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    Sam Moore

Ches. Could Garner $500,000+ During 4-Day Baptist Meet

By Rosaland Tyler
Associate Editor
New Journal and Guide

   Vendors who set up shop at the upcoming Virginia Baptist State Convention from May 12-16 in Chesapeake could gain access to about $500,000, which visitors are expected to spend there.
    More than 5000 visitors from 750 churches throughout Virginia are expected to stroll through the Chesapeake Convention Center, where the five-day event will be held. About 2500 visitors alone are expected at the opening night concert. Meanwhile, about 1500 visitors are expected to attend daily workshops, seminars, and other sessions.
   “We have vendors who will sell men’s or women’s fashions, jewelry, hats, biblical books, music, African art, and other items,” said Samuel Moore, who has served as the director of logistics for the Virginia Baptist Convention for the past seven years.
    A retired military master chief, who said he enjoys the job, Moore is a volunteer who said he was called on to work out the details with vendors, hotels, restaurants, and conference centers. He has served under two separate VBSC presidents. It is another way to serve God, said Moore, who became a born-again believer during a near-plane crash 25 years ago.
   “My job is to keep down the confusion,” he said. “I’m a born-again Christian, and you have to be called to do this work. The Lord has really blessed me tremendously. And He rewards me for doing His work,” explained Moore, who has been a deacon for 16 years at New Weeping Mary Baptist in Chesapeake.
    Moore’s efforts are part of the reason why visitors will be able to use credit cards, for the first time, to pay many convention-related expenses. The suggestion was made over the years to convention officials, Moore said. Then VBSC officials took action.
    There are other changes visitors can expect to see this year.

   For example, long lines at the convention are expected to move faster since convention officials two years ago appointed Second Calvary Baptist member Mary Summerville to serve as registrar.
   “It takes a lot of people to put this program together,” Moore said. “We’re still growing. My military experience taught me how to utilize everything. We used to have a major problem just with registration.”
    Moreover, record keeping became problematic as attendance steadily increased. Churches want to be promptly reimbursed after the convention ends, Moore said. “So a person was appointed two years ago to serve as registrar.

Posted April 30, 2008

This person is responsible for grooming someone else for the job and so am I; because we could drop dead at any second.”    

   Space is still available for vendors, although 10-12 vendors have already signed contracts, he said. Several non-profit groups, which qualify for free space at the convention, have also signed contracts. Rates start at $275 for commercial vendors.
   “I don’t duplicate the vendors who are represented, here, because I want each vendor to make some money,” he said, explaining the ground rules. No counterfeit tee-shirts, fake designer purses, or downloaded bogus CDs. It’s all spelled out in the contract, he said.
    Moore, who has traveled from Egypt to Japan, said he became active in the church for several reasons after he retired from the military in 1985. First, he had good role models. He grew up watching his now 92-year-old mother, Josephine Moore, go to church each week at Antioch Baptist Church in Berkeley. His parents were married for 49 and a half years when his father passed.
    Second, he began to re-evaluate his life during frequent flights from here to there while serving in the military. “When you’re flying so much like I did in the military you begin to see strange things happening such as two planes setting on the same runway.”
    Finally, there was the bumpy ride during a thunderstorm where his plane almost crashed. It shattered many of his old perspectives.
   “On that date I accepted Christ as my savior. From that time, I began to read the scriptures and to do what I was supposed to do.
   “My life is centered around three things,” Moore said. First, there’s God. Next there is his 42-year-marriage to his wife, Eva. They have a daughter in Portsmouth who is an assistant principal. Their son is a captain with the Portsmouth Fire Department.
    Third, there’s his family and his work as a church volunteer. “We’re still growing,” he said of the upcoming convention. “This is the first time it’s being held in Chesapeake. Before the convention center was built, they did not have a hotel large enough to suit our needs.”
    To learn more about opportunities for vendors at the upcoming Virginia Baptist State Convention, please phone (757) 714-3531. 

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