Lessons Learned In A Small Church Build Foundation For Life
July 19, 2018 at 11:30 a.m.
By Ken Locke-
This past weekend I headed out to Marshalltown, Iowa, for a reunion with folks who attended that church.
Five years ago we were saddened when the church was closed, something happening to many congregations across the land.
Bethany United Methodist Church (an EUB congregation before that) was never large in number but great in heart. It was a community that was an extended family, showing me four important components of a foundation for life:
• First was always that the Bible can be trusted as the Word of God. It was preached and taught with passion by pastors and lay people alike.
• Secondly, that group was our “community center” as we learned to love one another striving to serve others.
• Third was the challenge to live holy lives and “don’t let the world squeeze you into its mold.”
• And finally, that Jesus is the Way, The Truth and the Life.
I had a Sunday school teacher and youth leader, Barb Elliott, who had a great impact on me. She could play the guitar and had a beautiful voice that sang from a love deep in her heart. One time she “made” me sing “I’d Rather Have Jesus” with her. I did my best making a joyful noise against her talent. But when we got to the end the silence was pierced with a question, “Do you mean it?”
I reluctantly said “yes,” but as a teenager there were many things competing for lordship in my life. That question haunted and reminded me of poor choices I was making in high school. I would live one way on Sunday and another the rest of the week.
I was invited to a meeting at The Salvation Army where the major said, “Someone needs to get serious about Jesus.” Barb’s words came back once again. I went forward to the altar and answered her question. “Yes, I’d rather have Jesus.”
Those foundations I learned in my youth have carried me through life. On the corner of Bethany, now a Hispanic congregation, is a stone engraved with these words, “Jesus Christ Himself being the chief cornerstone” (Ephesians 2:20).
In this crazy, mixed-up world, we all need the foundation of the Word, community, holiness and yes, Jesus — more than anything this world affords today.
Ken Locke is community ministries director of The Salvation Army in Warsaw and director of the Greater Warsaw Ministerial Associa-tion. Have ideas for this column? Go to www.gwma.info.
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This past weekend I headed out to Marshalltown, Iowa, for a reunion with folks who attended that church.
Five years ago we were saddened when the church was closed, something happening to many congregations across the land.
Bethany United Methodist Church (an EUB congregation before that) was never large in number but great in heart. It was a community that was an extended family, showing me four important components of a foundation for life:
• First was always that the Bible can be trusted as the Word of God. It was preached and taught with passion by pastors and lay people alike.
• Secondly, that group was our “community center” as we learned to love one another striving to serve others.
• Third was the challenge to live holy lives and “don’t let the world squeeze you into its mold.”
• And finally, that Jesus is the Way, The Truth and the Life.
I had a Sunday school teacher and youth leader, Barb Elliott, who had a great impact on me. She could play the guitar and had a beautiful voice that sang from a love deep in her heart. One time she “made” me sing “I’d Rather Have Jesus” with her. I did my best making a joyful noise against her talent. But when we got to the end the silence was pierced with a question, “Do you mean it?”
I reluctantly said “yes,” but as a teenager there were many things competing for lordship in my life. That question haunted and reminded me of poor choices I was making in high school. I would live one way on Sunday and another the rest of the week.
I was invited to a meeting at The Salvation Army where the major said, “Someone needs to get serious about Jesus.” Barb’s words came back once again. I went forward to the altar and answered her question. “Yes, I’d rather have Jesus.”
Those foundations I learned in my youth have carried me through life. On the corner of Bethany, now a Hispanic congregation, is a stone engraved with these words, “Jesus Christ Himself being the chief cornerstone” (Ephesians 2:20).
In this crazy, mixed-up world, we all need the foundation of the Word, community, holiness and yes, Jesus — more than anything this world affords today.
Ken Locke is community ministries director of The Salvation Army in Warsaw and director of the Greater Warsaw Ministerial Associa-tion. Have ideas for this column? Go to www.gwma.info.
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