Monday, September 21, 2009

Note Burning and New Church

Yesterday, September 20, 2009, we had a note burning at The Church of Christ at Bethel. It was expected that it would take about 15 years to pay off the note, but due to generous 5th Sunday contributions, it was paid off in 5 short years.

Our land was donated by Bill Staggs, Sr. Today Steve and Bill Staggs, Jr. donated 4 more acres for an even newer building. It seems that in only 5 years, we have filled our church over capacity (400) several times. (Not bad for a tiny community in a small country town!) I don't know when the new building will be started, but Ray and I plan to do our best to help.

The primary cause for our congregation growing so quickly is due to our wonderful ministers, Terry Smith and Bobby Collier. They tend to talk too much about being old, but they're younger than I am, so they will never be old. They are both learned men with a great deal of love in their hearts. They teach and encourage rather than demand. Besides that, they are both awfully cute! We thank God for them and pray that they will be with us for a very long time.

Ruth Ann

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Ruth Ann our church just built a new sanctuary and we are working to pay off our notes (quite a sum) - do you have any suggestions on a good way to get addt'l funds to do this (when times are hard for everyone it seems and money is tight) -- we are needing a way to help reduce and pay this note off asap. Sounds like you have a wonderful church and I wish you many blessings in the future. Thanks!

Debbie

Ruth Ann said...

Debbie, I'm delighted that your church is doing well! (It took me long enough to answer your comment, didn't it!)

We don't believe in doing fund raisers, so all of the money from the 5th Sunday contribution goes into the building fund. I think the results have been remarkable!

Ruth Ann