IN THIS ISSUE
4 FROM THE PASTOR
People in general and especially lifelong Baptists often ask me, “What is Lent all about?” It is a fair question. I often try to explain that it is the 40-day period between Ash Wednesday and Easter Sunday when people focus on Christ’s journey to the cross. It is an ancient practice that has proven meaningful to many over the years. At about this point, people interrupt and say, “Yes, Pastor, but what is Lent really all about?”
8 BRIDGING THE DISTANCE
At Smoke Rise Baptist Church, we are continually reminded that the body of Christ extends far beyond the walls of our sanctuary. We are overjoyed to welcome those who worship with us remotely each week. Though miles may separate us, our shared faith draws us together as one family. We are excited to introduce four members of our remote worship community who enrich our church with their presence, prayers and participation.
10 BLUE MOUNTAIN CHURCH
Did you know that SRBC has a new mission partner? It is called Blue Mountain Church and is located in the North Georgia mountains near Blairsville. Let me tell you about it! You may remember that Nathan and Carrie Dean were the copastors of Edgewood Church on Memorial Drive, where they served for over 12 years.
MARCH 5 | 6:00 PM
Livestream available smokerisebaptist.org/ wednesday-evening-activities/
Children’s Ash Wednesday Service 3 years old - 2nd Grade in Room 207
O UR M INISTERS
Becky Caswell-Speight rcspeight@smokerisebaptist.org
Minister of Families and Faith Formation
Mitzi Ethridge-Cantrell mecantrell@smokerisebaptist.org Pastoral Care Associate
Page Fulgham missions@smokerisebaptist.org Missions Associate
Chris George Senior Pastor cgeorge@smokerisebaptist.org
Bart McNiel
Associate Pastor of Administration, Ministry Support and Congregational Care
bmcniel@smokerisebaptist.org
James Smith jsmith@smokerisebaptist.org
Pastoral Care Associate
Danny Vancil
Minister of Music and Worship
dvancil@smokerisebaptist.org
Hannah Vassar
Minister of Youth and Congregational Connection
hvassar@smokerisebaptist.org
Holy Week
From Hosanna to Hallelujah and the Valley Between
Palm Sunday ‧ April 13 at 11:00 AM Hosanna!
The grand Palm Processional featuring all choirs and brass.
Maundy Thursday ‧ April 17 at 7:00 PM
A Service of Holy Communion
Join us as we traverse the valley between the hosannas and the hallelujahs.
Good Friday ‧ April 18 from 8:30 AM to 8:00 PM
A time of prayer in the Chapel.
Easter Sunday ‧ April 20 at 11:00 AM Hallelujah!
Easter Party
April 19th at 10:00 am
Four Age-Graded Egg Hunts
An Easter Egg Store
Face Painting
Food Truck Games
Newcomers Lunch
March 16th
Following the Worship Service in the Fellowship Hall
We look forward to a time of fellowship with our new members from 2024/25 and our current visitors.
Kermit and Connie Burnes
An Atlantan by birth, Marie Jones Solomon has resided in Mobile, AL, for 62 years following her marriage to Bobby, a Georgia Tech defensive end from Alabama. Today, she is widowed with two adult children, Keri and Mike. She stays busy as a museum docent and officer for several Mobile societies. She has attended FBC Mobile since 2010 and has followed Chris’ ministry, even today via streaming Sunday and Wednesday night services. She feels fortunate to be an “official” part of the Smoke Rise family. Her brother, Mike, is an active layman and deacon here.
Kermit and Connie Burnes live in Webster, FL, and faithfully stream the Smoke Rise services each week. They are retired ministers and musicians. Connie was a pianist and organist while Kermit served as the minister of music in congregations in Georgia, South Carolina, and North Carolina. They are graduates of Shorter College in Rome, Georgia. They continue to share their musical talents in their community, most recently by leading a Veteran's Day celebration. The couple has three living children (their youngest son died in 2013), four grandchildren and two dachshunds.
Marie Jones Solomon
Blue Mountain Church
From Edgewood to Blairsville
The Deans' journey of service and faith.
by Charlene Echols, Missions Champion for Blue Mountain Church
Did you know that SRBC has a new mission partner? It is called Blue Mountain Church and is located in the North Georgia mountains near Blairsville. Let me tell you about it!
