A Country Church – A place you can call home, people you can call family.
Our little country church had a Homecoming today. That means we gathered to celebrate one more year of being a Christian family of brothers and sisters in Christ who meet to worship the Lord at the Goshen Baptist Church. The church was established in 1812. That’s 206 years ago. I don’t know if the church has had a Homecoming Day every year of its history. Probably not. In the early days things were hard for the little church family as they met in an old schoolhouse or in members’ houses.
The present sanctuary was dedicated on Sept. 29, 1889 by Bro. B.F. Hungerford, who made this entry in his diary.
“Took an early start for Old Goshen church 7 miles from Lawrenceburg to preach the dedicatory sermon of their new house of worship. Br. Burford is a slow driver. Road hilly and rocky. Was two and one half hours going 7 miles. Was worried at the pace but couldn’t complain. Reached there at 10 1/2 a.m. House full of women and babies. Woods full of men and horses. After some choir singing, preached the sermon. Text Psalm 127:1 and Ex. 19:4,5,6. An old time basket dinner.”
A Sunday school addition was added in the late 1940’s and a fellowship hall was built in 2006. The church has seen many people come and go through its many years. Some moved on to other churches when they left the area. Others faithfully attended Goshen many years and then went on to be with the Lord. I’ve been a member there for fifty plus years. It’s where I made a profession of faith after I married. I don’t remember ever not believing in the Lord, but I was too timid to walk the church aisle until I got older.
In our services each Sunday we have a time for those in the congregation to mention prayer requests and also reasons for thanksgiving and praise. Today with some of our former members coming “home” to celebrate with us, a few spoke up to say they had fond memories of coming to church at Goshen while they were children. One said she would never forget giving her heart to Jesus at our little church. Another said she was so thankful for the way Jesus had been with her ever since she first put her hand in His. Another was grateful that our church was still there on the hill where the faithful donated land in the 1880’s to build this church.
The building is not really the church. The people are the church. The church building is where they meet. But that doesn’t keep the church building from holding many fond memories and meaning something special to those members who have sat on the pews or are filling pews now. The church building is where we gather with our Christian family and feel at home.
That’s how people felt today. They felt as though they were home. One there today who grew up in our church family said she knew why she felt so at home at Goshen, even more than she did at her church now, and that was because she got hugs at our church and felt loved. Don’t we want it to be that way at every church building? A place we can call home and learn more about how to live a Christlike life until we are called to our eternal home.
We had special music from the Patriot Quartet. (My husband sings bass and he is the one on the right if you’re looking at the picture.) We had old friends and new friends there today. We shared many smiles and hugs. We enjoyed good music and Scripture. Our ears were glad to hear laughter and conversation. We ate good food and shared wonderful fellowship. All those things make for a blessed Homecoming Day.
I should have taken a picture of the dessert table. Just looking at it might make you gain ten pounds. There is nothing to compare with country church cooks.
Have you ever been to an old fashioned Homecoming Day with dinner on the grounds?
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Love a homecoming, enjoyed hearing about yours. Almost felt like I was there. At my church we hug, too, and feel the same way about the others~family. And mercy, the food–always the best.
Author
Loretta, good to hear that you go to a church where you are all family. We don’t have as many of what we call “eating meetings” as we used to, but we still find a way to get together to eat several times a year. Coming up will be our Thanksgiving dinner. I love what Lavon said her friend said about wanting to lose weight but she couldn’t because she belonged to a Baptist church. 🙂
I attended many a homecoming or “dinner on the grounds” growing up in e. Ky. It was always a great time with lots of delicious food. Your blog post brought a smile to my face along with wonderful memories!
Author
Glad my blog post brought back some good memories for you, Connie. I’ve been to many Homecomings not only at our own church, but since my husband has been singing in quartets for many years, I’ve had the pleasure of being in many other churches on their homecoming days when he and his group were singing for them.
Many years ago I attended one. I would love to attend your church. What a blessed family.
Author
That would be wonderful if you could, Lucy. We have too many empty pews on Sunday mornings.
No wonder you feel like family… we share the same Heavenly Father! And your description of Homecoming Day brought back memories of many similar joyous times. And oh, the music! If this is rehearsal for heaven’s choir, I can’t wait to hear those melodies. Thank you for sharing.
Author
That’s a good point, Jolene. We are all of the same Christian family. Glad my post brought back some good Homecoming memories for you. And we did have some good music. I wanted to post one of the videos I took, but I couldn’t get it to load. I’ll post it on my FB page tomorrow, http://www.facebook.com/anngabhart or Goshen’s FB page.
Our church is young compared to yours Ann, we celebrated our 125th anniversary last year. Our homecoming crowd kept getting a smaller & smaller turn out, so now we have Church in the Park instead. There’s a city park a couple of miles from our church & we have a service with lots of singing out there & it’s open to everybody in the community. We have a hot dog cookout after the service. It’s a very different feel from a traditional homecoming, but a great community outreach.
Author
Sounds as if the Lord led your church in another direction and it’s working for you. But 125 years is nothing to sneeze at, Robin. That shows faith and commitment. Hope your Church in the Park bring you new members as you share the Good News.
Congratulations at the long life of your Church. We didn’t have a homecoming but last week we had an Octoberfest celebration. We invited the community and some extra folks came. It is great to get together in the fellowship of the Lord. Blessings!
Author
Octoberfest sounds like a fun idea. Sometimes we need to step out into the community to try something a little different. Jesus went out among the people to preach and you invited the community to come in. One of the good things about church is the fellowship.
Our church had Open House today. So many people in attendance!
Author
That’s fun. Open house. That sounds like a great way to get people to come in and see what a friendly church you have as you share the Gospel, Carol. Glad you had a great turnout.
I vaguely remember attending Goshen Church when I was 7 or 8 . Some very dear neighbors ,Mr &Mrs Leslie Sales took me to church with them. Very fond memories!
Author
That’s neat, Evelyn. Many people have passed through Goshen’s doors through the years. I never knew Mr. & Mrs. Leslie Sales but I’ve seen their names in the history of the church. Glad my post brought up good memories for you.
Ohhh, what a fun day you’ve had! My little church on the hill will have our 125th year celebration in 2 weeks. While I haven’t been a lifelong member there, (only 10 yrs at New Friendship Baptist), I’ve always attended a Baptist church no matter what town we lived in. I was also a little timid about walking down that isle at Lusby Mill Baptist many years ago and being baptised in the nearby creek.
I can imagine that yummy dessert table…my mouth is watering in expectation of our upcoming dinner! Someone once said, I’d love to lose weight, but I belong to a Baptist church.”
Thanks for sharing, Ann.
I hope your week is as lovely as this day was.
Author
That’s a good number of years, Lavon. I hope you have a great crowd and a wonderful celebration. You may not be a lifelong member at your church but I’m sure you’ve been there long enough to feel at home. My wish would be that people would feel at home in our church on the first day they come.
That dessert table was over the top, for sure. Several coconut cakes, an Italian cream cake, some kind of pumpkin cakes, chocolate cupcakes, pies. I could go on and on. I love what you said someone once said. I’m going to use that in our church bulletin next week. 🙂