Faith Story | Meredith K.
November 20, 2025
My faith in Christ has shaped who I am today. It has shaped how I approach every part of my life. Because of my relationship with God, I live with a deep sense of confidence and peace, knowing that I never face anything alone. Life is full of challenges and unknowns, but I trust that God is always with me, guiding my steps and giving me strength for whatever twists and turns come my way.
This confidence is rooted in my belief that, when I ask, God equips me with the one thing I need for life, which is Him. When I step into something new or difficult, I remind myself that His presence goes before me and stays beside me. That assurance allows me to approach every challenge with courage instead of fear, and hope instead of doubt.
My faith was strengthened in a profound way as my dad fought Alzheimer’s. There were days when the weight of it all felt overwhelming. I remember feeling helpless at times, unsure of how to handle the demands. It was during that time that I truly learned what it means to surrender everything to God.
Instead of carrying the worry and fear alone, I chose to put my trust in Him. I prayed constantly — sometimes for strength, sometimes for patience, and often simply for peace. God answered and gave me comfort when I felt broken and calm when life seemed chaotic. Even in moments of sadness, I could sense His presence and His love surrounding both me and my dad.
Being a Christian means that I don’t measure my life by what goes right or wrong, but by how God is working through it all. I’ve learned that every challenge is an opportunity to grow closer to Him, to rely on His strength, and to share His love with others.
There’s a line from the hymn “Because He Lives” that says, “Because He lives, I can face tomorrow.” This song reminds me that my strength and courage don’t come from my own abilities but from knowing that Christ lives within me. No matter what tomorrow brings, I can face it without fear because I know who holds the future.
Faith Story | Bob H.
November 18, 2025
I didn’t grow up in a church-going home. My first experience with church happened at age eight. Playing outside on a Sunday morning in our small town, I could hear the most beautiful music. I followed the sound a few blocks and sat down on the church steps and was mesmerized. Suddenly the door opened and it scared me, so I ran all the way home.
Fast forward two years. A little girl named Carolyn, a friend and classmate at Winchester Avenue Grade School, invited me to church. So I had a little boy crush on her. But when she told me they had baseball and basketball and scouts, I was all in.
Yes, I met her that Sunday at First Baptist Martinsburg,West Virginia. My mom made sure I was well dressed. As Carolyn and I walked down the aisle, we held hands! A big deal for age 10. Her mom and dad were the greatest. I love them to this day.
Over the years, I became the starting pitcher for baseball and starting forward for basketball. Became a Sea Scout and learned a lot about lakes and rivers and creeks.
At twelve, Carolyn Clohen and I gave our lives to Christ and were baptized together. You may think we ended up together, but it was just a young love thing. After growing up together at FBC, she married a golf pro and I joined the Air Force. Then a degree in Architectural Design from Chicago Technical College.
My membership stayed with First Baptist all the years. In 1985, I got married and for quite a while I thought I would be Presbyterian. But my roots kept calling me back.
It wasn’t easy to get my bride to turn in my direction, but God was in it. Here we are decades later, Marsha and I, serving God together at HBBC. Together.
Faith Story | Polly L.
November 13, 2025
Imagine playing Twister combined with finding Wheel of Fortune’s missing letters while wrestling with Jeopardy’s intricacies. Then you may have some grasp of my convoluted Faith Journey. When I sing “I Stand Amazed in the Presence of Jesus… and Wonder How He Could Love Me,” I reflect on how often I have experienced my Savior’s wonderful, marvelous, unconditional love during turns/detours before I formally joined Hayes Barton Baptist Church in the last year. Jesus long ago decided the world needed another Army brat who, under His guidance, would become a singer, teacher, lawyer, stepmother, and, best of all, mother. Me!!!
At an early age, I learned about Jesus. My churchgoing maternal grandparents were blessings! During Vacation Bible School at their Baptist church, I made my baptism decision at age 7, joining several young friends. Mama, my grandmother, sang hymns with me. Papa, my grandfather, quiet as Mama was chatty, always attended church with us and rejoiced in my very existence. I lost these Saints during law school but smile thinking of them.
During my Raleigh years, following military deployments to Japan (where my sister was born), Alabama, and Ft. Bragg (where my brother was born), I attended HBBC at times, then another Baptist church, then Emmanuel Baptist Church, which Mother joined. College was at Meredith with required religion classes, on-campus chapel, and off-campus church.
My church attendance was sporadic for the one year I taught high school biology in MD. When I returned to pursue my M.A. in American history at UNC-Chapel Hill, I had no interest whatsoever in anything church related. But when I moved to PA to teach high school American history, Jesus knew that my churchgoing days had simply been on hiatus. A singer friend led me to the best church choir in York, PA, at the Lutheran Church downtown. Jesus had led me back to church, mostly for the music, but He was persistent.
If I wanted to attend law school, the time had come. I tackled three years of legal studies, followed by lawyer work. Robert Frost, in “The Road Not Taken,” reminds us that the road chosen makes “all the difference.” God remained present in my life during my PA years. I joined Harrisburg Choral Society, attended a small Baptist church, was married there, then moved to VA, singing in our church choir and helping start a community choral group.
After relocating with my daughter to NC, my marriage irretrievably broken, then facing the death of my brother, I was led to fulfilling legal work plus services for my child. God also encouraged my music interests through Capital Area Chorale and Concert Singers of Cary. During the pandemic, God whispered it was time for church ties. The HBBC broadcast ministry was key to my attending and later joining.
