WORSHIP
How do we Worship at Bay Road?
Worship is a daily activity, and we also gather for Worship and Fellowship every Sunday at 10 am. Our Worship is based on scriptural teaching and includes contemporary christian music as well as hymns of the faith. We have time for testimonies of how God is working in people's lives and a time for praises and prayers for the people. On the first Sunday of the month, and on special occasions, we celebrate Communion. We also celebrate seasons of the church such as Lent and Advent and hold special worship services for Ash Wednesday, Maundy Thursday and Christmas Eve. Communion is taken to members of our church family who are not able to attend Worship.
BIBLE STUDIES
How do we spend time with God in His Word?
Our ruling body, the Session, is currently studying "Becoming a Flourishing Church" - focusing on how we can deepen our lives as disciples who can then disciple others.
Every Tuesday, from 9:30 - 11 am, women of our church gather at Oneida Community Church to study various topics - like David, Joshua or Esther. On Thursday mornings, women gather at Bay Road Church for Bible Study and Fellowship.
On Wednesdays, from 5:30 - 6:30 pm, we gather on Zoom for a preview of Pastor Thomas' upcoming sermon - reading the scriptures together and talking about what they are saying to us as individuals. We also spend time in prayer for each other.
In 2019, the congregation participated in the "Psalm 119 Project" - reading through the entire Bible in one year with the weekly Sermons based on that week's readings. Resources are available if you'd like to complete this on your own.
Pastor Clarence Thomas
Rev. Clarence T. Thomas Sr. was born January 6, 1960, the sixth of nine children, to Lucile and Joseph C. Thomas of Macon Georgia. He was educated in the Macon public school system and graduated 1979. After high school, Clarence attended Paducah Community College and South East Missouri State University, majoring in Mass Communication.
Rev. Thomas relocated to Hudson Falls, New York in the winter of 1996, employed by Glens Falls Lehigh Cement Company for the past 23 years in various positions, currently as a heavy equipment operator in the plant quarry.
I married my beautiful wife Rebecca L. Thomas in 1983, and they raised three sons together, Clarence T Jr., Charles A, and Isaiah Thomas.
Pastor Clarence has been, and still is active in the community with the boy’s basketball summer league in Hudson Falls; he serves as a care team leader at the local Open Door Soup Kitchen in Glens Falls and Ministers to men of all ages in the Upstate Jail Ministry at Washington County Jail.
Rev. Thomas was saved in 1989, baptized in Topeka, Kansas, became a born again believer and servant of his Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Clarence joined Faith Tabernacle Missionary Baptist Church in March 2011, was ordained as a Deacon on June 10, 2012 and served as a Sunday School Superintendent, and Sunday School Teacher. He became a licensed Minister of the Gospel in August 2012, served as an Associate Minister for 7 years, and entered the Hudson River Frontier Missionary Baptist Association Catechism Program in October 2016 through January of 2018, at which time he completed the Catechism program and was Ordained on January 20, 2018. Rev. Thomas has served the Albany area and local churches, filling in as pulpit supply, for the past 9 years.
After preaching once each month at Bay Road Church for over a year, Rev. Thomas became the Pastor of Bay Road Presbyterian Church on July 1, 2019.
Pastor Clarence's favorite scripture is Psalms 32: 1
Blessed is he, whose transgression is forgiven,
Whose sin is covered.
Favorite Hymn: O I Want To See Him