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Reflections from Pastor Miller-Evans...
During some casual conversation before the Administrative Council meeting in November of 2022, Martha Creel said that Ebenezer Baptist Church could not find anyone to consider filling the pulpit. I volunteered to see how I might help out even though it is 270 miles from my house to the church, one way.
With a little creative thinking, we settled on parking a small RV on the church property and "plugging in" to the church electric and water. Janel has a thriving private counseling office in Saint Petersburg, so Thursday afternoon we pack our two Chihuahuas and head north. We take a leisurely 4 hour Sunday drive back to Saint Petersburg. We have reached a stride between four days in urban St. Pete and our three days in our country "estate" in Lamont, FL.
Sunday, October 1, 2023 the church celebrated the 195th anniversary of its founding. It is the oldest church in Jefferson County built 2 years after Florida became a state with the Louisiana Purchase. We believe that we are the second oldest church after the Catholic Basilica in Saint Augustine, although some would contest that we are the fifth oldest church in Florida. We are also the first congregation to join the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship of Florida.
Moving from a pastorate of twenty years in urban Saint Petersburg to a rural county where the entire population is smaller than Saint Petersburg is quite a change. In response I plan to enroll in the Baptist Seminary of Kentucky's certificate program in Rural Ministry and partner with Together in Hope as we move into a new future of ministry at Ebenezer Baptist Church.
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