ALAMOGORDO, N.M. – Eternity Baptist Church over the years has purchased all the land on its block. No. 8 of Eternity’s 10 prayer requests for 2026 is, “What should we do with it?”
The property in the past was a treeless mobile home park, but all the homes have been sold and removed. The 325-foot by 690-foot property could become. … “Well, that’s what we’re praying about,” Pastor Fred McCloskey told Baptist Press.
A young boy 26 years ago suggested the name “Eternity” for what was then a new Southern Baptist congregation in the north part of town, “and it stuck; everybody liked it,” the pastor said. Despite COVID-era struggles, Eternity today carries the sense of a young church with now enough “seasoning” in the membership that many are equipped to engage with their community.
This is at least in part because of the pastor, who is in his second pastorate, though he was at the first church – (the Conservative) Calvary Baptist in Washington, Pa., – for 38 years. He learned from the inexperience the first congregation endured from him, McCloskey said. Eternity’s pastor since Sept. 1, 2024, McCloskey’s preaching and leadership show his fresh zeal for the church to be all God wants it to be.
Son of an American Baptist pastor, McCloskey has eagerly embraced the Southern Baptist Convention and the Cooperative Program that maximizes its missions and ministry endeavors together.
“We went through the Baptist Faith and Message and agreed with all of it,” McCloskey said, including his wife Robin in his statement. “They [pastor search committee] asked a lot of questions. We seemed to really click. We felt very well received. They said, ‘We need a shepherd,’ and that’s kind of my heart.”
McCloskey quickly got involved with Mountain Valley Baptist Association and the New Mexico Baptist Convention. As a result, he learned, “Southern Baptists have a true concern for each other, and a sincere passion for the Word of God. Prayer Request No. 6: Cooperation with other churches.
“I do enjoy and appreciate it [the SBC] in many ways,” the pastor continued. “The Cooperative Program makes it easy. I appreciate the ability to see churches work together to do big things for God, to have the personnel and resources to do significant things together.”
Eternity Alamogordo, where 30-some people gather for Sunday worship, allocates 11 percent of undesignated offerings for missions through the Cooperative Program, a commitment that dates to the start of the church.
“We’re part of something big; we think that’s encouraging and challenging,” McCloskey said. “We have two IMB missionaries who quarterly update our people, and our people are excited about knowing what’s going on.”
The church also supports a dozen additional missionaries and ministry organizations both locally and around the world.
“We’re finding exactly what our niche is,” McCloskey said when asked about Eternity Baptist’s local ministries involvement. Members are active in several local ministries, including a pregnancy resource center and various support ministries.
“Alamogordo is a military town, with Holloman Air Force Base on the west side of town and White Sands Missile Base 40 minutes further west, so a number of our people have a connection,” the pastor said. “There are other [Southern Baptist] churches that have a big outreach at the base so that can’t be our primary reason to reach out. We’re praying about exactly who God wants us to reach, radiating out from where we are.
“I think our people are starting to get the idea people aren’t just going to show up to church,” McCloskey said. “You have to go out, establish relationships and draw them in. Simple as our website is, four weeks in a row people have visited because of it. We have a number of members who don’t even use email, so they’re surprised at the impact of our website.”
Since Eternity’s No. 1 prayer request is for God to send families with young children, McCloskey brings a “Children’s Corner” age-appropriate short message every week. When no children are present to meet the pastor at the front of the church, adults move in to fill the space.
“If we are praying for God to send us children, we need to be prepared for them every Sunday,” the pastor said. McCloskey’s main messages to adults always are heavy-laden with Scripture, he added.
Robin McCloskey recently started a class for younger teen girls; the pastor, a class for older teen boys and young male adults. “We believe God is giving us the next generations to disciple,” McCloskey said. “One thing that drew us to the church was that the older members actively wanted young people here.
People in their 70s and 80s are excited about involving young people in the church, the pastor said. “There is a strong core of these folks.” Prayer request No. 2: Give us Length of Days.
“Within three to five years we want to see all generations in the church,” McCloskey continued. “The church wants to continue to make an impact in Alamogordo. We think what has been invested in the folks here needs to be shared and passed on. There’s a real need in Gen Z to have a church family to help them with their struggles and to grow in their faith.”
As to that 8th request for what to do with that city block: “We have talked about an all-purpose building for outreach, small homes for widows, or a field for hosting water days and other events,” McCloskey said. “The Lord will show us in His time and way. May He answer our ‘people prayers’ in the same way.”
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