First Baptist Church of Sterling Celebrates Its 50th Anniversary

Oct. 20, 2012 - PRLog -- Sterling, VA – First Baptist Church of Sterling Virginia (“FBCS”) the church where everybody is somebody, proudly announces the celebration of the church’s 50th anniversary to take place on Sunday, October 21, 2012.  The guest speaker for the morning service is Pastor Carl E. Jones, Sr. of Greater Parkview Church in Greenburg, PA.  The anniversary celebration coincides with FBCS’ Bishop Leslie Patterson’s appointment to serve as pastor of the church, now in his 17th year. Patterson is only the third pastor to serve the FBCS congregation since its inception in January 1962 and throughout his tenure, the church has grown from the 75 members he started with to its present membership of over 1300.  

On January 28, 1962, the late Reverend John W. Thornton officially organized the First Baptist Church of Sterling with 42 members and held the first services in the basement of Rev. and Mrs. Thornton’s home. The current building was originally constructed in 1964 and throughout his tenure, God blessed his ministry. After sixteen years of continual building of the congregation, on May 15, 1978, God called Reverend John W. Thornton from labor to rest.

The members were anxious to fill the vacancy left by their founder’s passing, and the church called Rev. James E Jeffries to become the second pastor of FBCS on April 17, 1979.  During Rev. Jeffries tenure, many improvements to the building were made and the church flourished.  On August 21, 1995, Pastor Leslie Patterson Jr. became the third pastor of the 75-member congregation.

In July 2002, Pastor Leslie Patterson was appointed to the office of Bishop, thereby, expanding First Baptist to a worldwide ministry.  Throughout the sixteen years that Bishop Patterson along with his wife, co-Pastor, Dr. Francene V. Patterson have served at FBCS, they have dedicated themselves to the vision God gave them for the ministry at FBCS.

Sunday morning’s celebration is scheduled to include a performance by the FBCS Mime Ministry and a guest choir.  Church members and visitors have been invited to the potluck dinner to be held in the church fellowship hall after the eleven o'clock morning service.

For more information on FBCS and its rich history, visit the website at www.fbcsterlingva.org