll post some needs as they arise.

Current Needs:
See the bottom of Carol's Blog. She has listed some of the immediate needs of the church.