Forest Hills Baptist Church

UNITED AFRICAN BAPTIST CHURCH

The Vision
The vision for a Ministry to Africans in the Triangle area of North Carolina first came to Dr. Burke Holland in 1987. He was at that time the Director of Chaplaincy and Language Work for the North Carolina Baptist State Convention. Dr. Holland then shared his vision with Rev. Dee Froeber, the Minister to Internationals at Forest Hills Baptist Church. He also shared it with Dr. Charles McMillan, the Director of Missions at Raleigh Baptist Association.

The vision became a reality in September, 1987, when Rev. ''Yinka Jolaoso and his wife, Ruth, both students at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary in Wake Forest, were asked to begin a Ministry to African Internationals in the Triangle area at a meeting attended by Dr. Burke Holland, Rev. Davis Froeber of Forest Hills Baptist Church and Dr. Charles McMillan of Raleigh Baptist Association.

Preliminary Work
From October 1987 to September 1988, Ruth and ''Yinka were engaged in preliminary work. They stated meeting Africans in October 1987 when Rev. Dee Froeber took them to attend ''Nigerian Night'' at NC State University. Then followed a period of ''''word of mouth'' net-working. They met new African arrivals in the area, visited some in their homes, at work, and at birthday parties, wedding ceremonies, naming (baby) ceremonies, graduation parties, etc.

Inaugural Worship Service
The Mission Church held its inaugural Worship Service on Sunday September 11, 1988 with 19 people in attendance. The Service took place in the premises of Forest Hills Baptist Church in the ''Green House'' which was later torn down to make room for a new educational building. In 1989 the African congregation moved into the chapel which had just been vacated by the Chinese Mission, now ''Raleigh Chinese Christian Church.'' The church was then meeting at 4:30 P.M. At a church conference on Sunday October 8, the church voted to change its Worship Service to 11.00 A.M. and to begin Sunday School which would meet at 9:30 A.M.

Adoption of a Name
The name, ''First African Baptist Church'' was adopted by the congregation in the first quarter of 1989.

Structure
Early in the history of the church Rev. Jolaoso began to lay the foundation for a well structured Baptist church. In addition to the regular Worship Service, he established a Music ministry, Brotherhood, Woman''s Missionary Union (WMU), Sunday School, Home Bible Study groups, and a Prayer Ministry. The ''African Church'' began the training and the development of lay leaders very early. In addition to his duties of attending to the ministry of the Word, counseling, teaching, visitation and administration, the pastor has been, and still is, responsible for the welfare of the members, assisted by a very active and responsible Church Council.
The Church Council is made up of the following officers: Pastor, Associate Pastor, Chairman of Deacons, Clerk, Treasurer, Coordinators of Music, Finance, Education, Evangelism, Missions, Children & Youth, Church Family Care, and the church''s representative on the International Council of Forest Hills Baptist Church.

Stewardship
The Mission adopted its first budget ($19,500.00) at a church conference on Sunday December 3, 1989 for 1990. Out of this amount $4,000.00 each was to be contributed by Forest Hills Baptist Church, Raleigh Baptist Association, and North Carolina Baptist State Convention, respectively. This was the first budget to be adopted by the new congregation. At the same church conference it was decided that 5% and 3% of the tithes and offering be contributed to the Cooperative Program of the Southern Baptist Convention and Raleigh Baptist Association, respectively.

Call of Associate Pastor
As part of re-structuring, the church added another Worship Service to accommodate its English-speaking members. This necessitated the call of an associate pastor who would handle the French-speaking section of the congregation. The church then extended a call to Rev. Patrice Soki Kebi from Congo who was already a member of the congregation. On Sunday June 18, 2000 at a church conference, the church voted unanimously to call him. This arrangement did not last very long, however. There was a concerted effort by some members to put the two sections of the congregation back together again. On Sunday August 20, 2000, at a special church conference, both sections of the church voted unanimously to worship together at 3:00 P.M. beginning Sunday September 3, 2000. On that particular Sunday only the French-speaking members and one couple from the English-speaking section showed up for Worship. The rest left the church.

Rev. Patrice Soki Kebi resigned his position as Associate Pastor effective December 31, 2006. The position was not filled because the need for having an Associate Pastor no longer exists.

Deacons
The church ordained its first deacons (Masiala Ngoma, Leonard Paku and Abel Ajiboye) at a joint Worship Service with Forest Hills Baptist Church on Sunday July 10, 1994. Deacon. Bwensa dia Malosa and Deaconess. Mahungu Ntombo Bwensa were added to the Deaconate Team in September of 2004.

Missions
Through the leadership of Rev. ''Yinka Jolaoso, founder and pastor, the church began very early to understand the importance of missions. Throughout its history the church has continued to reach out to Africans in North Carolina, Europe and Africa through a variety of mission activities. The Missions Department of the United African Baptist Church has, through its mission funds, supported missionaries, seminaries, Bible schools, local churches, para-church groups, hospitals, and clinics in cities and rural areas in several African countries. These countries include Democratic Republic of Congo, Nigeria, Ghana, Cameroon, Guinea, and Botswana. The church supports local and International mission efforts of the Southern Baptist Convention by supporting Raleigh Baptist Association, North Carolina Baptist State Convention and the Cooperative Program of the Southern Baptist Convention. Borrowing from the slogan of the WMU, United African Baptist Church prays for mission, gives to missions and engages in missions.

A Change of Name
The name of the church was changed from ''First African Baptist Church'' to ''United African Baptist Church'' at a church conference on Sunday January 11, 2004.

Vision for the Future
The church is currently visioning with Forest Hills Baptist Church to determine what form of relationship we will have with our sponsoring church in the future. In the mean time the church is in the process of acquiring a 4.5 acre piece of land in Kinghtdale for future development.