TBO.com - TBO is Tampa Bay Online

Hernando Today

2008: A NEW YEAR celebrating building and growth for church

ADVERTISEMENT

By Maurea Sleesman, Hernando Today correspondent

Published: December 29, 2007

SPRING HILL - At 7 p.m. on New Year's Eve, a church full of people will enjoy live praise and worship music and refreshments to help celebrate 2008 and the new construction going on outside. The foundation grade work, initial plumbing and a huge delivery of metal hardware attest to the new fellowship hall and anticipated growth for 2008.

Nestled in the middle of a transitioning community, the congregation of First Baptist Church of Spring Hill believes they are just where God wants them to be as they face the New Year. A community of economic, cultural and religious diversity, the church is geared to providing ministries to reach out to those within the shadow of the steeple and beyond.

"The results have been exciting, "said Chuck Fightmaster, pastor of the church. He is leading the church to launch its much-needed new building program. "This year - 2008 - will be the most exciting year in its church history."

Located on six acres in the south sector of Spring Hill, First Baptist Church is erecting a new fellowship hall, scheduled for completion this coming spring. Later, they will build a new sanctuary.

"This church saw the need, but building a fellowship hall wasn't without challenge," said RJ Korteweg, a church deacon who also serves as the project coordinator. Struggles with architectural plans, county permits and a host of other delays seem to be in the past as work crews are making the dream become a reality.

Santa even came by recently to briefly exchange his sleigh for a forklift as he observed the workers moving the hundreds of pounds of metal for the new center. Santa also visited with the children at Wiggle Worms Day Care Center located at the church. RJ showed some of the blueprints. The stage area in the new 100- by 80-foot building will be 50 feet wide by 18 feet deep. It will have high-tech state-of-the-art audio and visual equipment for multiple venues like performing arts, music, drama and satellite connections for workshops and recording.

"This church is growing by leaps and bounds," he said. "God is at work and has invited us to join Him. We're really excited knowing this will allow us to help so many people to know how much God loves them."

RJ said that other church members involved in the project include those with strong backgrounds in finance, banking, commerce, education and construction.

The new facility and eventually a new sanctuary are all part of the pastor's vision for First Baptist Church. A different location was considered, but the church realized that the current site is ideal in serving a community that ranges from young single-parent families to retirees.

"There will be more room for classes, meetings, workshops and fellowshipping. When you see it through God's eyes, the opportunities are wonderful," Pastor Fightmaster said. "We specialize in helping people with hurts, habits and hang-ups and we welcome them."

Fightmaster said the greatest joy he has as pastor is in seeing lives changed through love and ministry.

"We have people coming into our church as broken, battered and bruised by life and offer them a path in discovering their significance, worth and value to God," he said. "Many of them, through the love and transforming power of God's Holy Spirit, become dynamic servants for the Lord and leaders in His church."

Celebrate Recovery, meeting on Monday and Friday evenings, offers support for addictions, codependency and a number of other issues. The Paraclete ministry teams those who have experienced past painful issues of life such as divorce, death of a loved one or emotional problems, with others who are entering those issues.

"No one has to go through it alone," Fightmaster said. "We believe that even painful experiences can be used for good in helping others."

The pastor believes that his background as a mental health clinician has helped him lead the church in a strong counseling ministry to serve the congregation and community.

Citing his own experience being raised in a single-parent home, Pastor Fightmaster recalls being a rebellious teenager who, after dropping out of high school at 16, enlisted in the Navy. Some 22 years later, after his retirement, Fightmaster felt a call to the ministry and entered college on academic probation.

"I had to maintain a high grade point average," he said.

Graduating with honors from Mercer University in Macon, Ga., Fightmaster received his bachelor's degree in Christianity and his master's degree in marriage and family therapy. His doctorate of philosophy in religion and society is from Oxford Graduate School in Dayton, Tenn.

"One of these days, I may go back to high school to get my diploma," he said smiling.

An early ministerial epiphany one Sunday morning caused Fightmaster to change his sermon style. He usually took long hours to hone his words into careful prose for Bible-based sermons. An elderly woman was caring for her 60-year old daughter, who had Down syndrome, and he heard a voice from within ask him "How will this message today speak to the fears of this mother, who will soon leave her disabled daughter alone?" His eyes shifted to another elderly woman whose husband he had buried the previous week. The voice spoke again. "How will this message give comfort to this woman who is sleeping alone for the first time in 60 years?"

The pastor said he then crumpled his sermon notes before the congregation.

"I knew from that moment that God was telling me to preach the Good News in practical ways to the broken hearted and to those who are seeking meaning and purpose to their existence."

Fightmaster said that is the core mission of First Baptist Church: "The question is, "How do we do that?' The answer is wonderfully simple. Any way we can."

After studying Rick Warren's book "The Purpose Driven Church," Fightmaster is convinced that each church, like each Christian, is gifted in its uniqueness in serving Christ and others.

"Our purpose is being reached through worship, evangelism, discipleship, ministry and mission. We charge that every Christian is a minister, to encourage people with an attitude of "What can I do?'"

Fightmaster is quick to add that "we aren't in the business of encouraging people from other churches to join us, but if they do, they serve." He is convinced that true church growth doesn't come from transferring from one church to the other, but is a result of new births into the Kingdom of God.

"My message to Christians is clear. We are to be using our gifts, experiences and abilities to bring the lost to Christ so that eternity will be assured, lives changed and purpose revealed as they move into ministry," he said. "Our goal is to grow this church from the inside out - not from the outside in."

Cheryl Tinker is the church office administrator. A transplant from Missouri, she has been married 37 years, and is a lifelong Baptist.

"I can tell you that from our Sundays, our local charity outreach, our small groups meetings and our strong volunteerism and friendliness, this is a warm and caring friendly church," she said. "Pastor's sermons are so practical and helpful and, of course, Bible-based. He really cares and understands about every person. He is very receptive and non-judgmental, with a heart of compassion and true grace. We love it here. It's not a stodgy church. It's a loving family."

A visitor to the church may be surprised to find a congregation whose attire ranges from suits to T-shirts and a pastor who, in an island shirt, preaches with a Bible in one hand and a cup of coffee in the other.

"We offer our guests to come as they are," Fightmaster said. "Practical preaching based on solid Bible principles is what is provided each Sunday in addition to contemporary music provided by a praise band and dynamic choir."

He added, "A visitor once said that this church is the best kept secret in the area. I am sure it was meant as a compliment, but I saw it differently. The church became determined to break the secret! And it's happening!"

Pastor Fightmaster is married to Janice whom he describes as being his inspiration and greatest help in pursuing the ministry to which he has been called. In addition, Janice Fightmaster is a laboratory technician at HCA Oak Hill Hospital. The Spring Hill couple has three adult children and four grandchildren and a dog named "Dunkin'.

"What does God hold before the congregation of First Baptist Church of Spring Hill for 2008? Let me put it this way," Fightmaster said in closing reflection. "We see ourselves as surfers riding a huge wave. This church will go wherever that wave is taking us. God created the wave, we didn't. Our job, our ministry is not to know the destination before us. Instead, our joy is to ride the wave into 2008 and beyond as God reveals His will and purpose along the way. What a trip!"

First Baptist Church of Spring Hill is located at 7279 Pinehurst Drive (corner of Pinehurst and Cobblestone) in Spring Hill. Phone: (352) 683 - 2863; Web site: www.firstbaptistchurchsh.com.

Share this:

Loading Comments...

Email Print

ADVERTISEMENT