You may remember that Nathan and Carrie Dean were the co-pastors of Edgewood Church on Memorial Drive, where they served for over 12 years. They lived in the community with their four children and worked alongside a diverse group of people—culturally, racially and economically— who were seeking to live a life like Jesus. They offered life skills programs, counseling and Bible teaching to all who would participate and started the church to carry on the journey they began. By all accounts, they were recognized as successful missionaries.
However, starting only one church was never the vision God placed on their hearts. Having created a sustainable environment for making disciples, they knew it was time to move on. In March of 2021, they resigned from Edgewood Church to begin a new journey.
They had to decide where to go to start such a church and ultimately identified a need in the North Georgia mountains, in the small town of Blairsville. They sold their home and all their possessions and purchased a nine-acre tract of land to build a church house—a house that would serve as their home as well as a refuge and a base for their mission activities. The vision was for a barn-style structure with the largest living area possible to support their mission.
Needing a place to live while the church house was under construction, they wired and plumbed an 800-square-foot hunting cabin on the property, which would serve as their home for the next two-and-a-half years. This family of six was ready to get started.
They quickly realized they were not welcome in the area, as neighbors harassed them and their children. Despite this, they knew they were where God wanted them to be.
With the help of construction teams from supporting churches, they fenced in the property, cleared the land for the church house, and worked tirelessly on its construction over two-and-a-half years. The timing couldn’t have been worse— COVID-19, skyrocketing building costs, and a shortage of supplies all presented significant challenges. Throughout this time, they met people, built relationships, organized potluck meals, and formed small-group Bible studies as they integrated into the community. Once the church house was completed, they invited people to worship.
The SRBC Mission Service Committee began vetting Blue Mountain Church based on the Deans’ proven commitment to service at Edgewood. After a year of monitoring their activities, the committee approved them as a mission partner. In April 2024, SRBC began sending a monthly stipend to Blue Mountain Church to support its programs and activities. Our church also provided furnishings, tools and technology to help them get started.
Blue Mountain Church has been operational as a mission church for over a year. They now have two men’s groups, a women’s group, and a young adult group where people are learning and growing in a God-centered life. Nathan and
Carrie regularly walk with people struggling with addiction, marriage issues and poverty, bringing the hope and strength of Jesus and His church into these situations.
When Hurricane Helene struck North Carolina, this community church saw an opportunity to help. Over several months, they sent six teams to aid those affected by the tragedy. This experience deepened their understanding of what it means to be a mission church.
Blue Mountain Church meets on Sunday afternoons and continues mentoring and making disciples. Despite ongoing harassment, such as neighbors shooting guns during services, the goodness of God is evident and the church is thriving.
I serve on the Blue Mountain Church board of directors and have agreed to be the liaison between our church and this mission church. I’ll be looking for opportunities for us to collaborate on mission projects and work alongside them. In the meantime, feel free to see me about signing up for their monthly newsletter to gain a better understanding of the incredible work happening there. If you would like more information, I’ll be glad to share what I know!
Through the generosity of Smoke Rise, we have received $30,869 toward our world mission offering goal of $50,000. Please consider how you can join this church-wide movement to support our missions--locally, nationally, and internationally. This year’s Mission Sunday Offering will go to our missionaries (field personnel) around the world working through Cooperative Baptist Fellowship. To learn more, visit smokerisebaptist.org/journeys/
Beginning March 12
Wednesday at 6 PM | Fellowship Hall
Led by Chris George
A Sacred Space
The Beauty of Our Columbarium Garden
by Danny Vancil, Minister of Music and Worship
It was after a recent memorial service held in our chapel that several family and friends were led to a reception in the Sanctuary Building by way of the memorial garden which graces our columbarium. A number of them – even some who are church members – remarked on how lovely the garden is and how they had never had opportunity to see our columbarium.
If you have never visited this peaceful place, I encourage you to do so. It is more than the resting place for those loved ones who no longer have an earthly presence with us. The garden, a space of quiet tranquility, offers those who pass through an inviting space to pause for prayer and meditation.
Its loveliness is enhanced by the continuing addition of new specimen plantings. Even during these cold, somewhat bleak days of mid-winter, there is a stark beauty which feeds the soul. And then in Spring, as blooms and flowers are opening in the birth of resurrected life, it can be seen in its full glory. “For no matter how long the winter, spring is sure to follow.”
If you would like to learn more about the columbarium garden, feel free to call and ask Carol Ann Fulgham.
