FBC Mount Olive
Launches
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By Bryan King Lay Leader First Baptist Mount Olive
Dennis Atwood Pastor First Baptist Mount Olive
s vacationers head south on U.S. Highway 117 in North Carolina, many often make a pitstop in the small town of Mount Olive. Best known for the Mt. Olive Pickle Company that shares its namesake, the town rings in every New Year with its famous “Pickle Drop.” It’s also home to other successful enterprises such as Highway 55 Burgers and Shakes, Southern Bank and Trust, and the University of Mount Olive. Despite these success stories, the town is also known for something else: its poverty.
In 2018, USA Today highlighted the town as having the highest poverty rate in the state and one of the highest in the nation. While statistics have somewhat improved since then, the 2020 Census states that nearly 25% of all Mount Olive residents still live in poverty compared with the state average of 14%. Of that quarter, 60% are either children or seniors. In the Book of Jeremiah, God instructs his people to “seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile, and pray to the Lord on its behalf, for in its welfare you will find your welfare.” Pastor Dennis Atwood and the congregation here at the First Baptist Church of Mount Olive took those words to heart last year. In December 2021, the church approved a $100,000 grant-based program to fund any church member or nonprofit organization with a feasible proposal for reducing the structural causes of poverty in the Town of Mount Olive. Named the “Gratitude Project,” the program was approved in recognition and thanksgiving of how God has blessed our church with good financial stewardship over the years. Our mission is to “be the presence of Christ in the world fulfilling the Great Commandment and the Great Commission” and we believe God is calling First Baptist to live out this mission by investing in people who can live out their faith and make positive social change. The Gratitude Project provides that investment so that more people can “be the presence of Christ” in the Town of Mount Olive. The grants are available to individual members of First Baptist Church as well as existing nonprofit organizations. Upon review of initial applications, select applicants will be asked to complete a more detailed application and present their proposal to the Gratitude Project committee. Final award decisions will be announced by the committee on a rolling basis until the funds have been exhausted.
To maximize the chances of reducing poverty, the committee is focused on supporting those ventures addressing healthcare, education, housing, digital connectivity, financial health, access to capital, job creation and workforce development. The committee has identified these issues as the primary structural causes of poverty. In determining awards, the committee will consider such criteria as a project’s potential to help the applicant live out their faith, the ability to use First Baptist members’ strengths and expertise, as well as the potential to build human dignity and economic empowerment. But perhaps the most important requirement for eligibility is that the project’s scope must be limited to poverty within the town limits of Mount Olive. It’s also important to point out that the Gratitude Project is different from traditional church benevolence initiatives such as giveaways or one-time events. By contrast, this program targets sustainable and relational impacts within our community. If selected, grant recipients will receive (1) funding over the course of one year based on the scope of their project, (2) access to the expertise and resources of First Baptist members, and (3) spiritual support and mentoring. Our hope moving forward is that the Gratitude Project can be a model for other churches to utilize their assets and transform the discipleship of their members through innovative funding of passions directed toward the most impoverished segments of their communities. For more information on the Gratitude Project, visit www.fbcmountolive.org/gratitude. Summer 2022 | 7
