Friendship Missionary Baptist Church,

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I greet you with the love and joy of Jesus Christ.  I pray that all is well with you and yours, as we all rest under the canopy of God’s benevolence.  Our God is great and God is greatly to be praised.

 

On behalf of me and my wife Jill, we thank the Friendship Missionary Baptist Church for your kindness and support during our transition to Fayetteville, NC. We are adjusting and settling in well because of your generosity and support.  All of our anxieties were relieved because you made our move seamless.  For that, I pray for you as John prayed of Gaius in III John 2, “that you prosper in all things and be in health, just as your soul prospers.”

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I must acknowledge the rich legacy that I have been bequeath by those who have come before me.  I stand on the shoulders of our ancestors and of those women and men who now belong to that great cloud of witnesses that built our beloved church and made her a pillow of this community for over 100 years.  A special thank you to Pastor Fredrick Hill and his statesmanship and for making my transition a smooth one a priority of his.  And to our Pastor Emeritus, Rev. S. Lee Downing who has given us his blessings and for his words of wisdom and affirmation.  It is with God’s help and with much fear and trembling that I follow such a giant and a jewel of a man.

 

I am excited about the possibilities that are before us as we seek to be that “Beloved Community” God has called us to be.  As your pastor I am committed to seeking God for vision and being a student of the scriptures that we all may grow in knowledge and in love.  It is my heart’s desire that we demonstrate our love for God by the love we have for one another.  We are attractive from without because of the love and justice that we practice within.

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I believe our future is bright and our influence will continue to expand in the community and beyond as we seek to evoke alternative consciousness to a dark world and serve Jesus by serving the least, the lost, left out, and looked over.  I cannot wait to meet all of you personally in the very near future.

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Do Justice.  Love Mercy.  Walk Humbly.

 

Pastor Timothy D. Careathers

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