About the Rockport Rocket
July 13, 2012 (Friday)
Today we received the final edition of “The Rockport Rocket,” newsletter of the First Baptist Church of Rockport. The newsletter suffered the same fate that is overtaking the entire newspaper industry, as technology is rapidly changing communication methods. Electronic media are replacing printed pages sent through “snail mail” (regular mail service).
When I came to Rockport as pastor in 1964, the church had never had a newsletter. The worship attendance on the day I preached in view of a call was 178. Wynell McLain was our church part-time secretary, using an old church-owned upright typewriter and working from her home. The only piece of equipment in the church office was a hand-cranked mimeograph machine, but the church had begun to enter a new era. From the days of Brother Crabb’s ministry, through those of Brother Ramsey, Brother Broadway and Brother Brumley, the church had moved from being a small congregation in a frame building on the corner of S. Live Oak and Main to a growing congregation with a modern granite educational building, a nursery-office-education unit alongside a beautiful worship center completed in 1960. It was already well on its way to becoming a stronger and larger congregation when Wanda and I arrived with our family in November, 1964.
A weekly newsletter, dubbed “The Rockport Rocket,” was started in 1965. The publication was received with enthusiasm by the congregation. It was a useful tool in the ministry of the church and served well for 47 years–through my pastorate and those of Brothers Walter Knight and Scott Jones.
Like Paul, the church is “reaching forward to what lies ahead.” We don’t live in 1965; we live in the 21st century. New means of communication are at our disposal here in the year 2012, and the church is making excellent use of them. We bid farewell to the Rocket; RIP old friend–you did a good job.