The way that Daddy gave to the church was through funding and overseeing improvements to the church’s physical plant. Daddy was a builder, a realtor, and a visionary. He foresaw that the church would need additional Sunday school space, as well as space for a fellowship hall. In 1991, he was instrumental in helping the church purchase adjoining property that housed an old shopping center.
Daddy also believed that the youth were the future of the church and that FBC should place more emphasis on engaging the youth of the community. To that end, Daddy planned and funded an expansion and upgrade to the youth meeting areas of the church. He and Chris Miller, youth minister at FBC, spent many hours talking and strategizing about how to better meet the needs of the youth ministry at FBC.
Back to the Fellowship Hall….
Daddy realized that our church’s original fellowship hall was woefully inadequate. The original hall was only about 1400 sq ft and the kitchen was in poor condition. Once the shopping center space was purchased, Daddy’s vision for the old grocery store space included a large Fellowship Hall and kitchen with state-of-the-art commercial appliances. Using personal money that was ultimately matched by FBC, Daddy began demolition of the grocery store space. In a matter of months, FBC had a grocery store-sized Fellowship Hall with movable walls that provided Sunday school space when needed. The Fellowship Hall boasted a commercial kitchen that rivaled any restaurant in the area. Over the years, the Hall has been used to host hundreds of events and gatherings and is one of the most used spaces on the church campus.
(Pictures from our church’s history book. My grandparents in the top left corner and my parents in the middle picture. The picture on the bottom left is of my Daddy overseeing the final work in the fellowship hall. On the bottom right is a picture of the fellowship hall being used for a gathering.)
When Daddy died in 2004, we requested that, in lieu of flowers, donations be given to the Fellowship Hall fund at FBC. Donations totaling many thousands of dollars poured in that have been used over the years to add to and update the Fellowship Hall. Most recently the remainder of the money was used to upgrade the sound, lighting, and video systems in the Fellowship Hall in order to provide space for a casual worship service. This service is designed to reach those in the community that might never attend a traditional worship service at FBC. The music will be primarily praise and worship songs in a casual atmosphere. The message by our pastor, Fred Lodge, will be the same one that is being seen in the main sanctuary but will be viewed on large screens in the Fellowship Hall, much like Andy Stanley does for the multiple churches under the North Point umbrella.
My friend, Kristin Adams, will be leading the worship music, along with a praise team. Doug Smith, a former youth pastor and partner at Camp Jabez, will be the pastor/moderator for the casual service. Yesterday, I had the privilege of participating in the ‘dress rehearsal’ for the casual service. People…..we had CHURCH yesterday. The freedom in worship was so refreshing and the message brought by Dr. Lodge was anointed.
As I sat there and thought about my Daddy and his vision for that space, I was overwhelmed and began crying. May I just say that it very nearly became an ugly cry. I couldn’t stop. The vision that Daddy had so many years ago for that old grocery store space was completed. Yes, the space has been used many times for social gatherings, conferences, and dinners. But this…….oh, this is the culmination of Daddy’s vision. A worship service where the God of all Creation is freely praised and the Word of God is proclaimed; all with the intention of drawing those who might never step into traditional FBC to a relationship with Christ.
Daddy’s legacy lives on and will impact generations of people for Christ.
