
By Sherrie Norris
For a number of years, churches within the Three Forks Baptist Association have come together for designated days of community service. For 2024, what has been known as High Country Impact is joining with a statewide emphasis called ServeNC.
And no one is more excited about the combined effort than Wesley Smith, Executive Director at TFBA.
“We currently have 12 churches in our association that have signed up to join over 1,000 NC Baptist churches in serving our communities for this event,” he said.
And it’s all happening locally August 3-10. As an example, Smith said, “Mount Vernon Baptist Church is doing several projects that week, one of which is serving the Bradford Park Community.”
A spokesperson for Mount Vernon shared, “We’re gearing up and getting excited about local service projects planned for those two Saturdays, we’d love for you to join us as we ‘get out of our seats and into the streets!’
As a prelude to the main service days, Smith added, Mount Vernon partnered recently with Watauga Baptist Church to encourage and serve the first responders of the Foscoe and Seven Devils communities.”
Some churches are planning to serve the community by volunteering at the annual Back to School Festival, August 10, Smith noted. “Others will be doing other projects that week, ranging from delivering meals to first responders, to wheelchair ramps and minor home repairs. One church is using their Sunday morning gathering to head out into the community to share words of encouragement and pray.”
As in the past, the participating churches are encouraged to look for needs in their own communities that can be met to help others see and know the love of Jesus Christ.
“They are also encouraged to pray and ask the Lord to show them the unseen in their community,” he added. “Those who may feel isolated and lonely.”
Smith shared that ServeNC is a statewide service emphasis of the North Carolina Baptist State Convention, a spokesperson for which shared, “ServeNC is an opportunity for every NC Baptist church to love its community in Jesus’ name through service projects. If your church didn’t exist, would your community notice? Whether it’s painting a school, cleaning up a yard or serving meals to those in need, your church knows your community’s specific needs and can choose the best project to make a difference through ServeNC.”
Smith said, “During our coordinator training a few months ago, Dr. Paul Langston, Mission Mobilization Consultant with Baptist On Mission, encouraged leaders to use this as a time to move our people from their seats and into the streets. He shared three things for leaders to think about while preparing for HCI and ServeNC: Serving the unserved or underserved, and seeing the unseen. The third point is that no project is too small.”
Smith added, “Some of our churches already have a regular rhythm of serving their community. Some do not. High Country Impact and ServeNC is about encouraging churches to create regular rhythms of serving their community.”
In conclusion, Smith shared, “We’re excited about this year’s High Country Impact and being a part of the larger emphasis in joining churches across NC to do this together. TFBA exists to glorify God by serving local churches to fulfill the Great Commission and demonstrate the Great Commandment. Jesus commands us to make disciples and share the gospel, but he also commands us to love our neighbor as ourselves. The Great Commission and the Great Commandment are not suggestions, they are commands for followers of Jesus. We’re praying for a wonderful week or month of serving our community together!
Smith noted that serving as a catalyst for the upcoming event was TFBA’s active involvement in a full week of community service with the recent World Changers in town earlier this month. “It was a great week, he shared. “We had about eight of our TFBA churches involved with the group of 130 participants from seven different churches and five different states. It was a wonderful week of collaboration and partnerships!”
World Changers will return to the High Country next year, having already designated the week of June 23-28, 2025, with a projects list already filling up with a waiting list.

For more information about these or other projects, call TFBA in Boone at (828) 264-4482.
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