A 'Celebration of Unity' Service

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(Many photos included are by Frank Martin of Grace Church)  

A Moore County crowd of 475 attended a March 3, 2013, “Celebration of Unity” service, which was endorsed by 16 “participating churches” and held at Grace Church in Southern Pines.  

The event, organized by David Pratt, life-development pastor at Grace Church, and Pastor Ken Owen of John 8:31 Ministries, featured preaching, prayer and praise-music.

Pastor David Pratt

Kicking off the service, Randy Thornton, senior pastor at Grace Church, said, “Those churches that have been praying together have grown exponentially.”

Pastor Randy Thornton

  
Thornton and pastors from many of the 16 churches have met together on Tuesdays to pray during the last 15 years, he said.  

“There are 87,000 people in Moore County,” Thornton noted. “If you put everyone in a church, the churches couldn’t handle it. Fifteen to 20 percent [of Moore County residents], max, attend church on Sunday morning.”

He urged pastors who agree on “essential major doctrines” to “put down differences” and pray together.

Some Pleasant Hill Baptist Church and Aberdeen First Baptist choir members

Some choir members from Pleasant Hill Baptist and Aberdeen First Baptist took the stage and sang “Victory in Jesus,” a song containing these words: “O victory in Jesus / My Savior forever / He sought me and he bought me / With his redeeming blood / He loved me ere I knew him / And all my love is due him / He plunged me to victory / Beneath the cleansing flood.”

That gospel seemed to touch hearts as the choir laced into its lyrics.

Pastor Mike Branscome 

     

Pastor Mike Branscome of Aberdeen First Baptist said, “Eight or nine years ago, I found the prayer group [of pastors], and it helped me grow in my Christian life.” Turning and looking toward some pastors representing the 16 participating churches, he said, “I love you guys.”  

Branscome asked audience members to pray for their churches, their pastors and their church staffs. He paused for attendees to offer silent prayers and then asked for each person to pray for “another church in this community” and its pastor and staff. He also solicited prayers for “people lost and un-churched in this county.”

Sal DiBianca, director of Sandhills Teen Challenge (STC), a men’s drug and alcohol rehabilitation center located in Carthage, led his 26-member choir, made up of men in the STC program, in singing “I’m Alive.” Sal’s wife, Debby, sang with the group.

Pastor Lee McKinney (center) raises his hand in worship.

 

Pastor Lee McKinney of New Covenant Fellowship read from Nehemiah, chapter 12, including verse 43 (KJV): “Also that day [a day celebrating the dedication of the rebuilding of the wall of Jerusalem] they offered great sacrifices, and rejoiced: for God had made them rejoice with great joy: the wives also and the children rejoiced: so that the joy of Jerusalem was heard even afar off.”

 “Their joy was heard from afar,” McKinney said. “That’s what they need to hear in this county ... Take up the banner of Jesus Christ.”

Youth Pastor B.J. McCloud

Youth Pastor B.J. McCloud of Aberdeen First Baptist took the stage and said, “I am a blessed man.”

He read James 1:27: “Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.”

“I speak Robbin-eese because I’m from Robbins,” he quipped. “It’s a language in itself.”

Audience laughter.

“There are people among us … single-parent homes,” McCloud said. There are a bunch of people around us who are hurting … You’re an orphan if you don’t know who your father is. A pure religion takes care of widows and orphans.”

He said he’d been a youth pastor since 2001 and prior to 2010 thought “there had to be more” to his job.

He said Coach Chris Metzger prayed for a chaplain for his Pinecrest High School football team. Metzger told McCloud that McCloud kept coming to his mind.

McCloud said he thought, “God, who am I that you would use me?”

He said he liked basketball but didn’t know a thing about football. He accepted the assignment as chaplain for Metzgar’s football team of about 60 players.

“God said he wanted me to learn about orphans and families without Jesus,” said McCloud, who later took on and additional role of serving as chaplain for a girls’ basketball team.

McCloud said that one of the biggest divisions among churches is “youth groups – competing youth groups.”

“How can you steal ‘church’ from ‘church’?” he asked. “The job is too big for one group, but the job is not too big for Christ. It’s time for us to stand together. United, we stand; divided, we fail. God has called us to stand together. God has called us to take care of the orphans and widows.”

McCloud asked people to respond to his challenge by standing. He said, “I do not want you to stand, unless you accept the challenge to go out and minister to the orphans and the widows.”

