NewSpring Church Blog

More than 130 people were baptized Saturday at the Greenville campus as families and friends came out to tailgate. Burgers and hot dogs, chips and dip – all were part of the celebration. The youth even served snow cones to help everyone cool off. Tents were set up and the tailgates were down as we celebrated those who now profess Jesus as their lord and savior. Three family members, Annette Anderson’s sister, mom and dad, who accepted Jesus last month, were among those who were dunked. The family was tailgating in the parking lot and went all out with a tent decorated in a Hawaiian theme. Church wide, 570 people were baptized!

NewSpring volunteers were busy on May 2 volunteering for Hands On Greenville Day.  Jennifer Foster, a home group leader, along with 20 others went to Alexander Elementary School. They were busy painting, planting a butterfly garden and mulching the playgrounds. They received several donations from local stores to help fund the projects and get materials. NewSpring volunteers rock!

They were taking pictures and video of every single nook and cranny of our campus here in Greenville and asking plenty of questions during the early Unleash registration on Wednesday. We saw more than 100 people from all over, such as Florida, Oklahoma and North Carolina. Staff and volunteers showed what we have to offer from KidSpring to the technology in our auditorium.  Not only did we see churches, but some techies from Oklahoma City were here to check out what’s going on. If you missed Unleash this year, make sure you’re here in 2010!

A little snow storm can’t stop NewSpring from worshiping!
As about four inches of snow fell during the 6 p.m. service, several NewSpringers rocked the house and heard Perry’s powerful series “I Want a New Marriage.” Perry was pumped that people still made it to the Greenville service!
Volunteers, 77 of them in fact, braved the roads to come and serve. And they gave out coffee and met guests with umbrellas.
Catherine Powell, volunteer director, says some of them are just nuts – joking around of course. “Volunteers are completely on board with having people come to hear about Jesus,” she says. “It shows they care more about others than themselves.”
Although Fuse was canceled, many still came to show their support. And the band was ready to tear it up on the stage. One couple even watched the web campus and drove to the 6 p.m. service to get their rose and renew their vows.
When it was over, everyone helped each other get out of the parking lot, from scraping windows to directing traffic, so they could get back on the road to head home. We know many of you couldn’t drive due to worsening conditions, but what a wonderful testament to the church and its members who could make it out in the weather no matter what!

Just this weekend, Sunday, February 22, the service times for NewSpring Florence will change to 5:30pm and 7pm.  We will still meet in the McNair Science Building Auditorium on the campus of Francis Marion University, and we will still have age appropriate Children’s Ministry programming for all kids 5th grade and under.  So join us at 5:30pm or 7pm this Sunday, February 22 as we continue the iwantanewmarriage.com series…and bring a friend with you!

We will be back to our normal times at 9:30am and 11:15am on Sunday, March 1. 

Music auditions for the Florence Campus will be held on Sunday afternoon, December 21st. You must be signed up in advance to audition, so if you are interested, email us at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) before Friday the 19th and we’ll get back to you with the details.

Word travels fast, but in case you haven’t heard yet, we’re opening our fourth and fifth NewSpring campuses in 2009.

Our tech guys are hard at work on an Web Campus to provide a full interactive service experience to anyone with an internet connection, and we’re praying through locations, logistics, staff and volunteers for our recently-announced Columbia Campus. Updates to follow on both locations!

Between the Anderson and Greenville campuses, we had thousands of tailgaters and baptized over 600 people today!

If you’re using Flickr to post photos online, tag your images from the event with newspringbaptism08 so everyone can see what an amazing day it was!