A Fond Fairwell: Fairview First Baptist Church

   
      We were a little intimidated when we drove up to the First Baptist Church in Fairview, Ok this past Sunday and saw the massive amount of vehicles parked around it. In fact, my husband's exact words were, "What's going on? Is there a funeral or something?" I assured him that surely there wasn't on a Sunday morning, but I soon discovered that while no one was being laid to rest, the loving congregation at this church was most definitely celebrating an important life within their church and mourning the end of an era.

      The Fairview FBC is a large and lovely building located on Broadway just west of the Major County Court House.  The congregation first started worshiping together over 117 years ago in the very earliest days of the Fairview community.  The church building has expanded over the years and now houses a large and lovely modern sanctuary and fellowship hall attached to the original design. 


     Worship started at 9:45 and we arrived pretty much on the dot to discover a bustling crowd of people, many of which we recognized from other congregations, and we soon realized that we had arrived on Pastor David Mendenhall's final day in the pulpit.  This beloved church leader and influential member of the community had been pastor to this church family for the past 23 years and his retirement was an occasion of both sorrow and joy, loss and hope for the future, and we were blessed to get to experience this worship service with his flock.

     The sanctuary was quickly filling up, but we found five seats together, only to discover we only needed two as our girls moved forward to sit with their friends. Since this was also this sweet families final Sunday before moving to another community, we felt it was appropriate that our girls get to sit together and worship together on this momentous day, and from a few rows behind them, I wiped away tears of sadness that these wonderful people would no longer be living in our town and blessing us on a regular basis.


     The music that morning was incredible. Guitar and drums and piano and vocals invited us to praise God through music. There was a mix of contemporary and traditional hymns as they shared with us the favorite songs of their pastor that morning. We were blessed by special music by a quartet of men who had reunited after 10 years to commemorate this special occasion, and even the pastor's lovely wife shared her gift of music in a song that surely brought tears even to the most toughened hearts. (Personally, I don't know how she made it through, but I am touched by her willingness to please her husband and her Lord and blessed by the beauty of her voice and her bravery.)

     We were also privileged to get to be a part of a baptism that morning. Once again tears ran down my face as a boy my daughter's age publically professed his love and belief in Jesus Christ and was immersed in the baptismal pool signifying the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus and a new life with Him as Lord and Savior.



      The final sermon of Pastor Mendenhall was full of memories from the past years together and urgings to move forward in God's will. He encouraged the Body to be in prayer for the new pastor that God has in store for them and to carry on with plans already in place for building at Falls Creek and other ministries.  His words were smooth and caring and full of love, and you could just feel the connection in the room between these people who had spent so many years worshiping and working for the Kingdom together. The combination of tears and smiles on the faces surrounding us were beautiful to behold, and the feeling that God was in our midst impossible to ignore.
   
    It wasn't a typical day at the Fairview First Baptist Church, but it was beautiful and blessed. Though the days ahead will never look quite the same for this church family, I'm sure that they will have a long and fruitful future as they continue to seek God's will and serve others through the body of Christ. We are so grateful that God guided us to this congregation on this special day, and we will continue to look to Him for guidance as we Steeple Chase in the days ahead.

 
     

 

 

 

 

 

Natural Worship Centers: No Steeple Required

   

Gloss Mountain State Park

     This week has been a little different and very full of worship. Week by week this year, we've sought out churches to worship in and people to connect with in buildings new and old, large and small across our great state. We've marveled at the gorgeous artwork and architecture and reveled in both the ancient and the contemporary houses of worship built to honor and bring praise to our Lord. However, this week, we've taken our worship opportunities in grand cathedrals built by none other than our amazing God himself.

   Sunday morning we accepted an invitation from friends and members of the Saron Mennonite Church (see previous blog post) to attend a worship service with them at the Gloss Mountain State Park just northwest of Fairview. We brought along food to contribute to a picnic lunch, loaded our lawn chairs, put on our "play clothes", and drove the 20 minutes to "church". 

    The congregation welcomed us just as we've come to expect, with open arms and friendly faces, and we couldn't help but be inspired by the breathtaking views surrounding us. The Gloss Mountains are an impressive rise of red dirt hills in the midst of the desert-like flatlands of the Cheyenne Valley that gleam and sparkle in the sun due to deposits of gypsum throughout.

     The Saron Church chooses to meet in this natural treasure once a year for Children's Sunday, and we were thrilled to be a part of this special service this year. After a simple sermon with visual effects to bring understanding to kids and adults alike, some acapella singing, and heartfelt prayer, we shared a meal together and bonded over potato salad and deviled eggs and homemade ice cream as generations of down-home church families have done before us. Then, we grabbed some bottles of water and headed up the trail...and I do mean up!

    The trail to the top of the Gloss Mountains has built-in stairs to assist with the assent, and I for one was very thankful for the help. We climbed and climbed and chased lizards and pointed out cloud shapes and rejoiced together in the creation of our Father. The kids asked questions and pointed out discoveries, and climbed into underground tunnels, and despite the heat and the exertion, their joy far outweighed their complaints. It was a day of beauty and belief and friendship and worship, and I am very happy to say that God chose to continue our experience in many ways in the days to come.

