October 30th, 2018

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Reflections

Tuesday, October 30th, 2018

This past weekend OVCF, the church I pastor, celebrated its 14th anniversary. OVCF was started when some people, who attended another church in town, were tired of “doing church” as they always have. It was birthed sometime in October of 2004.  Jo & I came in November of 2005.  I have been asked if I started/planted the church. I tell them No, but I sure feel like I did. They had not had a pastor for close to 9 months (he had only stayed about 3 before he felt he needed to move on); had no Mission or Vision to operate by; and did not have a lot of things in place. What they did have were some people eager to learn and serve.

I inherited both. We had a rough patch in 2009 caused by various reasons, but other than that, it has been a fun church to pastor.  In the first quarter of 2017 I watched several families choose to go elsewhere. One because of a move away from our area. They were dear friends of me and Jo and still are. I miss Ryan and his family.  One was because they were seeking the kind of “religious experience and high” we did not offer. They chose to put their stock in the NAR and some other questionable teachings.  Since then 2017-2018 has been up and down as we have tried to find our “wings.” Every church goes through those times. I’m a lot more patient and understanding of those times than I used to be. I figure God is in control and not me so there isn’t much I can do except continue to love and serve Him and the people He has given me to pastor.

With that being said, Sunday was a wonderful day of celebration and thanksgiving to God for what He has done! We had a great service (you can listen on podcast if you care to).  I’d be honored if you would take a moment to listen. We had tons-and I mean tons-of food! The Owen Country Chamber of Commerce came and did a ribbon cutting for our new youth addition. We had a meaningful dedication and then said a very weary “see you later” to the folks.  At the end of this post are 4 pictures of some of the changes made as a result of our addition. The first two are Before and After in our hallway. The Before is really not a true picture since I remembered to take the picture after the walls had been done. They had been covered in canvas. The next is a view of our new nursery with a door for access to a soon-to-be-finished playground for the little ones. The final one is the new security check-in for our youth addition.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It was a good day.  I appreciate each one of you who prayed.