In January 1992 Reverend Paul Bailey traveled to Philadelphia for a three week stay at the Eastern Baptist Seminary where he continued work toward a Doctorate of Ministry in Marriage and Family, learning with classmates from the experts. He explained again his need for the continuation of his education. He was of the belief that “the greatest avenues of the Church of Jesus Christ in this day and age, to reach others with the knowledge that God loves them and wants a relationship with them is through a ministry to marriages and families. He wanted to be able to offer, along with existing children’s programs, greater resources to the community, i.e. in marriage enrichment, singles resources, support groups and senior programs. Reverend Bailey wanted the Church to help make these plans available, but to lead us in that endeavor he felt he needed more training.
An Associate Pastor Search Committee was appointed at the Annual Meeting in January, 1992:
| Bill Lyon, Chairman | Kathleen Shevchuk |
| Gordon Noble, Secretary | Ann Lowry |
| Erman Ferris | Leah Stark |
| Murray Chesebro | Cary Martin |
| Millie Skinner |
They established a procedure for the search, surveyed the Congregation, developed a profile for the candidate, used recruiting sources including Hazel Roper, the state and local American Baptist Organizations and advertisements in the Syracuse and local newspapers. Six candidates were interviewed in September. Reverend William Garold (Gary) Baker was the unanimous choice of the committee and was introduced to the Congregation at the Quarterly Business Meeting in October, 1992, where he was unanimously voted to be our Associate Pastor. Reverend Bailey wrote in his 1992 Annual Report, “We embraced the ministry of Reverend Garold Baker as Part-time Associate Pastor. He and his wife Jean have became a beloved part of our Church Family.”
The Trustees arranged for $100,000 in the Parsonage Fund to be loaned to the American Baptist Churches of New York State to allow them with more funds from other Churches to purchase condominium office space in Dewitt. The mortgage-like agreement was for twenty years with a minimum interest rate of 6%. If we ever needed the money, we could request it to be returned with a nine month wait period. The end date is April 30, 2013.
In 1992 the New York State Baptists initiated a campaign to raise from local churches $1,500,000.00 for “renewal and camp development.” The Iroquois Association Churches made pledges amounting to $31,996.50. Pastor Paul served “in a limited way” as a campaign organizer. The drive was called “For God’s Tomorrow- a Renewal.” For some reason our Church acted as a collection agency for the Association drive and at the end of five years the First Baptist Church of Manlius had contributed $13,840.00, the other American Baptist Churches in the Iroquois Association $9047.50 and the ABC/NYS office $4500.00 for a total of $27,387.50.
In 1992 the Church celebrated several staff anniversaries and hoped for more years of their faithful services to the Church and their Lord:
The Carol Choir was founded in 1952 by Shirley Mapstone and she had continued as its Director for forty years. On Children’s Day, June 14, 1992, the Choir presented “100% Chance of Rain.” After Church a gala celebration was held in the Chapel with a beautiful birthday cake and a display of pictures of the original Choir and others during the forty year period.
In 1992 the music program of the Church was greatly enhanced by the gift of a Baldwin Grand piano from Beth Greene for the sanctuary as a memorial for her husband Kenneth Greene, a dedicated member of the Church for more than fifty years.