    On Wednesday of this week, my middle daughter and I arrived at another of God's majestic sanctuaries at Canyon Camp at Red Rock Canyon State Park.  Here our camp theme was Partnering with God in His creation, and we had many opportunities to enjoy his handiwork in the sparkling stars, enchanting trees and plant life, and beautiful canyon walls. The climb to the cross at the top of the canyon gave us breathtaking views and reminded us repeatedly of the creativity and skill of our Creator.

     We spent three days in this incredible natural habitat with our focus on our God, and my heart is so full from praising my Lord that I wonder why I don't take the opportunity more often to worship both with others and alone in the wondrous beauty of the Creator's temple. What a wonderful world He has provided for us, and while we should all continue with our Chase, there is absolutely no Steeple required.

Prairie Jewel: Elm Grove Community Church

   We thought we were going to a little country church on our way to Vici to visit family. We thought there would be a piano and maybe an organ and a single song leader and possibly a small choir singing slightly off key. We thought there would be a country pastor with a good sound bible lesson and a handful of members who were friendly and anxious to get to know newcomers in their church.

  Boy, did we think wrong! (Except for the friendly members. We weren't wrong about that one.)

  We drove for miles on country roads with wheat fields and pasture land as far as the eye can see until we reached what was once the Elm Grove Community and consists now of mostly just the Elm Grove Community Church.  As we turned the corner and drove up a small hill, we were shocked by the enormity of this "little country church."  We had no idea that such a large church existed in the middle of this prairie land. I had always heard people talk about Elm Grove. My dad has cattle in the area, and my mom has attended weddings and conferences there, and my past principal raved about the rib dinner there at least once a month during my last couple years of teaching, I had never been there, and all in all, I was surprised! Pleasantly surprised! Not only did the church appear to go on and on, it was architecturally gorgeous and looked brand new. We couldn't wait to get inside!

    We walked in the door and into a modern "city church" type setting. A beautiful, well-stocked coffee and snack bar were placed conveniently in the large foyer with a fountain backdrop and big TV screens overhead counting down the time until service. (We had 3 minutes to go! Go us!) My kids immediately started asking if they could get chocolate muffins (big, ugly disaster waiting to happen), but I was unsure about whether or not they wanted the food and drinks inside the sanctuary (and I had a feeling I'd never get that chocolate out of their dresses), so as much as I REALLY wanted a cup of coffee, I decided to herd my three now whining daughters into a pew near the back. We were feeling a little lost and unsure until we spotted a few familiar faces, and the people around us begin introducing themselves and we started to relax.

I did cave in and let them pick something out after the service...
and Middle Daughter did manage to get chocolate on her dress. (Big Sigh.)

    2.34 minutes later (give or take a second or two), the service began. The full praise band and worship team were another surprise and quite different than the piano we were expecting (Don't get me wrong. I'm not dissing (does anyone even use that term anymore) piano music. I actually love that style of worship too. It was just different that what we were expecting.) The worship was heartfelt and the words were displayed on not one, but three screens, at the front of the absolutely amazing sanctuary. During this worship time, members of the praise team also gave testimonies which were very touching and kept my girls glued to their every word. They concluded with a beautiful song based on the Lord's Prayer in which one of the members blessed us by signing along with the words.

    When they concluded, the younger girls followed the crowd of kids to children's church, and the service continued with the usual welcome and announcements and tithes and offerings. The only part of the service that was somewhat unusual for us was the prayer time. When the leader said, "Let us pray",  we bowed our heads, ready to pray together as the leader lead, but were surprised when most of the congregation began to pray out loud, saying different things, but at the same time. The prayer leader, remained on the microphone as the main prayer was said, but everyone else contributed as well either silently or aloud.  We had never been to a service where this takes place, and while it was different, we didn't find it at all offensive or frightening. It was just people praying, and what could possibly be wrong with that?!

    Another unusual thing that took place this Sunday morning is that the Pastor Orville White had chosen that day to allow another pastor to present the message. I have heard from several people that Pastor White is an excellent preacher, and while I'm sorry to have missed hearing him, I cannot complain because the message we heard was incredible. Pastor White explained that he had been praying about how to present a message that would truly explain the meaning of God's Grace when he came across a sermon by Robert Morris, the Senior Pastor of Gateway Church that he felt said it all. So, Pastor White chose to show us the video of this sermon, and I for one am so very glad he did. (It is very much worth watching, and you can do so by following this link > http://gatewaypeople.com/ministries/life/events/amazing-grace/service/2014/09/27/whats-so-amazing-about-grace.)

  After the sermon, the elders and wives were asked to come forward and make themselves available for prayer, and the congregation was invited to the front as they felt led. Once again words of prayer were lifted up across the room by a variety of congregational members and leaders. As the service came to a close, new members were introduced and brought forward to be welcomed by the other members, and we made our way around the church in search of our little ones.

     We very much enjoyed our visit to Elm Grove Community Church and are so pleased that our Steeple Chase took us there this week. If you're ever in the Chester, Oklahoma area on a Sunday morning, I highly recommend you take the time to worship with the wonderful people of Elm Grove. We were blessed, and I know you will be too!