Memories
I know that Adam’s post yesterday was about his memories of his relationship with the Central church of Christ, but I want to go a little farther back in time and tell you about our history with this great congregation of God’s people.
In 1996 Jim and I began working for Freed-Hardeman University while living in Paducah, Kentucky. We worked for the offices of Advancement and Admissions and traveled a four state area with our center in Paducah. It was our job to visit different congregations and present material about and an introduction to FHU. We asked for funds for the Bible Department and recruited students.
We planned a visit to the Central congregation in Paducah, and met people there whom I would describe as some of the most loving and friendly people I had ever met. They were a small congregation, having fallen from a once-high attendance to just about 50 or so in number. Their building needed some updates but, as you can imagine, with few members, their finances were lacking. And yet, there were beautiful smiles on their faces and a welcoming atmosphere in that place.
We visited there several times in our four-and-a-half years during our work with FHU, and we were always welcomed and felt like honored guests at their services. They were so special to us and when they were in need of a preacher, one of the elders approached Jim and asked him if he would be interested in preaching for them full-time.
They owned a house across the street from the building and, if we would live in that house, they had enough money to pay Jim for eight months. If we grew, he would have a job. If we didn’t grow, he would be looking for a job.
At that time we lived in a new house in West Paducah. I loved that house. We worked for a place that provided insurance and retirement, but something was lacking in our lives. We loved FHU (and we still do), but traveling to different congregations every week left us feeling like we didn’t have a church home. We had placed membership with a congregation, but about all they got was our contribution because we were always traveling with our job.
Something important was missing and God provided just what we needed at this particular time in our lives. Jim became the minister for the Central church of Christ. With the help of some of the retired men and their wives, we updated the house to make it liveable Together, we stripped orange flocked wallpaper, painted all the walls, ripped up old carpet, repaired and painted kitchen cabinets, laughed a lot, ate together, and the list goes on and on!! We bonded with those wonderful people and brought new life back to that house.
More importantly, the congregation went to work with us to invite friends and neighbors to our services and those people who visited found the same wonderful, warm welcome that we had felt when we first visited. One of our elders said, “There must be glue on the seats at Central, because when people visit, they want to stay!” What a blessing!!
One of the first events we planned was to invite the SonShine Singers from FHU to visit with us and, following our morning service and a potluck, we had them sing for anyone who wanted to come. What that did was give those members at Central an idea of what it would be like to have that building full again. It breathed new life into that congregation and the evangelizing began to really take off. We grew, not only in numbers, but we grew spiritually and all of us could see God’s help in what was happening.
Needless to say, Jim got to keep his job!! He served as their minister for 16 years and continues to serve as one of the elders.
It has been our joy to continue as members of and fellow-workers with this wonderful congregation, and see it flourish. The building has undergone several updates and additions. There have been struggles at times, but always, a spirit of wanting to do what is right in God’s sight.
The building still stands at 2201 Washington Street. Sixty years have come and gone, and the congregation there is still standing for truth and with God’s help it will continue to grow spiritually and numerically.
As we celebrate these past sixty years this Sunday, this is my invitation to all of you to come and join us on this day of worship and thanksgiving for God’s blessing. Bible class begins at 9:30 and worship will begin at 10:30 followed by a meal served by the congregation.
To God be the glory!
“Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of light with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.” (James 1:17)
AUTHOR: Donna Faughn
