‘My time here so far has been a blessing’
The people of New Jerusalem Missionary Baptist Church were under the guidance of now Pastor Emeritus Samuel J. Cornelius for 35 years. This past Sunday, March 12 they celebrated the third anniversary of their current pastor Rev. Ronald Eugene Speas in grand fashion.
Prior to the service starting the church had a catered soul food meal provided by Food for the Soul catering. New Jerusalem was joined in worship by the congregation of First Waughtown Baptist Church.
To start the event, Rev. Speas and family were individually escorted into the sanctuary. Reflections of the pastor, special presentations and expressions from the first family gave the service a celebratory feel all day.
“Today turned out very well even though we are not here for the highlights but instead to do the work at hand,” said Speas. “God rewards even though we are not looking for the rewards; we are looking to become kingdom builders.”
“My time here so far has been a blessing and we understand as God has called us into pastorship that the bigger the ministry, the bigger the work,” he continued. “I thank God that he set me up for when I came here I was conditioned for the work that was here.”
Anniversary committee chairperson Mary Crank says she has been involved with many anniversary celebrations but is always happy when she is able to see the finished product turn out so well.
“Before we started, we prayed, during the process we prayed and as we prayed we knew that God was going to answer, so to see all of this come together today was wonderful,” she said. “He is a wonderful pastor, he is a wonderful leader and he deserves everything he gets.”
Crank went on to speak about how smooth the transition was from Pastor Emeritus Cornelius. She says Speas brings with him some “youth and vitality and, of course, the Word.” According to Crank, one of Rev. Speas’ strongest assets is his strong teaching during Wednesday Bible study, which she says leaves everyone feeling like they have been to revival.
Culminating the service was the message delivered by Pastor Dennis Bishop of First Waughtown. His sermon titled “Promoting Kingdom Agenda” focused on how the church and congregation needs to keep God first and not individual agendas.
“I thought it was a very good theme for the third anniversary and for the body of Christ, so when I went in and looked at the Scripture and prayed to the Holy Spirit, the Holy Spirit inspired me to bring it today,” said Bishop.
“I think today was a great celebration, but I just wish this place would have been packed where there was no space for anyone else to sit. As men of God, we service the people and we dedicate our time, our lives and our service and when it’s time for us to be celebrated, we need to pack the place out.”
When it was time for the Speas family to speak, Rev. Speas became a little choked up while addressing the congregation. He says he became emotional because he puts his all into everything he does.
“Sometimes I get emotional because I understand that this work goes beyond me,” Speas said. “And as God conditions me for what I do, I realize he brought me through a whole lot of things to get me where I am.”
Speas says he is happy that he has been able to ingratiate himself and his family with the church congregation so quickly. He says the people of New Jerusalem are “great people who love the ministry,” so it made the transition that much easier.
