Pastor Kelvin E. Turner

The 2016 ministry theme for the Zion Baptist Church family is “Called and Empowered to Witness.” For more than two thousand years, the words of Jesus have echoed and reverberated throughout the corridors of human existence:

But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.

Over the past 12 months, the Zion church family has celebrated the works and wonders of God, as one of His many representatives in the greater Hampton Roads community.

While we have boasted of His goodness and favor before family, friends and the faith community, it is now time for us to take our witness much further. Not in a braggadocios way, but in a way that shares His fame for the favor and faithfulness that He has shown to the Zion church family for more than 150years.

Since coming to Zion more than six years ago, I have seen firsthand, ministry leaders and members working hard and diligently to return Zion’s ministry life to congregational normalcy. Having been dislocated because of the fire, the church has been under the community’s microscope, being inspected and dissected by our every move and decision. And look what God has done! Look what God is doing! Look what God desires to do!

The community has been allowed to see for themselves, God’s faithfulness and favor on behalf of the Zion church family. Because of that, we have a responsibility to tell our story. We have been both called, and empowered to witness to family, friends, and the community regarding what God has done on our behalf. Individually, and congregationally, we are called and empowered to witness.

In 2016, we want to be serious and intentional about the call and responsibility to witness, but not just witness. We also want to be serious and intentional about growing the kingdom through “… winning souls, strengthening the family, and developing godly leaders for community transformation.”

In closing, I would like to challenge the congregation as a whole to take the next 30 days, to prayerfully discern your role and responsibility in becoming an effective witness for the body of Christ in 2016.

Lester R. Brown may not be a household name, but as one of the world’s most influential thinkers (according to the Washington Post) and author and co-author of more than 50 books, Lester Brown understands the importance of looking back.

Born March 28, 1934 in Bridgeton, New Jersey, Lester Brown was a tomato farmer. At the age of 17, Brown showed up on the door steps of Rutgers University, without the ability to pay tuition. He thought the 28,000 tomato plants that he farmed on the family’s seven acres would be sufficient to pay his tuition. The problem was that he wouldn’t be able to receive payment for the tomato cannery until late fall. The tuition was due in at the time of registration. Brown subsequently met with the dean of the school and was awarded a full tuition scholarship.

Brown went on to become a world renowned pioneering environmentalist, and attributed his success to attending Rutgers University, and because of that, he felt obligated to Rutgers. According to Brown, Rutgers not only paid his tuition, but it changed his thinking, and his life. Because of the profound impact that Rutgers had on Brown’s entire life, he wanted to present them with a gift that would continue beyond his life. Brown decided to give back to his almateur a one million dollar gift to establish and endow the Lester R. Brown Reading Room.

I don’t have the fame and fortune of Lester Brown, but like Brown, I often look back over my life, and ask what changed my thinking, what changed my life. Without a doubt, the institution that changed my thinking, my life, my career, my family, and my future is the church. The impact and influence of the church on my life has touched the lives of others, and has had a major impact on my family, friends, and those to whom I have been blessed to minister to.

I challenge each reader to look back over their life, and see the great impact and influence that the church has had on your thinking and your living. I challenge to make sure that others and future generations will be able to benefit that same way even after you have transitioned from labor to reward. I challenge each reader to consider naming the church in its will; to take our an insurance policy naming the church as beneficiary; sell or donate property and give the proceeds to the church; or establish an investment policy on behalf of the church. I challenged the church each reader to look back so that you ca look ahead.

Saturday, September 19, 2015

Time: 5:00 p.m.

TICKETS NOW ON SALE.

Cost: $45.00.

Location: EDMONDS CENTER, Portsmouth, Va.

Purchase tickets here or contact church office at phone #; 757.397.1671.

Email church for more information at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

AGES 6-12

It’s that time of year once again; get ready because the 2015 Youth Summer Enrichment Ministry is here!!!! As in previous years, Third Baptist Church and Zion Baptist Church will be collaborating in order to enrich the lives of our communities’ youth. The children will embark on field trips just about everyday of summer camp. They will re-discover Portsmouth and the surrounding areas and view them in a whole new light; and learn how to allow their own lights to shine in the process. Their trips will include: YMCA, Zoo, Virginia Beach, Busch Gardens, Roller Skating, Bowling, Norfolk Aquarium, Norfolk Tides Baseball, the Classroom Barge, and much, much more!!!!

The children will participate in arts & crafts, daily journal writing, Bible study, recreational activities, community service, music and computer classes. They will participate in their own Olympic Games, Ice Cream Socials, and even make the “World’s Largest Sundae.” The camp will conclude with a production from the children as a presentation to the church and their families, as well as an overnight trip.

The camp will be held June 22, 2015 – July 31, 2015, from 7:30 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. Camp registration is $55 per child, and tuition is $55 per week per child. There are only fifty spaces available for this wonderful opportunity, and they will be filling up fast. Please contact the Third Baptist Church{(757) 393-9312} or Zion Baptist Church {(757) 397-1671} offices in order to sign up your child or if you are interested in volunteering for the camp or participating as a camp counselor TODAY!!!