Event benefits missions

By Sam Waller

With fewer COVID-19 restrictions this year, Friendship Baptist Church enjoyed increased attendance Saturday for its sixth annual Harvest Acres celebration.

“We actually did it last year, and it went well then,” pastor Paul Johnston said, “but it went a lot better this year because people moved around more. We thank the community for coming and supporting and all the good visits that we had.”

The event raises funds to help those in need within the Albany community, but Johnston said it has other benefits.

“The main thing we want to do is give our congregation a chance to actually get to know each other better and to get to know people from the community who come in,” he said.

Johnston said the goal is to break the congregation free from the inertia that may keep members from interacting more.

“We’re probably no different than any other church,” he said. “We’ll sit in the same pew, wave at someone across the aisle, but we really don’t get to know who they are. When you have an event like this, you get a chance to sit down and drink coffee, have a snack and get a chance to share fellowship.”

Johnston said this year’s event was a success on both fronts with more than $3,500 raised for local missions.

“We had a lot of people come through,” he said. “The things that were baked and the things that were made all sold out. We didn’t have to take home much, and we didn’t have to clean up much.”