Most folk in the congregation stood to their feet for prayer.

A Turning Point Praise Team 

A praise-team from Turning Point Worship Center of Aberdeen filed onto the Grace Church stage and sang “I Will Bless the Lord, Oh My Soul.” One song the team intoned contained these words: “Take me to that secret place, Lord / To that secret place / Where I can be with you / You can make me like you.”

Pastor Stoney Locklear

  Stoney Locklear, senior pastor of Turning Point, addressed the audience.

He read Psalm 133:1-3 (KJV):

“Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity! 

^“It is like the precious ointment [oil] upon the head, that ran down upon the beard, even Aaron's beard: that went down to the skirts of his garments;

^“As the dew of Hermon, and as the dew that descended upon the mountains of Zion: for there the Lord commanded the blessing, even life for evermore.”

“Good and pleasant,” Locklear said. “How many of us want good things in our lives? In the times we live in, a lot of people could use some goodness.”

He said he had a sister who “could fight” him, but when someone outside their family picked on a family member, the family stuck together.

“Because we were family, we had to set our differences aside and work with each other,” Locklear said. “We [in the Church] don’t know how to work together with family …  But God says  we are of one family in God.”

He noted that the word “unity” appears only three times in the Bible [in the King James version]: two times in Psalms and once in Ephesians.

“We describe ‘unity’ as ‘conformity’ – and we call that ‘unity,’” he said, questioning that concept. He suggested that “unity” is better pictured as a box of crayons. “All together, we can paint a masterpiece! We’re all together, packaged in this same box, and that package is the Kingdom of God!”

Locklear said that believers in the Early Church were of one heart and mind.

“So, why do we have such a hard time getting together?” he asked. “We don’t really understand God’s concept of ‘unity.’ The Early Church showed us the paradigm of living supernaturally.”

Locklear said that Jesus is “perfect theology,” indicating that we should observe how Jesus believed and acted in his earthly ministry.

“Women’s ministry? How did Jesus handle it?” he asked. “Children’s ministry? ‘Suffer the little children to come unto me.’”

No one can stop you, but you can stop yourself by not knowing who you are in Christ, Locklear said.

He noted that “oil” [anointing oil] was used to bring “it” [whatever or whoever was being dedicated] to a “holy place.”

“What does the oil do?” he asked. “It blends things … affects everything it touches … affects every area of your life … it’s a representation of the Spirit of God.”

When you meet God, he’ll never leave you the way he found you, Locklear said.

“The Holy Spirit wants to work, but he has to have an object or a person to put his anointing on to bring forth his glory,” he said. “You have been called to be kings and priests unto God.”

Locklear said that if churches are to become unified, the movement toward unity must begin among pastors.

“You say you [pastors] don’t want anyone to steal your sheep?” he asked. “You ain’t got no sheep! There’re God’s sheep!”’

Mature believers have a mindset of restoration, he said.

“The Spirit of the Lord is the only one who causes us to walk in unity,” he said. We cannot do it by programs … We can change our world by the Spirit of God who lives in our lives.”

He said conditions had to be perfect on Mount Hermon in order for dew to appear.

“When a church walks in tranquility and peace, you won’t be able to contain it in four walls,” he said. “You can’t have resistance and have dew … . When we can say I need fresh oil poured over my life … [Say] ‘Holy Spirit, let it flow all over my life.’”

We cannot have programs that will cause unity to come, he noted.

“It [unity] comes through the Holy Spirit,” Locklear said. “God says to us here, tonight, if we want to change the world, we must unite in the Holy Spirit … I’m a spirit, and the Holy Spirit lives in me. If there is unforgiveness in your life, you can reconcile, put it under the blood … This altar is open here, tonight!” 

  Locklear ended his sermon, and Ken Owen, pastor of “John 8:31 Ministries” walked to the pulpit.

Pastor Ken Owen (with microphone) leads in prayer as ministers gather at the end of the service.

“God commands his blessing on our unity,” Owen said. “Every time God blessed something, it grew. God did not create churches – he created ‘The Church.’ He created one Church, and we’re here to celebrate that church, tonight!”

Owen prayed, saying, “Father, we come, against that spirit of disunity … Father, bring your church together, as only you can.”

Pastor David Pratt closed the meeting with a final prayer.

