Special guests help church mark 10-year anniversary

Begun at an out-of-county high school, one area church is celebrating 10 years of existence today at its 3-year-old home in Columbia County with some special anniversary events.

Evans Community Baptist Church, launched at Westside High School in October 1996, will launch its first camp meeting today. The church, located at 302 Byrd Road, just off of Cox Road in Evans, will be host to special guests Larry Richards and Jay Snell, both evangelists. Richards, who hails from West Virginia, is described as a singer and preacher of the gospel.

"You will laugh, cry, weep and shout by the influence of this delightful man of God," said Larry Bullard, the pastor of Evans Community Baptist Church. "Evangelist Jay Snell, a well-known author and speaker throughout the world, will be with us speaking, testifying and sharing God's word."

Dinner on the grounds will follow today's morning service, and evening services are planned each day at 7.

Although it's small in size, Bullard said that, with a membership of more than 600, the church believes it reaches out to help many.

"Our goal is not to build a church where the people sit on the chair and do nothing; our desire is that God's people will be involved in making our community and city a great place to live."

With numerous missions and outreach programs, including Operation Christmas Kidz, the church is committed to the "right things. The word commitment has just about been diluted and even dissolved in our generation," Bullard said. "We must return to being committed people. We believe that there are many challenges facing the churches today. There needs to be a citywide revival in Augusta, Ga. We are talking about where God's word, God's name, God's church is high and lifted up again. God's people must return to respecting and caring about one another again.

"Evans Community Baptist Church is not for everyone, and we realize this so vividly," he added. "We pray for our community, our city and our government. We care about people. Our desire is never to be in competition with other churches, but to cooperate to do kingdom work for the very glory of God."

Just down the street at West Town Community Church, located at 779 N. Belair Road in Evans, the 100-plus-person congregation also is planning to commemorate its 10th anniversary. Rodney Addison is pastor of the nondenominational church.