Bayou Vista Baptist to celebrate 50 years

Bayou Vista Baptist Church will celebrate its 50th anniversary this weekend with special services Saturday and Sunday.
Fellowship and a meal will be held from 6 to 8 p.m. Saturday in the Fellowship Hall. Doughnuts and coffee will be served at 9:45 a.m. Sunday at the Fellowship Hall with a worship celebration beginning at 10:30 a.m. Sunday. A meal and fellowship in the gym will follow the service.
On Nov. 17, 1963, First Baptist Church of Morgan City organized Bayou Vista Baptist Mission, according to the Bayou Vista Baptist Church anniversary program. Two structures, a permanent one of colonial design and a temporary education building, were situated on five and a half acres of land in Bayou Vista donated in 1957 by Effie Cotton.
With a $1,250 allocation from the Women’s Missionary Union 1963 Georgia Barnette Offering, donated furnishings, the calling of the Rev. John C. Lee to serve as mission pastor, and a beginning membership of 122, the mission was born, the program states.
Eleven months later, on Oct. 18, 1964, having grown to 249 members, the mission was reorganized as Bayou Vista Baptist Church under the leadership of Lee, the program states. The church has had three pastors, Lee from 1963 to 1969, the Rev. Charles S. Gilder from 1970 to 2008 and the current pastor, the Rev. Steven L. Kelly, who been pastor since 2009. As of 2013-14, the church’s membership had grown to 995 members.
Other current pastors at the church include the Rev. Bobby Powell, minister of music and education; Paul Gilder, minister to youth; and the Gilder, pastor emeritus.
Past interim pastors were Thomas Cobb and Bert Langley, who served in 1969 and 2009, respectively.
Former ministers of music were Sidney Martin, Raymond Johnson, Byron Myrick, A.W. Alexander, Jon Breshears, Marsha Gilder, Randy Riley, Bruce Rector, Don Currence, Alan Fruge and David Spencer
Jimmy Hill was a former minister of education along with Breshears. Past ministers to youth include Myrick, Breshears, Riley, Hill, Currence, Fruge and Spencer.
Ministries at the church include Vacation Bible School from 1966 to present, kindergarten classes, Trailer-Court Bible School in 1967, Guest Home Ministry, literacy classes in 1973, Bus Ministry in 1975, Skating Ministry in 1976, ceramics classes in 1977, Bible and tract distributions throughout community, FLC Activities Program for community children in 1978, Benevolence Committee, Food Closet from 1980 to present, Harvest Festival for local children, offering food and fun to children and adults alike and English as a Second Language classes.
The church has participated in other ministries including Sewing Seeds Ministry, baby blankets for local newborns and women’s dresses for Haiti and Compel Outreach International, Ladies’ Bible Studies, Men’s Bible Studies, Operation Christmas Child emphasis throughout year and participation in Samaritan’s Purse Processing Centers, Youth Mission Fuges, Centrifuges, Toledo Bend Vacation Bible School, Winter Clothes Ministry, Workdays, Cruise Ship Ministry, Nursing Home Ministry, GA/RA Missions Camp, Acadian Baptist Center, women’s conferences, mission trips to Alaska from 2011 to 2014, Haiti from 2011 to 2014; and Nova Scotia, 2014, Choir Easter and Christmas productions and children’s productions.