Most Baptist associations in Alabama hold their annual meetings this month. Encouragement, harmony and joy really come through at those gatherings.
At Union Grove Baptist Church in Chilton Association, Bro. Tony Smitherman, pastor of West End Baptist Church, said, “The 41 souls our church baptized last year were the result of people who have been praying for decades.”
He gave an example of the kind of member who makes a difference at his church — an older member who gets up at 4:30 a.m. to make biscuits for a local restaurant.
Last year she gave $1,200 to the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering! When Bro. Smitherman asked how she could do that, she said: “I love Jesus.” Each week she sets aside $20 for the Lottie Moon Offering plus her tithe and offerings. “And then I live on the rest,” she said.
Sardis Association in south Alabama is made up of 15 small churches in Covington, Coffee and Geneva counties. One congregation is even located in Florida — Trinity Baptist Mission, where Bro. Dewayne Geoghagan is pastor.
Trinity is experiencing excitement because of the FAITH evangelism/Sunday School process.
JoAnn Mathis, a member at Trinity, said, “I didn’t know I was supposed to witness. I thought that was the preacher’s job.”
She said, “I felt inadequate, but God is adequate. He works through us. People are hungry for visits.” She noted that the FAITH program is “really helpful. If I can do it, anyone can do it.”
At Blount County Baptist Association, the preaching, praying and singing are traditionally very strong. This year the singing was once again very capably led by Bro. Ocie Turley, a member of Twenty-Fifth Avenue Baptist Church.
His brother, M.C. Turley, who preached a strong, clear message at last year’s associational meeting, died a few months ago. Brother M.C. had been preaching for about 35 years.
Brother Ocie said, “There is one thing you could say about his preaching: At the end of his sermon you didn’t have to wonder what it was about!”
Randolph Association held its 100th annual session last Saturday at Rocky Branch Baptist Church, a few miles east of Wedowee. Bro. Harry Wahn, director of Discipleship Training for Randolph Association, gave his annual report with the gusto and humor that people in the association always expect from him. At the end of his report, Bro. Wahn announced he would be giving up his position.
Brother Wahn, 79, caused laughter when he noted, “I really don’t want to leave the job, but I’m deteriorating physically, and my wife said, ‘You’re leaving the job!’ ”
Sonya Tucker of the State Board of Missions came forward and opened a Bible to one of Bro. Wahn’s favorite passages, Deuteronomy 6:4-5. She asked him to quote those verses “in a language other than English.”
Identifying them as the Shema, Bro. Wahn quoted them in Hebrew, then read them from the New International Version. “Hear O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.”
His voice trembled with emotion as he neared the end, and shouts of “Bless him, Lord!” rang out.
Now a member of Big Springs Baptist Church, Bro. Wahn became a Christian “eight or nine years ago.” About a year later he became associational Discipleship Training director, a job he has held ever since.
Brother Wahn’s family came to the United States when he was an infant, their boat docking in New York’s harbor on his second birthday. He grew up in Brooklyn and served 30 years in the Air Force. He met his wife, Pauline, in Savannah, Ga., and they retired to her native Randolph County in 1972.
“When I became a Christian I saw no conflict between the Old Testament and the New Testament,” he said. His two favorite words for Christians are “love” and “faith.”
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