The Main Street Missionary Baptist Church, Clifton Forge celebrated its first community Easter Egg Hunt with the Rev. Dr. Ronald O. Baker as pastor, at Booker T. Washington Park, Saturday. Five hundred plastic eggs were hidden and attracted over 50 participants to hunt, have lunch, and win prizes.
Baker accepted the pastorate to MSBC in July of 2021, becoming the church’s 19th pastor. “I’d like to see heaven represented on earth in the body of Christ,” said Baker of his vision for the church’s presence in the community.
Baker has served in ministry for 48 years and came to Clifton Forge from Reed Creek Baptist Church in Big Island, VA. He believes God sent him to the Alleghany Highlands, in particular Clifton Forge, “to join others who desire to see growth not only spiritually or in dominations but also racially and ethnically.”
Baker has joined the Eastern Alleghany Christian Ministerial Association and participated in EACMA’s annual Way of the Cross service and invited area ministers to participate in MSBC’s Holy Week Good Friday Service. EACMA’s president, Rev. Paul Brokaw, pastor of Clifton Forge Presbyterian Church; Rev. Michael Simmons, pastor of Oak Hill Bible Church, Clifton Forge; Ministers Cornelius Ray and William Bell, of MSBC; Minister Pamela Marshall, First Baptist Church, Clifton Forge; and Elder Leon Taylor, pastor of First Church of God in Christ, Clifton Forge participated in the service.
As part of his deep desire to reach and invest in young people and young adults, MSBC sponsored the egg hunt, Saturday from 12:00 pm to 4:00 pm, and has relaunched its Sunday School program for the first time since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Baker doesn’t know that there will ever be a post-COVID-19 but believes the church will have to change “how we are going to reach, preach, and teach,” going forward. “The message of God never changes, and God will dictate what methods will be advantageous to give people a desire to come back to church and worship with us,” said Baker.
“My heart’s desire is to reach the unchurched, the lost, and those who feel unwelcomed in whatever method God will use to have me do so. We have to reach senior adults, young adults, teenagers, and babies for the advancement of the kingdom of God,” said Baker in closing.
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