Charleston, SC

Monday, May 12, 2008

Sunday, June 1, 2008, will be different from all of the Sundays that have preceded it. It will be a friendlier, more cheerful and more affirming day. Gone will be the rancor and demeaning verbiage. Across South Carolina churches will celebrate the Second Annual Say Something Nice Sunday.

The congregation of First Baptist Church Charleston wanted to change the negative tone of much of the Christian discourse. It passed a resolution calling for at least one day when Christians would not say anything derogatory toward any other Christian or Christian body, but instead would say only nice things. The Charleston Baptist Association followed by passing the same resolution. The Charleston Atlantic Presbytery joined the campaign as did CBF of South Carolina. The first Say Something Nice Sunday was celebrated by a number of churches in Charleston County and a scattering of churches throughout the state.

At its 2007 convention in Florence the South Carolina Baptist Convention passed a resolution,"Unity in the Body" which supports the idea but without a specific date. This year the convention will be asked to add the first Sunday of each June as the target date. The resolution will be forwarded to the Southern Baptist Convention. The idea received support from Dr. Frank Page, current president of the SBC, Carlyle Driggers, retired executive secretary of the South Carolina Baptist Convention, and Jim Austin, the current South Carolina Baptist executive. The first Sunday in June was chosen because June is already Better Communication Month.

Every church is invited to participate. There are no fees and there is nothing to buy. Resource materials are on the First Baptist Church of Charleston web page at www.fbcharleston.org. Enter the web site. Click on calendar and the seasonal events. The web site contains Bible citations, inserts for bulletins, and ideas to enhance the celebration. Churches are encouraged to develop other materials and to share them. The Say Something Nice Committee would like to know how various churches did participate. Send the reports to mitchcarnell@Bellsouth.net. Other members of the committee include, Rev. Marshall Blalock, senior pastor, Lori Lethco and Myra Whittemore of First Baptist Church, Edgar Boles, Director of Missions of the Charleston Baptist Association, Sue Mathews, Director of Resourcing of the Charleston Atlantic Presbytery, Betty Thomas, Cathedral of Praise, and Angela Williams from Holly Trinity Episcopal Church on Daniel Island.

Charleston, SC

843-556-2310