Outgoing Deacon Chair Brent Fountain delivered the following report to the congregation at the Deacon Ordination service on November 28, 2021 and recognized incoming Deacon Chair Scott Edwards.

“I was glad when they said, let us go into the house of the Lord.”
Psalm 122:1

What a year 2021 has been. It has certainly presented many challenges. However, during 2021 we have also witnessed the Lord’s faithfulness to our church. Throughout 2020, our church family continued to pray for our Pastor Search Committee as they continued to seek the man that God had for us, and our prayers were answered. After nearly two years of searching, the Lord called Dr. Timothy Andrew Brown to be our Senior Pastor, and for that, we are grateful.

But it wasn’t long after Andy arrived when we were confronted with a storm that saw almost everything close for a week. Yet again, we were able to watch as the Lord provided. The impact of the pandemic had made it necessary for our church to strengthen our online worship presence. During the final months of 2020, our church leadership and staff invested their time and talents to enhance our worship experience for those who couldn’t attend and provide a new opportunity to witness to those who may have never attended. Whether it was a storm or COVID, the Lord had positioned our church to share the gospel beyond our walls.

And his blessings didn’t stop there! Through our church’s faithful giving, we were able to further develop our worship experience inside the church as we began renovations to the sanctuary, enhancing the audio and visual experience that would lay a solid foundation for the future.

Through the church’s faithful giving, we have seen blessing after blessing, including increasing the amount we have paid towards the Children’s Building Fund and faithfully supporting the ministries of the International Mission Board, the North American Missions Board, and the Mississippi Baptist Convention Board. As our fiscal year began to wind down, we began the process of considering next year’s budget. Our Budget and Finance Committee made an unusual request of our church’s different ministries—Dream big.

The Finance Committee returned proposed ministry budgets and challenged our ministers to find additional opportunities to spread the gospel through First Baptist Starkville. And while the result was a larger budget, it is one that our church family has faith that we can achieve. Having witnessed God’s faithfulness, we are ready to share the gospel here and abroad.

Yes, we have definitely been blessed, but we’ve also seen some challenges. Perhaps our greatest was the decision as to how and when to return to in-person worship. Again, we turned to the Lord and said to our church family, worship how you feel most comfortable, whether at home through Facebook or in the sanctuary with or without a face covering. We wanted our church family to know that we loved them, and we would not stop worshiping God. So our message was, “Come as you are.”

Our deacon body has faced similar challenges. As we ended 2020, our meetings were still remote, but I felt God was providing an opportunity to meet in person. Our meetings were a mixture of in-person and virtual as we began the year. However, as the year progressed, we were able to move to fully in-person meetings, and it has been wonderful.

It’s been wonderful for us to meet together, share a time of devotion, consider the business of the church, and pray for our church and others in need. As vaccinations rolled out and COVID rates dropped, it looked as though we had turned a corner, not just as a church, but as a nation. Then, the new Delta variant began to raise the level of cases and concerns again. Many in our church family chose to remain at home. Masks again became the norm for many, and we, as a deacon body, made the difficult decision to cancel our scheduled retreat.

After not having a retreat during the prior two years, I was excited about the return of the Deacon Retreat in August 2021. As a new deacon, this was an opportunity for me to know the other deacons better, learn more about how to serve as a deacon, and prepare for the following year. 2021 was going to be special because it would be a time away from the church with an opportunity to learn more of Andy’s heart and desire for our church.

It would also be an opportunity to share a deeper fellowship with my fellow deacons. Having to cancel the Deacon Retreat was a hard decision, but however badly I wanted it personally, I knew it was the right decision. And I am especially thankful for the many calls, texts, and emails that I received from deacons who reassured me that we had indeed made the right decision.

But this leads me to our present moment. We are again in a better position. We are able to meet in person with less fear, and our desire to meet together has never been greater. As my term as chair ends, I am encouraged for what 2022 will provide. I know that God’s faithfulness will continue for First Baptist Church Starkville and the deacon body.

This year we saw tremendous interest in the deacon nomination process as our church provided an unprecedented number of nominations of worthy men to serve as deacons. Our church is blessed with so many men and women with talents, wisdom, and a genuine love for our Lord. I’m also encouraged and thankful for this year’s Deacon Selection Committee and their unselfish service and discernment. Our church definitely supported these men, and for that, I’m grateful.

Seven of these men—BJ Cougle, Brian Lesley, Brad Smith, Jimmy Richardson, Jeremy Nicholas, Doug James, and Bill McGee—have previously served as a deacon. Joining these men were recently ordained Daniel Herndon, Hunter Griffin, and Ben Newman. To all ten, I pray for you and will continue to pray for you. I’ll pray for the deacon body and our entire church. I also want to say it was an honor to serve alongside Pastor Andy and witness his love for our Lord.

It has been a pleasure to see our other ministers and church staff in action and actively serving our Lord. And it has been wonderful to serve with vice-chair Scott Edwards and secretary Kevin Armstrong. Scott will do an amazing job as next year’s Deacon’s Chair, and the deacon body will excel under his leadership and his desire to serve the Lord.

Finally, I want to say thank you to all the deacons who served this year. I especially want to say thank you to those deacons who rotated off at the end of the year: Danny Cheatham, Mike Blake, Jason Camp, Larry Doolittle, Wes Gordon, Todd Hamby, Louis Jenkins, Robert Moorhead, and Joe Street. I appreciate the opportunity to serve alongside each of you. As Jesus said to his disciples, “If any man serves me, he must follow me; and where I am, there my servant will be also. If anyone serves me, the Father will honor him.” (John 12:26)

Each year, the congregation of First Baptist Starkville nominates men to serve as deacons. We have a 30-person deacon body where each man serves a one-year term. They are nominated by the congregation, vetted and selected by the Deacon Selection Committee, and ordained by First Baptist Starkville to carry out the church’s mission and maintain unity.

You can find our current deacon roster here.