Churches listed as “participating churches” for the “Celebration of Unity” included the following: Aberdeen First Baptist (Aberdeen); Christ Community Church (Pinehurst); Emmanuel Baptist (Carthage); First Baptist (Pinehurst); First Missionary Baptist (Southern Pines); Grace Church (Southern Pines); John 8:31 Ministries (Pinehurst); New Covenant Fellowship (Carthage); Pleasant Hill Baptist (Southern Pines); Sandhills Alliance (Pinehurst); Sandhills Assembly (Southern Pines); Sandhills Teen Challenge (Carthage); Seven Lakes Baptist (Seven Lakes); Turning Point Worship Center (Aberdeen); The Village Chapel (Pinehurst); and Young Life (Moore County). 

More photographs:

 

  

Rick Payne, Head Deacon, Passes On

Richard "Rick" Payne (pictured above)

Richard Scott Payne, 54, of Whispering Pines, N.C., passed away Thursday, Jan. 17, 2013, at FirstHealth Hospice House, in Pinehurst, N.C., after battling melanoma.

A memorial service for “Rick” was held at 1:30 p.m. on Saturday, Jan. 26, 2013, at Grace Church in Southern Pines, N.C., the church he attended for nearly 20 years. For many years and up until his recent illness, he served as “head deacon” at the church.    

Randy Thornton, senior pastor of Grace Church, welcomed those gathered for a “celebration of Rick’s life.”

Mark Kentner, Grace Church’s worship leader, led the audience in songs. Kentner said Rick designated the songs he wanted for his memorial service. The congregation sang “How Great Thou Art.” Wendy Gomez soloed on “Come Like You Promised” (by Amber Brooks), and Kentner led the gathering in singing “Blessed Be the Name.”

Buck Mims, a Grace member, spoke, describing Rick as his friend and as a hero who was “humble and strong.”

Rick, a muscular man with an upper-boy build such as that of a wrestler, was one of five siblings; Rick was the youngest of three brothers. Robert Payne, the middle brother, delivered a touching eulogy.

“Rick was a gifted carpenter, born in Colorado,” Robert said. “He was the third son of George and Carolyn. … For Rick, carpentry was more than about pounding nails; it was about building relationships.”

When God is the architect, you don’t change the plan, Robert said, adding, “Rick was confident in God’s plan. I think Jesus was pleased with the way Rick carried out his [God’s] plan.”

In Moore County, N.C., Rick was twice honored for his building skills by a “house of the year” award.

“Rick was made in Japan,” Robert said. Audience laughter followed. The family patriarch, George Payne, was “career military.”

Rick was a cub scout, a boy scout and a star high school football player who wrestled for four years in high school. Rick loved skiing, either on snow or water, Robert said, adding that Rick attended college for two years and later married “Trish,” his wife of 26 years.

“Rick lived in or traveled in 22 countries,” Robert said. “He was a giving person, an organ donor. … Rick was a blessed man, and we were blessed by his presence.”

Pastor Randy Thornton spoke, noting that he met Rick, who was born on March 21, 1958, when Rick was “framing in” the Thornton’s present house.

“I’ve known Rick about 20 years,” he said. “He was a godly man. … He was a master carpenter. … He often hired people who others wouldn’t hire.”

Thornton said Rick, as Grace Church’s head deacon, “was the first one here [at church] and the last one, typically, to leave.” He noted that Rick loved to cook for men’s meetings, and, when carpentering, often would look at a doorframe or something of that sort and cut accurately a piece of wood – without measuring the space it was needed for. Thornton related, “I’d say, ‘How’d you do that, Rick?’ And Rick always would say, ‘Very carefully.’”

As part of his church duties, Rick recorded the number of people who attended Grace Church services. Many church attendees often saw him, equipped with a clipboard and a pen, looking over his half-frame reading glasses as he counted folk sitting in the worship center.

“Rick had a deep and committed love for his wife, Trish,” Thornton said. “He was gentle, yet strong. Rick Payne was a man’s man.”

Thornton said that one day Rick told him he had prayed for God to do whatever it took to bring others – including some of his family members – to Christ. The day after Rick told Thornton about that prayer, Thornton received a call informing him that Rick had suffered a stroke.

Thornton read Psalm 116:15: “Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his faithful servants.”

“Rick wanted all his family and friends to come to know the Lord,” said Thornton, who referred to the following Scriptures:

“Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day – and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for his appearing” (2 Timothy 4:8).  