My most significant lifetime event was my child’s unexpected death in the summer, 2024. No grief compares to a parent’s loss of a child of whatever age. But God had been preparing to receive her and has provided many comforts I still need. He has focused me repeatedly on Psalm 18:28, which states, “You, Lord, keep my lamp burning. My God turns my darkness into light.” Equally important is Psalm 46:1, proclaiming, “God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.”
A quote attributed to Fannie Brice, Sophie Tucker, and others, says, “I’ve tried it rich, and I’ve tried it poor. And believe me, rich is better.” I’ve tried life with this church, and I’ve tried life without it. And believe me, being at Hayes Barton Baptist Church (and choir singing) is better!
Faith Story | Shirley F.
My mother is the reason for my strong faith. I saw Jesus at work in and through her every day of her life. What a blessing! She was a member for nearly 60 years and missed being a charter member by 2 weeks.
In looking back over the years, I realize how significant the many devoted Sunday School teachers, ministers and Christian friends are who have influenced, supported and loved me. I have been led by 5 senior ministers – all different and special in their own way. Of course, I have some favorites. I have served on many committees during my lifetime and was privileged to have directed weddings for some 40 years.
I have a great love and respect for the Bible. I don’t know that I have a favorite verse but through it all I know that Jesus loves me.
Faith Story | Brian R.
Then, an acquaintance invited me to Sunday school … and somehow, deep down, I felt that was where I needed to be. Yet I balked; “I won’t have slept off my hangover by then, you gotta be kidding me,” and I dismissed it.
But that feeling remained … that I needed to be there. I’d purposefully stay out till 4 a.m. yet was wide awake in time for Sunday school … so I started going. I was instantly aware of the “community” experienced by that group of kind, thoughtful Christians. I enjoyed meeting them and getting to know them. Such a stark contrast to those I met at clubs. This new group cared about each other, on a fundamental level.
I began to think more … where will I be in twenty years? Ten years? Five years? And with whom? I know there are right ways to fly a plane, to be a leader of Marines, to exercise … is there also a right way to live my life, too? And, what if I don’t live that way? Beyond that, I looked at the evidence of the Christian truth claims … history, psychology, sociology, and particularly science (“Intelligent Design” and “Irreducible Complexity”) … and it all fit perfectly.
So, not knowing what I was getting myself into but trusting this God that I was beginning to know, I prayed for God’s forgiveness and that Jesus would indeed be my Savior, to lead me as I sought Him. And I discovered the possibility and the intensity of a personal relationship with the Creator of the universe, who has guided me over the next 30 years, proving Himself over and over.
Throughout my career and after, whether overseas or here in the U.S., I see that it’s not that there are God-forsaken places, it’s that places have forsaken God. And I saw what happens to a society that does so. It’s not that I’ve been delivered FROM challenges, it’s that I’ve been delivered THROUGH them, and I am learning and growing as I do. The meaning of life has been proven to me … to realize there is a loving God, and to spend my life getting to know Him and becoming like His Son, to be able to spend eternity in the presence of a perfect, holy God.
How will our families, neighborhoods, communities, cities, nation, and world thrive, or even survive, without Jesus? I realized that God isn’t keeping any good thing away from us (like Satan alleges in Genesis 3:4), but is giving us a clear path and opportunities (John 10:10) … that life is about what we give, not about what we get.
Oh, and when that acquaintance invited me to Sunday school: His friend said to him, “Why bother inviting Brian … he’s a lost cause.” At one point, I was a lost cause! But Jesus found me. Also, I later learned that my mom had been praying intensely for me as well. No coincidence, just God-incidents. Lastly, my home church of HBBC hasn’t just been a “refuge” to recharge, but also a “launching pad,” where I refit to continue and grow! Romans 8:28, Romans 5:3-5, James 1:25, 2 Timothy 1:7.
Faith Story | Mark H.
Imagine God. If you think you can, you’re really not trying. Our best scientists can’t unravel the atom or this vast universe. So how can one comprehend the creator of the universe, and then add infinite love and the supposition that this God also cares about us as individuals?
Fortunately, along comes Jesus – the incarnation of this incomprehensible God. Fully God yet fully human, we like to say. Sharing our feeble bodies and lovingly helping us wrap our feeble minds around what God wants from us.
This is the basis of my faith. Not the promise of heaven (whatever that might be) or the threat of hell (ditto), but Jesus as the foundation, showing how I might build a life in which I can do at least some good.
It’s odd to think about what “influenced my commitment to Christ.” It’s like asking what made me an American. I’ve been a Christian (and an American) since birth, and I have no intention of giving up on either. But that hasn’t stopped me from growing and doing serious questioning in both roles.
That growth has had twists and turns. As a child, worshiping with my parents, I served as an Episcopalian acolyte and then learned to stay awake during Quaker meeting. I attended a Presbyterian college, married the daughter of a Presbyterian minister (in a New England Congregational church) and became a Presbyterian elder. And now, in retirement, I’m an active Baptist here at Hayes Barton!
Growing in my faith has meant being less afraid to ask questions and acknowledge my doubts. My many doubts. If Jesus’ hand-picked disciples failed to “get it” time and time again, certainly I can be excused as well.
“Foundation” is the word I come back to.
Through my doubts and my uncertainties, Christ is there (even if as a sometimes inaudible whisper), giving me a foundation – for dealing with my fellow humans, making workplace decisions, raising two children (both of whom are now church leaders) and maybe helping others.
Is that a faith story? Maybe just the start of one — with a long, long way to go.