Children's Hope Alliance

Children’s Hope Alliance, a 501 (c)(3) non-profit organization, provided services to more than 3,600 children, families and individuals in 2015.

The NC Department of Health and Human Services reports that over 200,000 children needed the type of services we provide but only half of those children received help. Our goal at Children’s Hope Alliance is to work toward closing this gap so that ALL children and families in North Carolina will receive the help they need.

Children's Hope Alliance  provides services in 77+ NC counties and have 16 different office locations.

Items received from this list will benefit the children of Hawthorne Heights in Bryson City.

Children’s Hope Alliance Needs List
Paper Towels
Paper Napkins
Toilet Paper
Hand Soap Refills
Laundry Detergent (preferably liquid)
Dish Soap
Dish Washer Detergent
Fabric Softener
Toothpaste (preferable regular tubes, not travel size)
Sheet Sets (for boys and girls, full-size beds)
Non-Perishable Food Items (peanut butter, soups, spaghetti sauce, beans, apple sauce, Hamburger Helper, etc.)
 
A box is in the FBC Loving Kindness Room. Thank you!

FCA Yard Sale Fundraiser

A yard sale fundraiser to benefit the Jackson County Fellowship of Christian Athletes beginning Thursday, July 6 and continuing through Saturday, July 8 will be held at the Balsam Fire Department.   The yard sale will begin Thursday at 3:00 pm until 6:30 pm and continue Friday and Saturday from 8:00 am through 6:30 pm.  The public is invited to come and shop a huge inventory of furniture, home decor, collectibles, and much more.  All proceeds will benefit FCA and Heritage Christian Academy.  Much appreciation to Tammy Fuller, owner of Sassy Frass Consignment of Sylva, for donating all the merchandise to benefit these local ministries.

Building and Grounds Work

Sending out a huge thank you to Harold Messer and his team for their hard work at replacing bricks on our steps out front that had become chipped and broken

First Baptist Church Ministry at Rest Homes

Our church has  provided worship experiences for many years at Skyland, Blue Ridge on the Mountain, Morning Star, and The Hermitage.  On the first Wednesday of each month, we visit Morning Star at 10 a.m., and go to Skyland following that.  Usually, Jeff offers the message, and I lead the hymn singing, with Barbara Vance serving as pianist.  Of course we have to call on others to help out from time to time, when one of us can not be present.  We are very fortunate to have several wonderful church members who can fill in, and they do it with joy.  A number of our choir members and other church members come to help lead in the music, and we usually sing the hymns in harmony, with a pleasant and full quality.  The residents greatly appreciate our visit each month. Several other churches participate in this ministry.

In addition to this monthly ministry, we are part of a large group of churches which offer worship services on Sunday afternoons for all four of the care facilities. For these five or six annual services, the WMU and the Baptist Men share the responsibility, again tapping the resources of our talented and gifted membership for music and devotions.  We try to use lay people for leadership of these services.

This Sunday afternoon, June 25, the men are in charge of a 3 p.m. worship at Morning Star. Charles Proctor will give the devotion, and I will be leading music and offering a solo. Linda Stewart  will accompany the music.  We would love to see others join us for this service. Extra voices always help to make the music more joyful, and the residents love to see people, and to receive a hand shake and a smile. 

I would guess that none of us would "choose" to live in a care facility, if the choice was ours to make.  I know that if I were a resident at a rest home, I would greatly appreciate and look forward to church services that were offered.  I'm glad that FBC Sylva is providing this significant ministry, and that I can be a participant.

Bob Holquist

The Gathering Place

The Gathering Place is the new name of our renovated chapel space. Thank you all for all of your generosity and hard work in transitioning our old chapel into a room that can be used in a variety of ways. The finishing touches will be put in place during the next few weeks, then there will be a room dedication soon to follow.

Vacation Bible School

We would like to extend a huge thank you to all those who have volunteered at VBS this past week! Our volunteers have come out to set-up/ tear down each day, to help with registration, to lead the groups and to help make our week the success that it’s been thus far.

If you are interested, come out and see what we’ve been up to this week during Friday’s closing event in our Mission and Fellowship Center at 11:30 AM!  Campers will sing songs & share what they learned this week. There will be a FREE pizza lunch for campers, parents, & volunteers to follow!
 

East LaPorte Church Picnic

Our Church Picnic at East LaPorte was a smashing success!! Thank you to everyone who came out and enjoyed some fun in the sun with us! Join us for our next Church Picnic on Sunday afternoon, July 16 up on Waterrock Knob.

Summer Camp 2017 Needs List

Summer Camp begins on June 19th and some of you have asked about some ways in which you can help as we prepare for camp. Please read the list below to learn about some of our needs as we prepare. Consider keeping this list in your wallet so that way when you visit the store you’ll know what items to purchase. 

Cleaning Products:
-    Expo Dry Erase Markers
-    Sidewalk chalk
-    Clorox wipes and/or Clorox Anywhere Spray
-    Hand Sanitizer

Art Supplies: 
-    Paper plates
-    Sharpies (varied colors) 
-    Cotton balls
-    Googly eyes
-    Child safe scissors
-    Wooden clothespins
-    Plastic forks
-    Cardstock paper (varied colors)
-    Construction paper (varied colors) 
-    String (to be used for jewelry making) 
-    Q-Tips
-    Clear glue
-    Glue sticks
-    Liquid starch
-    Zip-lock bags (all sizes) 
-    Glitter
-    Hole punchers
-    Expo Dry Erase Markers
-    Sidewalk chalk
-    Pens and/or pencils
-    Hole punchers
-    Pipe cleaners
-    Foam sheets
-    Felt sheets
-    Yarn (varied sizes) 
-    Balloons
-    Beads
-    Key chain rings
-    Birdseed 

Food: 
-    Fresh Fruit: Apples, Oranges, Strawberries, Blueberries, Grapes
-    Gold Fish
-    Pretzels
-    Gummy bears
-    Fruit Roll Ups
-    Cheese-Its
-    Raisins
-    Teddy Grahams
-    Graham Crackers
-    Popcorn
-    Peanut butter
-    Butter
-    Bread
-    Marshmallows

VBS Snacks

If you are interested in donating snacks to be used in Vacation Bible School (June 12-16 at Bridge Park from 9 AM to Noon) please contact Megan Harris or bring them to the church office! 
Snacks needed are: Goldfish, animal crackers, fruit snacks, water, etc. 

Usher Team Letter

Dear Church Members,

    First off, let me thank you for volunteering to be ushers for a new year. I am happy to report we have quite a few people that have come back from last year to help and have some new ones as well. I think we will have a great year and can assist our church in a great way like I know we can. We will be having a meeting this Sunday, June 4th,  immediately following the worship service in the sanctuary, front row, to better talk about what will be happening, what we need from you and to take any questions or thoughts you may have. I hope you will make plans to join us. The meeting should take no more than 10-15 minutes so as to not keep you long. Again, thank you for volunteering and helping to serve our church. I look forward to meeting and working with you in this coming year. If you have any questions between now and then or can’t make it please let me know and I will fill you in on what you have missed. 

Thank you,
             Chris Gallagher

Contact Info:
828-507-8854
gallagher.christopher1@gmail.com