Farewell

Thanks

to all of the people over the years that helped to make Faith Fellowship the special congregation that it was. Especially the Nakamoto family: Robert, Sherri, Luke, William, Adam, Anna, and Sara. Thanks to Sean Meek, John and Carol Wilson, Michael and Ericka Deering, Pastor Clyde Thompson, Jane Montgomery and all of the other great folks at Paint Rock SDB Church, the Rankhorn family, Pastor Campbell, Pastor Ron Pendleton and his wife Jackie, Linda Scott, Sandy MacKay, John and Barb Kelly, the Kelley family, the Parent Family, Bryan Vaughn, Kim West, Geraldine Saha, Lyla and Melvin Johnson, Jeff Ward, Jimbo and Regina Pexton, Wanda Carde, Vicki Bryant, Will Berke, Paula Vossburg, Bruce Winningham, Sonya Morrell, Geno Schmidt, the patient and wonderful folks at Covenant Baptist Church and all of the people I have forgot to mention but should have. You know who you are.

Thank you.

Our History

Around February of 2000, the church originally began in Robert Nakamoto's home in Burns Tennessee as an independent Sabbath church, but soon took on a Seventh Day Baptist identity. As it grew, it relocated to the Morgan House on the campus of the Unitarian church in Nashville, then to Martha Vaught Middle School in West Nashville. After 2004, the church temporarily ceased operations and contracted in size when its leadership was called to active duty in Iraq. During that time, the church began meeting in the conference room of the Hampton Inn at Bellevue and was facilitated by the SDB Circuit Rider program supported out of the Paint Rock Alabama SDB Church, consisting chiefly of the Rankhorn family, Early Sabbath morning, the Rankhorn family would pack up their musical instruments and their entire family and make the long drive to Nashville. This kind act eased our feelings of isolation and kept the church going and growing. God is always on time. From there the church moved to Sister Paula's house, then finally to Covenant Baptist Church, the final home for its last ten years.

Over the years the church has witnessed baptisms in the river, a baptismal in Paint Rock, and in the baptismal at Covenant Baptist Church.

During its history, the church supported the Rez Connection's Ministry in South Dakota, the Seventh Day Baptist Missionary Society, the Nashville Rescue Mission, the Hebron Home Orphanage and the widows at the House of God in India, a missionary to India, and assisted Covenant Baptist Church with the Food Pantry program.

Our Story

Churches have a lifespan. A church is planted, excitement grows, and with it the church itself. A community is created, growing pains are felt, the church matures. In time, the building and its members age; some move away and others pass away. The old guard keeps the doors open, resisting outsiders and change until the inevitable happens and the church is no longer sustainable.

Seventh Day Baptist Churches are no different, but their life spans are typically much shorter. People seeking membership in Sabbath keeping churches are far fewer that those seeking to attend Sunday churches, In an urban environment, even more so. It is not unusual for cogregants to travel over fifty miles to regularly attend a SDB church.

This leads to smaller congregations at SBD churches. This is not entirely a bad thing; it is more intimate and people are more likely to be involved in discussions and not disappear into a crowd. Members are there to be engaged rather than entertained.

However this puts a greater load on a fewer number of people, who are typically all unpaid volunteers. This load is physical, emotional, and financial. It becomes a much bigger issue when key people are called away, become ill, go on vacation, or just need to take a break. Attendance at large Sunday churches flux with attendance lower during summer vacation months and with a large enough congregation, it may not even be noticed. In contrast, this effect is greatly pronounced in a small church. A few families out on vacation at the same time can leave a tiny church virtually empty.

Additionally in small churches, conflicts easily get magnified. If two churches members become obsessed about something, they represent a significant proportion of the entire congregation and can be quite disruptive . In a mega church, this would represent less than one percent of the entire congregation and would be normal background noise in that environment.

That all being said, we have been through the ups and downs, joy and pain of that life cycle, and have decided to enter a long Sabbath rest, not unlike in Leviticus 25, when it says to sow your fields for six years, but in the seventh year the land is to have a year of sabbath rest.

It has been a great run. Eighteen years is atypical for a SDB church. Other SDB churches in Louisville Kentucky, Red Boiling Springs Tennessee, and elsewhere have come and gone within this same time span. Looking back, we know that many people have been helped, comforted, and inspired along the way. I know I was.