The piano is an upright and only 85 of the 102 keys actually work, but when Grace Huie played “Old Time Religion” and “Because He Lives” no one noticed the missing notes.
Huie, a member of First Baptist Church, Oneonta, captured the attention of the 125 members and guests attending the church’s Aug. 15 100th anniversary celebration with her masterful tickling of the ivories.
Only one service in a string of two months’ worth of activities, this gathering took place in the Oneonta Memorial Chapel at Oakhill Cemetery.
The 30-year-old chapel, complete with a pipe organ and pine flooring, commemorates the former church buildings of First, Oneonta.
The piano, most of the furnishings and even the stained glass windows came from the 1928-built church building, which was demolished in 1972.
The wooden pews in the chapel date back to the original sanctuary for First, Oneonta, which was built in 1904 when the church organized with 17 members.
The church, located on Third Avenue East in Oneonta, has grown to a membership of 1,380 in 2004 with 1,100 enrolled in Sunday School, said Pastor Larry Gibson. The church’s Sunday morning services offer contemporary and traditional worship styles. The 11 a.m. service is also broadcast on television and radio.
The church is kept alive not only by the younger members’ vigor and dedication, but also by the perseverance and enthusiasm of its older members.
Eighty-nine-year-old Lora Nelms is the church’s oldest active member.
“I’ve been on just about every committee we’ve got,” she said. “I was once on seven committees at the same time.”
Gibson said, “It’s awesome that a church like First Baptist can be around for 100 years and carry out the ministry of what the Lord Jesus wants us to do.”
“We must stand firm on those things that are old fashioned,” Gibson noted, citing belief in Jesus Christ, the Scriptures and the pre-eminence of Jesus Christ as rock-solid foundations.
Since Aug. 1 the church has welcomed former pastors to its pulpit and ministers of music to its podium.
On Sept. 26 a 10 a.m. service will conclude the two-month-long celebration, with David Dykes, who was pastor 1980–1984, preaching and Bob Morrison, minister of music 1975–1981, leading the music.
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