The 1980’s was a decade of controversy with regard to the church’s relationship with the Southern Baptist Convention. Following are excerpts (edited) from an article written by former Senior Minister Dr. Thomas Graves concerning this relationship and the church’s response. “In 1979, two conservative Texas Baptists, Paige Patterson and Paul...

The Heritage display in the 2nd floor hallway now reflects St. John’s in the 1980’s. There was a lot of mission activity in the decade of the 1980’s as members of St. John’s continued its many mission activities along with some new ones. Members walked in the CROP walk, donated...

January 19, 2023 The 1980’s at St. John’s was a decade of staff changes, mission opportunities and issues with decisions made by the Southern Baptist Convention. This week- the staff changes: In January 1980, Valerie Hardy came to St. John’s as Minister to Youth, succeeding Tom Stallworth. Summer youth mission...

By Ken Sanford As the eighties began St. John’s was exploring new servant ministries despite troublesome actions by the Southern Baptist Convention. A bequest allowed the establishment of the Hackney Scholarships which have enabled church youth to attend colleges. A mission team from the church, including the Rev. Bob Lasater,...

During the decade of the 1970’s, the people of St. John’s were involved during the Christmas season with special music programs with choirs of all ages and handbells on both Sunday and Wednesday nights. Various groups went caroling in the neighborhood at Presbyterian Hospital (Novant) and the Hawthorn Nursing Center...

The Arts Committee along with the Music Ministry at St. John’s were extremely active in the 1970’s. The Music Ministry included an Adult Choir, Senior and Junior High Choirs, Children’s Choirs, and Handbells. The Youth Choir performed a musical every year. In 1970, the performance was “Tell It Like It...

There were lots of activity at St. John’s during the decade of the 1970’s. Some of this activity included the following: The Craft Class was extremely active. A Country Carnival was held in the fall with games, crafts, food, and talent shows. Money raised from the Carnival were used for...

In addition to changes in our building, the 1970’s were also a decade of staff comings and goings. The main change occurred on May 17, 1974 when Dr. Broach announced his retirement, to be effective July 21 after 30 years of providing spiritual leadership. The Youth Banquet that year included...

Last week, Ken Sanford’s article listed several significant events in the life of the church in the 1970s. One of these events was the construction of what was called the Youth Ministries Building, the portion of the building which houses the ministers’ offices, the Music Suite, children’s Sunday School rooms,...

by Ken Sanford The decade of the 1970s was one of change and progress. As the Youth Ministries Building was completed, the church was able to expand its ministries to the congregation and the community. The Week Day School was an asset to the congregation as more women joined the...