Partners

Since its beginning in 2006, The Grace Network’s mission has been to provide a hand up, and not a handout, to those in need. Church members of Martinsville and Henry County, including our own, regularly volunteer at The Grace Network serving as greeters, receptionists, interviewers, screeners and pantry workers. In addition to providing financial support through their yearly budgets, area churches also support The Grace Network through monthly donations of food and hygiene items. In addition, we began a special offering some time ago, which we call “Change for Grace”. It is an offering to TGN of all of the loose change we receive in our offering each Sunday.

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Previously, local industries had quietly taken care of financial need within the community, but when those industries weakened, or ceased to be altogether, it left little to no resources to meet the various community needs. With more time, the funds and the services needed to maintain and improve the appearance of Bassett became the responsibility of our residents as well as those who had maintained their connection with Bassett.

The Greater Bassett Area Community (GBAC) was begun by one of our beloved church members, John T. “Smoky” Pegram. His vision was to bring together a group of committed resident volunteers for the purpose of strengthening and improving Bassett.
Since 2010, several members of our church, along with other residents and leaders in the area, have been active in both the planning and the work carried out by the GBAC.

Since its inception, the GBAC has done much to carry out their purpose. Some of their accomplishments have included the landscaping of several streets, the planting and maintaining of shrubbery and greens, and doing trash pickup, and the cleaning of curbs. A community farmer’s market was also established in the historic and newly-remodeled train station, and it is open during the summer months. In addition, street lights were installed in the dimly lit areas of town. Free music concerts called “Rhythms by the River” are now offered on the fourth Saturday of each of the summer months GBAC one of the largest antique car shows in Virginia, is held on the third Saturdays of May-October in the parking lot of Bassett Furniture Industries.

Area Christian churches such as our own, along with the GBAC, also sponsor an ecumenical pre-Thanksgiving worship service in the JDBJ Event Center (former Bassett High School), which is led by the ministers of those churches. A food fellowship follows the service in the cafeteria of the center. The love offering from this service is given to the Henry County Food Bank and The Grace Network.

The GBAC is constantly looking for ways to better our community. We are proud of our accomplishments, but more proud of the support the community continues to provide through volunteering and financial contributions.

We pursue a bold and powerful witness in our communities and around the world that none of us can do on our own. As a Fellowship, we unleash all the powerful gifts we’ve been given to meet the urgent needs of our churches and our communities.
We participate in the mission of Jesus through both evangelism and social transformation – a mission that involves individuals and communities, hearts and minds, words and deeds, souls and bodies. It includes changing hearts and the transformation of structures and communities.
Our understanding of Baptist faith and practice is expressed by our emphasis on freedom in biblical interpretation and congregational governance, the participation of women and men in all aspects of church leadership and Christian ministry, and religious liberty for all people.
CBF is innovative congregations, gifted and called field personnel bearing witness to Jesus Christ around the world, nearly 1,200 endorsed chaplains and pastoral counselors, 15 state and regional organizations, dozens of theological schools and partner organizations and so much more.

In May 2017 the HCBA reached its 60th anniversary since its formation, and this momentous occasion was celebrated at the annual meeting of churches in October. Through the HCBA, churches may join hands to provide and receive encouragement and support with various ministries and resources. Each year the HCBA provides a VBS clinic to help churches prepare for their VBS with all kinds of ideas and resources.

Some of the HCBA ministries our church supports are: Raceway Ministries, which offers a hospitality center at the Martinsville Speedway, and the Horne Home, which is a home for ladies with disabilities. A ministry we have more recently participated in is Operation-In-As-Much. OIAM is a ministry day in which participating churches provide a wide variety of ministries in the Martinsville-Henry County community. Some examples are: giving people some money toward gas, laundry, and fast-food meals at local establishments, the construction of wheelchair ramps, providing hygiene bags for the homeless, replenishing items needed for the Pregnancy Care Center, and providing gift bags for some of our nursing homes residents.