Thornton, who described the Apostle Paul, in his older years, as torn between wanting to go to heaven or staying to help those who needed him on earth, read this verse:

“I am torn between the two: I desire to depart and be with Christ, which is better by far.”

Thornton referred to this verse:  

“Just as people are destined to die once, and after that to face judgment … ” (Hebrews 9:27).

“Rick wanted his life to be a testimony,” Thornton said. “He was a hero. ... He was a man’s man, but he was a godly man’s man. He was a model for many men, here.”

Thornton said Rick came to know Christ at an early age and devoted himself more fully to Christ at Grace Church.

“Life’s greatest joy is the sure hope of heaven,” Thornton said. “Rick wanted others to come to know Christ.”

Thornton invited anyone who wanted to accept Jesus Christ as Savior to repeat a prayer as he led. He then led in that prayer and closed the service.

Most people who attended the memorial joined the Payne family in the Grace Church Youth Room for food and more stories about Rick. Many attendees stepped to a microphone and shared fond memories of Rick Payne.

Rick’s obituary, published in “The Pilot” newspaper of Southern Pines, N.C., contained this information:

Richard was born on March 21, 1958, in Denver, Colo., to George and Carolyn (Kraybill) Payne. He graduated from Westhampton Beach High School in 1976. Hardworking and dedicated, he was employed by Payne’s Lawn and Tree and Tim Seiger Building before relocating to Whispering Pines in 1993.

Later, he owned and operated his own construction business, Richard Payne Carpentry, and had built numerous homes in Moore County. He was an active member of Grace Church and was very involved with the church’s construction of the new addition in Southern Pines and also in the construction of their church in Seven Lakes. He served as head deacon and was active in men’s ministry and mission work, especially building homes and a school for families in Honduras.

Richard will be remembered forever for his powerful faith in God, his humor, his open and compassionate heart, his mission to help others — and most of all, for his deep and abiding love for his family.

In addition to his parents, George and Carolyn Payne, of Pinehurst, he is survived by his wife of 26 years, Patricia Knotoff, of Whispering Pines; two brothers, George E. Payne (Lynn), of East Quogue, N.Y., and Robert B. Payne (Paula), of Skokie, Ill.; two sisters, Christine Payne Wright (David), of Whispering Pines, and Kathryn Payne Tureski (Robert), of East Quogue, N.Y.; father-in-law, George Knotoff, of Whispering Pines; sister-in-law Melissa Massimiani (Ron), of Carthage; brother-in-law, Gary Knotoff, of Quogue, N.Y.; nieces, Kathryn Wright, Amy Wright (Shavar Coffey), Jennifer Payne, Rebecca Payne; nephews, Charles Wright, George Payne, Michael Payne, Robert Tureski, Christian Tureski; great niece, Kayla Coffey; and great nephews, Kyle Coffey and Brayden Wright.

Memorial donations in Richard’s name may be made to Grace Church, 1519 Luther Way, Southern Pines, NC 28387 or FirstHealth Hospice Foundation, 150 Applecross Road, Pinehurst, NC 28374.

Photos and Story from West Virginia Mission Trip

Photos and Story by Christy Blanchard of the Grace Writers Group 

 Tony Haywood and Greg Thomas load up the truck before leaving Southern Pines to head to West Virginia to bless folk with food and some toys. 

 Juan Gomez and his daughter, Madison, make children's bracelets from Duck Tape.

 Christy Blanchard (left) and Juan Gomez and his daughter, Madison, riding the van to W. Virginia. 

 Bradshaw, W. Va., church is shown here.

 Greg Thomas is pictured in front of the Bradshaw, W. Va., church.

 Piano in the Bradshaw, West Virginia church.

 Bradshaw, W. Va., church interior.

 Pictured here is the church in Welch, W. Va.

 This board of on the wall of the Bradshaw, W. Virginia, church shows attendance recorded on the Sunday before the Grace Church visited the church.

 Prayer request box in the Welch, W. Va., church.

 Ken Hadaway (left), missions director for Grace Church in Southern Pines, N.C., stands with Pastor Dean Crane (center) and Tony Haywood of Helping Hands Ministry of Moore County, N.C.

 Stanley Lynn, Juan and Madison Gomez, and Kevin Jones unload the truck.

