Eastmont Baptist members volunteer time, talents at state convention meeting

By Grace Thornton

Correspondent, The Alabama Baptist

Mike Northcutt says hosting the Alabama Baptist State Convention was a “win-win-win.”

“Our congregation wins, the guests win and the Lord gets lifted up,” said Northcutt, pastor of Eastmont Baptist Church, Montgomery.

Eastmont Baptist recently served as host for the state convention annual meeting, something he said they value highly.

“Our people have a deep respect for our convention, and they learn more about it in that two or three days than I could teach in a year,” Northcutt said. “It’s like a missions trip — one missions trip is worth 50 sermons. Hosting the annual meeting is a great educational tool for our church.”

Desire to serve

It’s also a great way for the church to exercise its desire to serve, he said.

“We have a host of people who have the gift of helps or the gift of service — they love hospitality,” Northcutt said. “One of our previous ministers who has passed away was big on service ministry. He trained them well, and they enjoy that ministry and exercise it well.”

Billy Dickey, discipleship and senior adult pastor at Eastmont, is one of those who enjoys service and enjoys empowering others to serve.

“We have a lot of people who love to be a part of helping with events like this, including a lot of retired church members who enjoy hosting,” he said.

For the convention, Dickey put together a team of several dozen volunteers to take care of everything from setup to greeting convention messengers. About a month and a half out from an event like this, he begins to start work on logistics, deciding on how many rooms are needed and if there are enough tables and chairs.

“The prep work takes a little time, but it’s second nature to us now,” Dickey said.

The church is a missions-minded congregation, and they see this as missions work, he said. “So many of our people have the good gift of hospitality and like being able to use it as often as possible.”