Goodwill Missionary Baptist Church serving up Thanksgiving

PASS CHRISTIAN -- Harry Toussaint, his staff and volunteers of Goodwill Missionary Baptist Church, plan to serve a Thanksgiving meal with all the trimmings to anyone who would like to join the fellowship.

The church's "Gone Fishing Ministry" features dishes prepared by volunteer chef Andrew Fountain, who cooks a free meal at the church every Wednesday.

The meal will be served at 10:30 a.m. Wednesday and will last until the food runs out. Special deliveries will be made to the elderly and homebound.

Gone Fishing Ministries is a nonprofit 501 (c) 3 agency that provides health and nutrition education, advocacy, disaster and emergency services to the community.

Goodwill Missionary Baptist was organized in 1893 with the original structure located at the corner of Railroad Street and Hunter Avenue. The church, now in its 122nd year, is at 322 Davis Ave. on land donated by Margret Cobb in 1915.

Toussaint became the senior pastor in April 1984. He has been married to Nene for 43 years, and they have two children and nine grandchildren.

Since Toussaint joined the church, it has expanded by adding new classrooms, a fellowship hall, a front-entrance extension, a balcony and a choir loft, and bricks were added to the exterior.

The church is part of the Gulf Coast Missionary Baptist District Association.

"The youth group is probably the most active part of our church," Toussaint said. "They gathered food to give away for Thanksgiving, are working on a Christmas service project, and they are an active part of our nursing home ministry."

The youth also work on various community projects throughout the year, have a mime team, a dance ministry and a youth choir.

This story was originally published November 20, 2015 at 6:20 PM with the headline "Goodwill Missionary Baptist Church serving up Thanksgiving ."