Burnsview Baptist Church in Greer, South Carolina, set a Lottie Moon Christmas Offering goal of $20,000 for 2021.
On Dec. 21, the church held a special service designed to focus specifically on its offering. Pastor Tim Huckaby said, “A short video was shown, a dramatization of Lottie Moon’s life was presented, and a speaker from the North American Mission Board came to deliver the message. Then we conducted our Lottie Moon Christmas march.”
To the surprise and joy of the congregation, $120,000 was given. Before the end of the year, it had grown to $122,000. Burnsview had an average worship attendance of 325 in 2020, with giving at a little more than $1 million dollars.
Exceeding a Lottie Moon goal by that much gets the attention of many people. International Mission Board President Paul Chitwood tweeted, “Here’s one for the Lottie Moon offering record books. Burnsview Baptist Church set a goal of $20,000 and came in at $120,000. Thank you, Pastor Tim Huckaby and church family.”
Church history
Burnsview was founded in 1921 and was served by bivocational pastors until 1948. During the first year of the fledging congregation, members wanted a church building. They decided to move forward with building plans, but they owned no land.
G.W. Burns gave the church one acre of his land. On this property, they built their first building, and their benefactor, Burns, served as the church’s janitor. In honor of his contribution, the young congregation named the church after him.
Since its founding, the church has continued a steady growth, creating the need to build more and more facilities. Sometimes older buildings were razed to make room for larger accommodations.
Huckaby has the longest tenure of any pastor in the history of the church. He became the senior pastor in 2002, and two morning worship services were begun in 2003. In 2005 the current sanctuary was built, and a groundbreaking for the new fellowship hall was held in 2017.
“We want to stay fresh and true to the Word. We were once called ‘God’s little secret,’ but we now have a presence,” Huckaby said. That presence is seen in the numerous ministries the church has in the community around it. Huckaby said Burnsview is committed to being a community church. “We volunteer in soup kitchens, do camps, backyard Bible clubs, prayer walks and more,” he said. “We stay away from being a trendy church and focus on remaining a traditional church without frills. We are striving to meet the needs of the growing community around us that was previously farmland.”
Another special moment for members
During the church’s 100th anniversary celebration on Aug. 22, 2021, a plaque was given to James “Tee” Hamby, currently the longest-serving member of the church. Huckaby observed, “God has blessed him with many years of life, and he is presently 90 years old. He and his wife, Pat, still attend each service at Burnsview and are involved in the various ministries of the church.”
At the August celebration, the members were challenged to give “a monetary amount in memory or in honor of someone they loved. The total amount of this special offering was $153,000,” said Huckaby.
Today, the church has a pastor, two full-time staff members and six part-time staff people.
Huckaby added, “Until our Lord returns, the Burnsview family has resolved to be God’s church on 9690 Reidville Road in Greer. Our prayer is that God will be glorified, the church will be edified, and souls will be won to the Kingdom for such a time as this.”
EDITOR’S NOTE — This article was written by Rudy Gray and was originally published by The Courier, newsjournal of the South Carolina Baptist Convention.
