On May 6, 1990, Rev. Howard Locklear was called to pastors at Foster’s Grove. While serving as pastor, a church van was purchased and the parking area was repaved. Also, the first and only assistant pastor, Rev. Joseph Black was appointed. Rev. Black left Foster’s Grove in 1993 to continue his ministry in Charleston and Summerville, S.C. Rev. Locklear left Foster’s Grove in May of 1993 due to poor health.

 

    After the departure of Rev. Locklear, installation services for Rev. Horace Wilson, Jr., our current pastor, were held on November 28, 1993. His first sermon as pastor was on the first Sunday in December, 1993. Under Rev. Wilson’s leadership, God has continued to bless our church family. New Ministries that have been initiated are the Youth Fellowship Hour, Prison Ministry at Livesay Work Release Camp, WFGN Radio Ministry, and Wednesday Night Bible Study for Youth, and First Lady Barbara Wilson was selected as the Minister of Music.  The church is registered with the National Baptist Congress of Christian Education, became active with Spartanburg County Union of Churches and Associations and began a New Converts Class for Youth and Adults. We have also donated for the Spartanburg Blood Bank, purchased a new van, added 3 Trustees to the Trustee Ministry, and 3 Deacons to the Deacon Board. The Ushers Ministry was recognized, and the Men’s and Women Ministries were established. An additional choir, The VIP- Victory in Praise/Praise Team was established. The Marriage Ministry, Senior Ministry, Daughter of Judah, Babes in Christ, Singles Ministry, Audio/Visual Ministry, Aerobics Ministry, Healthcare Ministry, Food/Pantry Ministry, Internet Ministry, Decoration Ministry, and Education Ministry, were also put into effect in our church.

 

   In 1995, we experienced the deterioration of the old sanctuary. The rood began to leak, the siding had blown off, termites were in the flooring and the window frame was rotting. After all, the sanctuary had been built between 1914 and 1915. After discovering all these problems, the church leadership met with several contractors, hoping to save the original building. After getting some prices on renovating the original building, it was decided we would be wasting money on this building, which was about 85 years old at the time. After brainstorming, about what course of action should be taken, our leadership realized it would be in our best interest to build a new structure. In their meeting, they decided to build in 2 phases. Phase 1 would be a fellowship hall which would be used as a sanctuary also. This building was started in early Spring of 1997 and completed in February of 1998. The membership continued to grow and several new ministries were added. We continued to work toward getting monies ready to build Phase 2 of the projected project, the new Sanctuary. On April 20, 2008 we had a ground-breaking ceremony for our new sanctuary. On April 21, 2008, construction began.

 

    In making preparations for the new constructions, we had a storage building erected on the back side of our present fellowship hall. This was done so that we could have somewhere to store the salvageable contents from the old fellowship hall. We also decided to use the storage building as a temporary Baptismal site since we already had a portable pool. 2 dressing rooms were also built to use for the changing of clothes after the baptism until our new church was completed. The building committee met every Monday at 4:00p.m., before the new church was built in order to discuss the progress of the contractors and to discuss any changes that might need to have been made. The furniture committee met with vendors to select the furniture needed for the new church, and the interior committee selected the carpet, other flooring throughout the new building, and the color scheme that was to be used throughout our church.

 

    Our Crossover Ceremony, moving from the old to the new took place on April 5, 2009. Since moving into our present church, we have added 65 new members (45 who were baptized and 20 who joined by letter from past Christian experience). Our active membership in 2008 was 436 members. Currently, we have a membership of 542.

Our church applied for and received a 501 (3) © tax exempt status. This tax exemption makes sure that no federal income tax is charged to any of our nonprofit activities, that we can receive tax-deductible donations, and allows us to get lower rates on postage. Another plus for our church, is that our van was paid off in the month of June of this 2008.

 

   May God continue to bless us in all of our endeavors so that we can be a beacon of light to those who are in need of love and guidance.