First Baptist Church of Moorestown invites the community to celebrate its 185th anniversary on Saturday and Sunday at 10 a.m.
“We want people to know that we’re a place where they can come, they can feel safe, they can feel accepted, they can feel loved,” said church and leadership team member Lois Dinsmore.
“We’re basically like a family and we’re there for each other.”
The anniversary celebration will start off with a fair that will include children’s activities, pumpkin painting, displays and activities from the various ministry teams, costumed tours of the church and its property and a look at historical artifacts.
“ … We have someone else who’s going to be doing tours of the (church) cemetery,” Dinsmore said. “We have a cemetery in the back … There’s a lot of interesting graves back there because some of them are really old … We’re trying to let the community know who we are and what we’re all about and what we’re trying to do.”
Following the fair on Sunday, there will be a special service of celebration featuring music, presentations and worship.
“ … We’re just trying to celebrate and say, ‘Hey, here we are,” Dinsmore noted. “We’re a church that really cares about social issues, and if that’s something that interests you, maybe you might want to come check us out.”
She explained how the celebration is open to anyone.
“We wanted to really get the community involved,” Dinsmore said. “ … In the past, we’ve had tables at Autumn in Moorestown or at Moorestown Day in June, and we’re just trying to let people know who we are and what we’re about and why we’re (there).”
The church’s 175th anniversary celebration was held around the time of Hurricane Sandy, but Dinsmore noted it was still a success for the community.
“We lucked out, because mostly everything was on Friday and Saturday,” she recalled. “Sunday morning we just had a service. By (then), the wind was starting to blow, and of course by Sunday night, Hurricane Sandy was just awful …
“It was a really, really great day (and) we had a lot of people come …” Dinsmore added. “We were very happy (and) we had several people who came to the church as a result of that.”
Dinsmore is excited to celebrate with church members and the community.
“ … We just talk to people …” she noted. “And see where they are in their lives and what they’re doing … The church has a lot of different people, but we’re all kind of on the same page when it comes to what we want to see in the future.”
For more information on the anniversary events, visit https://www.fbcmoorestown.org.
