MEMPHIS — Impact Baptist Church and Ministries has been in its new location in the community of Frayser for about three months and both the Baptists involved and the community are benefiting, agreed leaders.
Impact Baptist and Ministries which was founded and developed by Bellevue Baptist Church, Cordova, in 1999 had been located in former retail space in Frayser which is just north of downtown Memphis. It prospered there, said Phil Weatherwax, minister of community missions, Bellevue Baptist. A congregation, Chief Corner Stone Church, Memphis, developed there and left to move into its own building.
Then Michael Ellis was called as pastor of Impact Baptist in 2006 and a congregation developed again although it was meeting in the retail space.
The location at that time, near the intersection of Thomas St./Hwy. 51 and Frayser Blvd., was prime. But Weatherwax and others began doing some research. As a result, Impact Baptist is now located in the former Georgian Hills Baptist facility and the Thrift Store of Impact Ministries is located across the street in retail space. The Georgian Hills congregation has relocated to a smaller church facility nearby.
The move to Watkins St., north of Frayser Blvd., about two and one-half miles from its former location, is still in Frayser and is offering great opportunities, said Weatherwax who has served Bellevue for 23 years in several staff positions.
In just a few months in its new location, everything is not only up and running, but it is thriving. The church and ministries include the Food Pantry Ministry, Thrift Store, church activities, summer outreach and tutoring for students.
Food Pantry
One of the largest and most popular ministries of Impact is the Food Pantry Ministry. Each Saturday, hundreds of people line up outside Impact Baptist Church as early as 1 a.m. for the food distribution which begins at 9 a.m.
The pantry provides food for residents who live in two area zip codes each week and once a month to people who live outside that area. These guidelines are required because of supplies provided by a government agency, explained Weatherwax.
About 175 families on average receive food from the pantry each week.
Jerry Benya, assistant director of Impact Ministries for Bellevue Baptist, said the food is U.S.D.A. approved, often “name brand.” He adds to the supplies by working with Costco and Starbucks in the area which provide food which has just expired. Also individuals and other companies contribute, such as Mike Lenagar, a Baptist rancher in Brighton.
Folks requesting food each Saturday hear how to become a Christian from a trained member of Impact Baptist or Bellevue Baptist or a student of Mid-America Baptist Theological Seminary, Cordova, said Weatherwax.
Each week about 30 of those folks make a profession of faith, he added. Michael Ellis, pastor of Impact Baptist who coordinates the evangelism effort each Saturday, said it is like “fishing from the boat.” He referred to the fact that Jesus called people to be fishers of people and that the effort is simplified because the people are coming to the church. Ellis also speaks from his former career as a Chief in the U.S. Navy.
The operation requires many other volunteers. About 75 volunteers distribute about 12,000 lbs. of food each Saturday, said Weatherwax. Many of them are members of Bellevue Baptist who drive some miles here. Bellevue Baptist is located about 16 miles away from Impact Baptist.
Thrift Store
Another ministry of Impact which is overseen by Benya is the Thrift Store. It also is a great help to people, he said. Many items in the store are not sold but given away to families who have been through a fire or suffered another crisis. The prices are lower than those of stores run by Goodwill and Disabled Vets and all profit goes to Impact, added Benya.
The store is open from Tuesday to Saturday and receives many donations from companies, individuals and churches, said Benya.
The store has “taken some things you wouldn’t believe,” said Weatherwax.
Benya, a graduate of Mid-America Seminary who formerly worked at a large discount store, said God has blessed the ministry in many ways. The space rented is the former post office of Frayser so the store has a convenient loading dock.
Workers including clerks are volunteers who are members of Bellevue or other Baptist churches.
“We meet the physical needs so we can get the respect to meet their spiritual needs,” explained Benya.
The store has an area where people can sit at any time and each morning soon after the store opens a staff member leads a devotional for anyone interested. The seating area also is available all day long and guests have access to evangelistic materials and snacks.
“Our ultimate purpose here,” said Benya, “is to see professions of faith.”
Church
Impact Baptist Church has grown from a congregation in 2002 made up of Ellis, new pastor, and family to 500 members. In 2008 Ellis baptized 50 new Christians.
The church grew despite the fact that during the first two and a half years, the congregation met in a retail space which would seat about 200.
“We grew out of our space,” he said.
“I can’t preach that good. It’s not me.”
