Wilsonville Baptist Church draws community with family feel

It was sometime just after Cindi Wheeler reconnected with a former classmate that he invited her to visit Wilsonville Baptist Church.
  
“I told him I hadn’t been inside of a church in years because of unanswered questions and attitudes I’d been exposed to when younger,” Wheeler said.
  
But she was curious and took a chance on Wilsonville Baptist. Wheeler said what she found there has changed her life. 
  
“I feel comfortable, like when you walk into a family reunion and everyone is glad to see you,” she said. “The people here have a welcoming attitude and the belief that God has brought us together for a purpose. There’s a mixture of people with different life experiences who come together to worship, provide support for each other and work to reach out to others.”
  
An emphasis on reaching its community, strong volunteer efforts and adherence to the Word of God are among the factors winning praise for the Shelby Baptist Association church.
  
Pastor Steve Thomas points to Wilsonville Baptist’s involvement with the upcoming God and Country Celebration June 25 as an example of its goals of taking ministry outside the walls of the church.
  
Several area Baptist churches join together at Wilsonville Baptist for the annual celebration, which includes barbecue, fireworks and gospel music. Along with fellow Shelby Association churches Bethel Baptist, Columbiana, and Four Mile Baptist, Wilsonville, two black churches also participate — Star of Bethlehem Baptist and First Baptist, both in Wilsonville.
  
“It lets the community see the churches working together,” Thomas said. “I believe that if they can see the churches working together more, it gives a better feel of what church is about.”
  
Shelby Association Director of Missions Hugh Richardson said Wilsonville Baptist is also involved in reaching the community through members’ volunteer efforts with associational ministries such as the clothing ministry and Christmas gift shop.
  
“They are active in providing their people,” he said. “They involve themselves outside their local church.”
  
But effective ministry involves more than just community outreach, and Richardson praises Thomas as someone who is having an impact on his church because of a passion for not straying from God’s Word.
  
“He is basically an expositional preacher,” Richardson said. “He sticks to the Word.”
  
Wilsonville Baptist averages 400 in worship each Sunday and is still growing — 47 new believers have already been baptized this year and 27 others have joined the church.
  
“I believe people are looking for a church that preaches the truth of the Word of God,” Thomas said. “One of the things we preach about is reaching others.”