church of the week
New Salem: Jesus at the Racetrack
By Jewel Graham
The 700 Club
CBN.com
– From the pits to the pulpit, Pastor Ed Stuckey leaves the Sportsdrome Speedway on Saturday nights for New Salem Baptist Church on Sunday mornings. His church supports a local chapter of raceway ministries.
“This track has been here since 1947, and didn’t have any prayer until we got here five years ago,” Pastor Ed said. “Now we do a prayer in the pit stand. We do a prayer right before the national anthem. Then, after I've prayed, I’ll be helping in the pit area. So, if someone’s in a wreck, I’ll be one of the first ones to the car to make sure they’re alright; other than that it’s just a matter of coming out and cleaning the track.”
Racing continues weekly in Clarksville, Indiana, from April through October. Ed’s partner, Greg Whittaker, and his wife, Wanda, write a ministry newsletter each week.
“It’s probably the biggest ministry tool that we have, and it gives us a chance to get into everybody’s pit and talk to everybody,” said Greg, a volunteer chaplain.
Greg also prays with the drivers before every race.
“Most of the people here at the track, they don’t go to church. They don’t have a church,” Greg said. “And, I've heard several of them say, ‘you are our church.’ That makes you think about a lot of the things you do here. It’s a big responsibility; it’s big when you’re somebody’s church.”
Troy Phillips has been driving since 1992, and says he sees a difference at the track since raceway ministries came.
“They do make a presence,” Troy said. “They make people react different because, of course, the Word; and they spread that. And there have been several people that have actually started to go to church because of them, since they’ve been here.”
Pit boss, Jay Vincent, is one of them.
“About three years ago, I was on the fence of going to church,” Jay said. “Finally, talking to these guys out here, they told me what a good job I do out here, and that I really ought to go to church and get myself saved. And, I did. I’ve been going to church steady for three years now, and I’m really involved in the church, and I love it.”
“The ministry here at the rack is, I think, exactly the kind of ministry that Jesus would be doing,” Pastor Ed said, “because Jesus didn’t hang out a lot with the religious people. He was out with the people in their natural settings, reaching out to them and just trying to show them love.”
For your ministry to the Sportsdrome Speedway, The 700 Club salutes New Salem Baptist Church - America’s Church of the Week!
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