Children's Sunday April 27
11:00 AM Worship Service
Yonder
Gospel Music Night
Wednesday, May 14 at 6:30 PM in the Chapel
Graduation Sunday
Help us celebrate our seniors on May 18
Join us in a prayer of blessing for our High School seniors.
Dear God, we give You thanks as our graduates approach the end of one chapter and the start of a new one. Give them discernment to use the gifts and knowledge they have gained in service to humanity. Help them find the place that needs them, where they will discover fulfillment, love, joy, and harmony.
Lilianna Arnold - I am graduating from Brookwood High School, and plan on studying nursing.
Blaine Colliver - I am graduating from Brookwood High School, and will be studying philosophy and economics in pursuit of a career in law.
Kendall Downs - I am graduating from Parkview High School, and plan on studying nursing at Truett McConnell University.
Raising the Curtain
Smoke Rise's Triumph at the Junior Theater Festival
by Denise Burcham, Academy Director
The Smoke Rise Academy of Arts was proud to take a team of 35 drama students to the annual Junior Theater Festival in January. The festival is the world’s largest theater festival for students and is hosted in Atlanta at the Cobb Galleria. It is sponsored by Playbill, Disney Musicals and Music Theater International.
The first Junior Theater Festival in 2003 was designed to see if educators and students would enjoy three days of a non-stop musical theatre celebration – and, after the first JTF Atlanta, the answer was an enthusiastic “yes!”
This year, JTF Atlanta brought in over 7,000 students from all over the world to perform, watch, meet Broadway stars, and learn from some of the best in the business.
Greyson Chadwick, one of our theater and dance instructors, auditions students and puts together a team of dedicated, hardworking students who love musical theatre. They prepare 15 minutes from a Broadway Junior musical for adjudication by professional actors, directors, choreographers, and educators. This year, our team presented a clip from Roald Dahl’s Matilda, Jr. We were thrilled to learn that one of our judges, Lotte Wakeham had been associate director for the Royal Shakespeare’s production of Matilda at the West End for a decade!
The 160-plus teams were divided into pods where they performed for each other and received scoring and feedback from three judges. In this process, the judges
selected the team they felt was the best in their pod. This team was then awarded “All Festival Performance Group” and “Excellence in Pod” and was invited to perform one song from their selection on the big stage before the entire 7,000-plus festival attendees. Smoke Rise Academy is proud to announce that our team was selected BEST IN POD! This was our third year earning this honor along with the distinction of being asked to perform a new work in 2023, Finding Nemo, Jr by Disney and earning “Excellence in Music” and “Excellence in Dance” trophies! Our trophy collection needs a case so the whole church can see our accomplishments and awards!
Visit our website to view the 15-minute adjudication performance and the four-minute selection presented on the BIG STAGE!
We look forward to presenting the musical, Once Upon a Mattress, based on Hans Christian Andersen’s story of the Princess and the Pea on March 20-22. Our talented teens are now beginning work on this fairytale musical comedy.
Our Junior Drama will present Frozen, Jr on May 2-4. This is guaranteed to be a fun show for the entire family.
Scan Here to watch our performance
Connect and Engage at Smoke Rise Baptist Church
Spring Events
Weekly Schedule
Sunday
9:00 am - Coffee and Donuts
9:45 am - Sunday school
11:00 am - Worship Service
5:00 pm - Children Choristers
5:00 pm - Youth Activities
5:45 pm - Children Activities
5:45 pm - Youth Choir
Wednesday
5:00 pm - Dinner
6:00 pm - Prayer and Adult Bible Study
6:00 pm - Children and Youth Activities
7:00 pm - Sanctuary Choir
6:00 pm - Sanctuary Handbells
Our Sunday morning worship live stream is available at smokerisebaptist.org/streamingatsmokerise/.
The Wednesday evening live stream can be found at smokerisebaptist.org/wednesdayevening-activities/
Weekly Communications
Sign up with mabner@smokerisebaptist.org for our Wednesday Preview and Sunday Preview emails to get access to quick links to all our online programing.
Stay up to date with upcoming events with our weekly newsletter The Tie that Binds.
Lesson Archive
Find past sermons and Adult Bible Study lessons on our website.
Sermons: smokerisebaptist.org/2025-sermon-archive/
Adult Bible Studies: smokerisebaptist.org/journeys/