Kevin Jones, Harmony Hicks and Corey Bittner distribute toy-boxes in Welch, W. Va.

 Christy Blanchard, Harmony Hicks, Melissa Jones, Corey Bittner and Tamara Fore help stock the pantry at the Welch, W. Va., church.

 Stanley Lynn, Josh Blanchard, Corbyn and Ed Farlow unload the truck.

 Julius Fore (left), Greg Thomas (center) and Adam Floyd prepare to cook a meal in W. Va.

 Donna Haywood lays out toys for children.

  Pictured are a Bradshaw church member, William and Pastor Dean Crane.

 Ken Hadaway, Julius Fore, Christy Blanchard and Corey Bittner prepare a meal at the Welch, W. Va., church.

 Pictured is a crowd of people eating lunch at the Welch, W. Virginia, church.

 Josh Blanchard talks with children at the Welch, W. Va., church.

  Pictured is a license plate of a Bradshaw, W. Va., citizen.

 Josh Blanchard (left) pictured with two children at the Bradshaw, West Virginia, church.

 A piece of paper found by Christy Blanchard at the Bradshaw, West Virginia, church.

 Distributing items at the Bradshaw, W. Va., church.

 Kids pictured opening toy boxes at the Bradshaw church.

For the past few months, members of Grace Church of Southern Pines, N.C., worked hard to collect toys to fill shoeboxes. Participants also collected nonperishable food items, blankets, gently used TVs, DVD and tape players, movies, etc.  Some church members volunteered to go on a short mission trip to deliver collected items to two church in West Virginia.  

The group left early on Friday, November 9, 2012, and returned on the afternoon of November 11. The team leader was Ken Hadaway, missions director for Grace Chruch. Team members included Juan and Madison Gomez, Stanley Lynn, Harmony Hicks, Corey and Kimberly Bittner, Julius and Tamara Fore, Josh and Christy Blanchard, Greg and Corbyn Thomas, Tony and Donna Haywood, Adam Floyd, Kevin and Melissa Jones, Doug Stewart, Janelle and Amy Imbriale, Chris and Dalton Leist, Ed Farlow, and Randy Todd. 

The team arrived in Welch, West Virginia, around 6:00 p.m., Friday evening and had dinner and fellowship time at the church. The next morning, the team woke up early and stocked the pantry of the church in Welch with donated food items. The team then prepared a lunch meal of hotdogs, baked beans, chips, coleslaw and lemonade. After lunch, a short church service was held and people who attended the service received tickets that allowed each of them to pick out an item of need, such as a TV or floor heater, as well as a box of food and toys for their children. That afternoon the team arrived in Bradshaw, West Virginia, and prepared a hotdog dinner meal and distributed items in the same way after a short church service was held. At this church, one little girl received toothpaste in her toy box and was so excited that she ran around showing everyone of her new item. 

  Everyone on the team and people who donated items for the trip worked very hard, and our church was able to bless the people of Welch and Bradshaw, just in time for the holiday season.

'The Peacemaker' - Another West Virginia story by Christy Blanchard

  Pictured (from left): an unidentified lady from Bradshaw, W. Va., William (center) and Pastor Dean Crane who ministers in West Virginia. 
 
This past weekend my husband and I went on a mission trip to West Virginia with Grace Church of Southern Pines, N.C. While in West Virginia, we met a man named William. He was older and sometimes talked to himself, but he was very sweet and clearly loved the Lord. He told me that he had survived 22 heart attacks and his doctor finally gave him a “peacemaker” for his heart.

He had some of us sign his Bible and his guitar. He had a lot of signatures in his Bible and even more on his guitar. He said that every time he read his Bible, he prayed for those who had signed it and did the same when he played his guitar. I asked him to play a song for us before he left. I didn’t know what to expect, because he slurred his words a little when he talked, but as soon as he picked up his guitar, he completely changed. He was very skilled at playing the guitar and sounded just like Johnny Cash. I told him that, and he said he had played his music for Johnny Cash in the past. Then he told me he had just played for the governor of West Virginia and pulled out a picture of himself with the governor to prove it.

Before he left, he pulled out two, crisp 2-dollar bills and gave one to me and the other to another woman from Grace Church. He said he just wanted us to have them and wanted to bless us. He ripped his address off of a letter in his pocket and gave it to me, so I could send him a Christmas card. He requested that I get lots of people to sign it, and I told him I would.