By Billy Patterson

It was a great day of worship and reflection Sunday as the church family of Faith Fellowship Baptist Church in Fairfield celebrated their one-year anniversary.

The theme ‘Scarlet Thread Through 2023’, presented by Brother Eddie Acord and Brother Lonnie Elliott, guided those in attendance through the journey the church family experienced beginning in January of 2023. “Everything that you see here, everything that we’ve accomplished began because of a single phone call asking the simple question ‘why can’t we just find somewhere to get together and meet?’” Brother Eddie told the audience.

Special music was presented by (left-right): Susie Lane, LaDonna Mullen and Kim Whitaker.

From that original phone call, phone calls began and they continued until the group of 34 worshippers met for the first time on Thursday night, January 26th at The Event Center in Fairfield. Those in attendance agreed they should meet again and their first Sunday morning worship service was held the following Sunday at that facility. The next Wednesday night, Kelly Black brought the first Wednesday night devotional simply titled ‘Faith’. On February 12th, the new church family held their first children’s and first adult Sunday School class. April 2nd would be the date of the first baptisms which were held at 8th Avenue Baptist Church in Teague. Five were baptized that night.

With the new congregation continuing to grow, it was time to look for a larger facility. The former Marathon Oil Company building was purchased and the new owner agreed to lease part of the building to FFBC to hold their church services. This building consisted of a large conference room and many individual offices. Members of the church begin working on ‘converting’ the conference center into a sanctuary. A large stage was built, sound and video equipment was purchased and installed, chairs were purchased and on June 11th, their first worship service and Sunday School classes were held in the remodeled facility.

PASTOR JUSTIN COLQUETTE addresses the congregation.

As the church continued to grow, more remodeling had to be accomplished. The small single offices were converted into larger rooms by removing single walls between two rooms. That process has continued and the 130-seat sanctuary continues to be of concern. More televisions are being added to the larger rooms to provide ‘overflow’ areas where church members can watch the service via YouTube or Facebook while visitors remain in the main sanctuary.

Throughout 2023, more programs were added. Those include two Ladie’s Bible Study classes on Tuesdays, a Men’s Breakfast on the 2nd Saturday of each month, a ‘Game Night’ on the second Thursday of each month, Vacation Bible School each summer and now making plans for summer camps for the school age kids. The local church sponsored a free ‘Curtis Grimes Concert’ in October, participated in the Chamber of Commerce’s ‘Boo on the Square’ and continue to broadcast the services live on YouTube and Facebook.

In November, the local congregation selected Justin Colquette of Wortham as their first pastor. He began leading the worship services on December 10th and continues to bring fresh new ideas and goals to Faith Fellowship. Also in December of 2023, the group approved the purchase of seven acres of land on East Highway 84 in Fairfield. A local family approached the church with the property and Faith Fellowship entered into a contract to purchase the land and eventually plan to build on that site.

To complete the extraordinary day, a baptism was performed prior to the beginning of the program and five new members joined the church during the response time. These new members bring the total number of church members to well over 100, a remarkable achievement in just one year. Special music was provided by Bud Black, Lori Harris, Kim Whitaker, LaDonna Mullen and Susie Lane. A potluck dinner was provided after the services for those who attended.

“We continue to believe with all our heart that if we just stay out of God’s way, He will do great things. The fellowship and love in this church continues to be very visible and spreads to everyone. There truly is a sweet spirit within the walls of this church,” stated Pastor Justin Colquette. “We continue to love on, hug on, pray on and eat a lot in this church family. Give us an opportunity to show you just how special Faith Fellowship really is. We love sharing the Gospel of Jesus Christ with any and all who need that nourishment that only God can give.”

 

(Photos by Natalia V. Marsters)