First Baptist Church Lake Wales Reopening for In-Person Services May 17

Faith communities around Central Florida are making decisions about re-opening for services and one church in Lake Wales has decided this Sunday, May 17, is the time to re-open their Sunday Morning Worship Celebration to the public.

This service, which begins at 10:30 a.m. has been live-streamed since before the pandemic and will continue to be shown on four platforms. The lead pastor at First Baptist, Dr. Scott Markley, reports the views on those platforms have been good over the last two months and giving has remained steady. Yet the church believed now was the time to allow those willing to return in-person to services on the church campus as they explain in documents they have posted on their website (fbclw.com) and on their Facebook page.

The church located in downtown Lake Wales has sought to respond to the pandemic in many ways. Just this week they sponsored an appreciation breakfast at AdventHealth Lake Wales for the whole dayshift of Medical staff. They have sent monetary gifts to feed the hungry in India, Guatemala, and Brazil where they have trusted mission partners. This Saturday, May 16, they are offering a Free Community Drive-thru lunch from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. on their church campus in a small attempt to feed the hungry a free meal.

Markley stated, "We have people eager to do something to fight back at the coronavirus. They wanted to do something hands-on like grilling, so we said let's try it."

So, this weekend will be a big one for this small-town church. You can view an instructional video about their re-opening on the church website or on their Facebook page. Their Sunday service can be viewed at 10:30 a.m. on their website, Facebook page, YouTube channel, or locally on Comcast channel 6.