Ponder to be installed at Greater Newton Grove

Staff Reports

April 15, 2009 10:40 pm

— MOULTRIE — Greater Newton Grove Missionary Baptist Church Installation Services for the Rev. Cornelius L. Ponder III will be held on Sunday, April 19, at 2:30 p.m. The Rev. Lorenzo L. Heard of Greater Second Mt. Olive in Albany, Ga., will be in charge of services.
Heard is a native of Leesburg, Ga. He began preaching at the age of 17 and after three years began his first pastorate at the Macedonia Baptist Church in Patterson, Ga. In 1987, he became the pastor of the Saint Galilee Baptist Church in Sparta, Ga. In 1993, he became pastor of the Greater Second Mt. Olive Baptist Church in Albany, Ga., where he is presently pastoring.
He is a 1981 graduate of the Lee County High School. After high school, he attended the formerly known FVSC, which is now known as Fort Valley State University and after two years transferred to Morehouse College in Atlanta, Ga. He received a bachelor’s degree in business management from Albany State University.
Under the leadership of Heard, more than 2,500 people have joined The Greater Second Mt. Olive Church family.
With his ability to lead and relate to people and his commitment to community and citizen building, he along with others have built an outreach program for the East Albany community that seems to be making a difference in the city. Since his arrival at Greater Second Mt. Olive Baptist Church, his commitment to “building a model community that in turn becomes a model church” can be seen in building structures and community programs, but most of all, in the changed lives of people that have been helped by the church and the outreach program.
He is leading his congregation and citizens of the community to be active in their communities, civic organizations and in setting the political agendas of the city. He challenges them to be conscious of world and community issues and to be proactive instead of reactive about how they will affect their lives. He also challenges everyone to be involved in the political system and agendas of the city and the nation by registering to vote and attending community meetings to be aware of the issues.