Crofton Baptist Church has made it a mission to ensure that the community it serves knows Jesus.
Pastor Jim Gifford has marveled at how the church has embraced reaching its Jerusalem, including the Amish community, which has been part of the area for more than 50 years.
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Last weekend, the church partnered with the Amish on a fundraiser for a 4-year-old boy battling leukemia. The child’s mother was formerly Amish and married a man whose parents are members of Crofton Baptist.
“The community said, ‘Let’s get together,’ so the Amish and our church had a fundraiser for them. We cooked meat and made barbecue, baked beans and coleslaw and the Amish provided the pies, tables and plates,” Gifford said. “We had 676 people show up and raised $61,000. One of the things that happened out of that was that the Amish ladies were very impressed with the number of workers we and everyone that participated. They were surprised our church would be so active.”
‘A lot of community things going on’
Gifford said the event provided an opportunity to sit down with members of the Amish community and discuss their commonalities. It is something he hopes to explore further through a panel discussion involving Amish and Crofton Baptist members.
“What we’re planning to do is have a meeting with five of their elders,” Gifford said. “We are going to have several questions presented to them and say, OK, no surprises. We’re doing a lot of community events together. We have a lot of common things going on.”
He said the gathering will be a listen-and-learn discussion for both sides.
“They initiated this. I said, ‘We’d love to do it.’ Our Amish are very progressive, not quite Mennonite but progressive.”
Gifford said he plans to talk with other pastors who have Amish communities in their areas to learn the best ways to share the gospel with them.
Open door
The door is already open for conversation, he said. Last year, a couple of Amish girls attended Crofton’s Vacation Bible School.
“That was a breakthrough,” he said. “The Amish make up about half our community, so we need to learn what they believe and more about them.”
The fundraising feast was held Friday night, and on Sunday the church hosted a community 5K Run-Walk to promote VBS. About 150 people participated, with at least one-third of them not affiliated with the church.
John Franklin, the associational mission strategist in the Christian County Baptist Association, was impressed. “It is the best VBS community engagement I’ve ever seen,” he said.
Gifford said the church welcomed 199 children to VBS last year and 209 the year before. His goal for this year’s VBS, which began Monday night, is 250.
Gifford described Crofton as a small town “with one stoplight,” but said the hearts of its people are huge — especially those at Crofton Baptist.
“Our church in the last three years stepped up their missional game locally,” he said. “I’m really proud of them.”
EDITOR’S NOTE — This story was written by Mark Maynard and originally published by Kentucky Today.