Now, in the comfortable and beautiful new sanctuary and educational space of its new facility, the congregation still draws 200 to Sunday morning worship despite its move.
Ellis explained that because of the community and the ministries provided, many people come to the church’s activities with their hand out. They will be helped in many ways, he added. But he has seen God transform many of these people to those who are helping others through Impact Baptist.
Church members who need help may stay temporarily in one of four apartments owned by the church. Those tenants must do janitorial and security work at Impact Baptist in return.
Church members in need have been referred to the Uptown Resource Center, a job training and readiness organization, and some have graduated, said Ellis.
Impact currently provides after school tutoring to students. Soon Impact Baptist will offer its own GED preparation class, he added, as well as training for hotel work and trades such as plumbing.
Thankfully, Ellis said, God has brought together a congregation which has about half of its members from the community and half from other areas of the city, including professionals and members of the military based at nearby Millington or former members of the military.
“We have church members from all walks of life here,” he said.
Another sign of God’s blessing on the church, he said, is that the congregation is racially mixed and includes people from the Philippines, Mexico, Guatamala and Japan.
Ellis is a retired Navy Chief who served 21 years. He felt called to the ministry during his military service but felt he shouldn’t serve as a Navy chaplain because he couldn’t pray in Jesus’ name.
Ellis, who is serving as pastor of a church for the first time, said his ministry has benefited from his military service. He also worked in children’s services for several private organizations which worked with government services. He has earned both a doctor of ministry and doctor’s degree in Christian counseling.
Besides God, he credits his wife, Angie, a nurse, for their ministry at the church. The couple has been married for 25 years.
Ellis said he also is very thankful to Bellevue and the other Baptists who are making Impact possible.
How it started
Weatherwax said Bellevue Baptist’s involvement in the inner city was a vision of the late Adrian Rogers, pastor. Rogers and the staff developed a community missions program and Bellevue Loves Memphis in part to respond to the negative view many people had of the city.
Currently Bellevue Loves Memphis involves about 700-1,000 volunteers who do projects in Memphis on four work days each year. Also money given to the Bellevue Loves Memphis offering goes to Impact Baptist and Ministries. Bellevue currently draws about 6,500 to Sunday morning worship services.
To lead the inner city work, Weatherwax did some research in 1998 to determine the needs in Memphis and found the Frayser community was about 85 percent African American. As he considered the churches in the area, some didn’t allow African Americans to be members and many others allowed them but didn’t have any African American members.
Considering only those churches who had African American members, if each church filled their church and had 50 percent African Americans, only 7 percent of the African American residents of Frayser could attend church in
their own neighborhood, said Weatherwax. In other words, the mission field for a racially integrated or African American church was 93 percent of African American residents of Frayser.
“We go to a lot of international fields that we don’t see those kinds of numbers,” observed Weatherwax.
“This is a racially divided town. … We (members of Bellevue) want to be here to bridge that racial divide. The only way to respond is for the two races to get together in meaningful ministry.”
He added that Bellevue members have benefited from serving through Impact because “we’re all working for the same thing.”
Four of the five staff members of Impact Baptist and Ministries are paid totally by Bellevue. Michael Ellis receives salary from Bellevue and the Tennessee Baptist Convention. The current facilities were bought by Bellevue Baptist with help from Mid-South Baptist Association, based in Cordova. Volunteers come mainly from Bellevue but also from other Baptist churches.
The move from the retail space in Frayser to a church facility and retail space just for the Thrift Store was good, said Weatherwax. In the retail space because the congregation’s space adjoined the Thrift Store/Food Pantry, the focus wasn’t clearly on the church. In the new location, the focus is on the church, as it should be, he added.
The future
Plans for this summer at Impact Baptist and Ministries include six weeks of Vacation Bible School and Bible clubs led by Tiare Houk, director of church ministry, Impact Ministries. Also a music and golf camp is offered.
Several missions groups from Baptist churches are serving here this summer. Interns developed from young adults who are members of Bellevue also are serving at Impact during the summer.
Impact’s relationship with three area schools will be continued, said the staff. Bellevue’s mobile dental clinic will be used again here. New ministries will be developed, said the staff.
Weatherwax would encourage other churches to use “this church planting model.
“When we preach and pray and spend our money then that’s when God touches down here,” stated Weatherwax.
