What a beautiful week we’ve had here in Kentucky. Spring has been all around with blooming trees and warm sunshine. It was enough to give you Spring fever and make some of you want to go fishing. Not me. I haven’t discovered whatever it is about fishing that makes people long after a pond bank. I like to walk on that pond bank, but not fish off it.
Nearly twenty years ago on an April Sunday, we had a big day at my little church, Goshen. For those of you who may have read my Hollyhill books, I based a lot of my fictional church, Mt. Pleasant, on our church. Of course, only the good Mt. Pleasant members in my story resemble my Goshen Christian brothers and sisters.
Our church has been around a while — since 1812. So, it’s seen a lot of springtime Sundays.
The April Sunday I’m remembering, we dedicated our beautiful new Fred Knickerbocker Fellowship Hall to the service of the Lord in our community. We named it after our pastor who, at that time, had been preaching for us for almost 25 years. He added ten more years to that before he moved on up to heaven. That was a long time to put up with the same bunch of sheep, but he was a good shepherd. We were blessed to have him as our spiritual leader at Goshen for so many years.
Anyway, a year or so before this particular Sunday in April, we had stepped out in faith to build a fellowship hall for our social events. We had no way of knowing how we’d ever raise the necessary funds. We were a small congregation then and still are now but with hopes of growing. But you know the Lord can still work wondrous works. Br. Fred used to like to say the Lord could hit a pretty straight lick with a crooked stick.
For certain, the Bible assures us that with God, nothing shall be impossible. Remember the angel telling Mary she could have a baby as a virgin. Jesus called Lazarus out of the grave. He healed people with a touch. He arose from the grave. Jesus said if we only had faith the size of a mustard seed, we could move mountains. With God, it could be possible.
So, it was with our fellowship hall. With God, and only with God was it possible. Within two years, we had our loan paid off. Members loosened their purse strings. Former members or their families gave special gifts. We stormed heaven with prayers, first with faith that it was possible, then with joy on that day in April when we dedicated the building on a Sunday in April.
Prayers are powerful. Think of it like electricity. The power is there, but first we have to plug into it.
“The well of Providence is deep. It’s the buckets we bring to it that are small.” (Mary Webb)
So, get your biggest bucket and draw deep this week.
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Becky and Roberta, so glad you liked the post and the quote. It is a challenging one.
What a wonderful saying, and an encouraging story, thank you!
Prayer is so powerful!! I’m learning to say it’s NOT the least I can do, it’s the BEST I can do for someone!!
Author
I love that thought, Trudy. It’s a good quote on its own. And one that is so true. Thanks.
I am an ELCA Lutheran in Florida and our congregation consists of two campuses, one to the North and one to the South in the same county. When I joined, a good twenty years ago, it was a thriving church with about 300 members and a youngish Pastor with two Elementary age boys. Pastor Jerry is the grandson of a Pastor and in his sermons he always said his grandfather told him to preach the word and love the people, and he did. Fast forward a few years and the other ELCA congregations in the area were falling apart. After much discussion, several of the churches banded together and became one congregation with the two locations and one extra Pastor, Pastor Sally, and a new name. One church came into some money so did not join. That worked for a good while. But some problems arose, not sure exactly what, but I believe it involved monetary mismanagement, as well as the fact that the two Pastors were not friends. The synod advised that both Pastors resign and at the same time the President of the Congregation did too. That was a real blow and members left. Pastor Rita came on as Interim and she was so popular we called her to become the Pastor. Covering both locations on Sunday was tough. Also for awhile there was a Saturday evening service. Fast forward some years, the South campus building was old and too small. A school was built next door and the man who ran the school I guess Corporation, offered to build us a new building we could rent for a dollar a year. This was accepted and plans were drawn up and construction started. The funeral home across the street let us use their chapel for services. The man in charge of the school went on vacation and was killed while on vacation. He did not leave a will!!!! His former wife had to step into his roles. The plans for the church went on but the building was changed drastically. Pastor Rita imagined 300 people on a Sunday, but that never happened. Then Pastor Rita decided to retire. More people left. We had some Interims again. One was a retired Pastor, Pastor Tom, who had lived all over the world, had originally been a university librarian. He was marvelous!! A little old fashioned technically but so smart!!! He could read ancient Greek. Bible study was so informative about the history of the early Christian church and the individuals mentioned in the Bible. Pastor Tom developed an inoperable brain tumor and died shortly after. What a blessing that his suffering was short lived. So we were back to no Pastor. We had two retired Pastors as members who decided to take on the Interim role until we were able to call a Pastor. With all the upheaval we have shrunk in membership dramatically. There had been a school renting classroom space at the North Campus, which provided much needed income. This year they took over an empty church building so all their satellites are now under one roof and we have not found another tenant that is a non profit. Our two Interims just retired. The one church holdout from the consolidation has now decided to be part of us. There is no money for a Pastor or musicians. The South campus is down to eight to ten people on a Sunday and no children, the North campus is much better I think due partly to the fact that there is no competition in that area. The area of the South campus is loaded with churches. Fewer people are going to Seminary now and the cost is partly to blame, I hear. Church membership all over the nation is down. There is a nondenominational church in the area that took over an entire shopping center that I hear is well attended, but there is no liturgy. It is strictly entertainment. My friend’s granddaughter was the stage manager there for several years. I keep meaning to check it out one Sunday. I may well be the last person out the door of the South campus as they lock the doors behind me. Sorry to go on so long. Thanks for the opportunity to vent.
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I’m glad you shared your church’s ups and downs. It can be hard when a congregation gets very small. Our church has had times when we weren’t sure if we might have to close the doors, but so far, we’ve been able to stick it out. Covid, 2020, was extra hard on us with our church closed for months. Our pastor at that time also had health issues. So sorry to read about your pastor’s illness and then the other man killed in a wreck. Sometimes things do seem to be against us.
We had a time when we were that low. We’d just been able to put a bathroom into our church some years ago and I sometimes thought the last one out could flush the commode. But maybe getting a little more modern helped us and we’ve always had generous members to keep things going. Hope your church will have some of those answered prayers.
I really like this post and the quote you shared at the end!