With the retirement of Director of Missions Jere Patterson on May 31, Morgan Baptist Association witnessed the end of more than 12 years of faithful service. Patterson made the official announcement of his retirement in April just before celebrating his 67th birthday.
According to the association’s newsletter, The Monitor, many ministries and programs were established under Patterson’s leadership during the 1990s. Early in his ministry only one associational ministry was in operation, but now more than 10 programs are available.
One of the largest ministries is The Caring Place. Started as a simple food and clothing service to the south Morgan County area, the ministry has exploded into a ministry center with paid staff plus as many as 40 volunteer workers serving as many as 45 families each week. The Caring Place functions as a social service organization but uses every opportunity to share the gospel.
Early on, Patterson also saw the need for counseling services. A private counselor served the association at first, but now there is an agreement with the Alabama Baptist Children’s Homes & Family Ministries for counseling services and family ministry.
A disaster relief feeding team was also established during Patterson’s term of service. A bus donated by First Baptist Church, Hartselle, was redesigned as a mobile kitchen. The ministry now includes the bus — which has become a mobile warehouse — a trailer and enough equipment to serve between 8,000 and 10,000 meals a day.
The association also has seen its English as a Second Language classes grow under Patterson’s leadership. Currently, three classes meet each week during the school year at Central Park Baptist Church, Decatur. The class has been named “English and More,” because teachers assist with more than teaching English — they help students acquire green cards, earn driver’s licenses and shop in grocery stores.
In the early 90s, Morgan Association also helped rekindle a defunct Baptist Campus Ministry (BCM) at Calhoun Community College. This ministry has expanded to include another local campus and has been responsible for sending students on missions trips during spring break and sending summer missionaries through the North American Mission Board.
Another ministry Patterson encouraged was a nursing fellowship that has had several local clinics and has sent a team to Ecuador.
Patterson has even encouraged the celebration of music among the association’s churches with the suggestion of praise festivals.
The association also participates in partnerships with other associations and missions teams. These ministries include a five-year partnership with the Upper Ohio Valley Baptist Association of West Virginia.
The association also extended a previous partnership with Garden Island Baptist Association of Kauai, Hawaii, until 2004. Two other partnerships include international teams in Venezuela and work in the North Central Indiana Baptist Association.
Patterson feels his talents lie in leadership development and plans to spend his retirement leading conferences for churches to train congregational leaders. He also plans to complete a book based on his dissertation.
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