Two hundred years.
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| Circa 1898 |
How often do you see a church that lasts for 200 years? In my hometown it is fairly common, since the big five (Catholic, Methodist, Episcopal, Presbyterian, and "our" Baptist) have been around forever. But in this day of mega-churches and smaller pop-ups longevity has become rare.
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The organ is only a façade since 2006. I have wooden pipes from the organ in my living room.
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Lowville Baptist was a life-saver for me back in the early 2000s. I was nearing the end of an abusive marriage and was invited to LBC during the county fair. They sent us a more formal invitation as Sunday School was about to begin in the Fall. My children and I attended for a few months until my marriage turned even uglier and I shied away from people. Pastor Reed had been to my home and decided he needed to help me escape.
Meanwhile, his wife, Carol, decided my oldest son needed to belong somewhere away from what we had been living with. She invited him to be the production team. He ran with it! He thrived in production and still does to this day. His computer knowledge grew at that church. We had so much fun and felt so much love there.
Eight years later we left the area and found a new church. We loved that church and the church family but it didn't hold as special a place to us as Lowville Baptist. Eventually we moved on and became active in a smaller mega-church. Great pastor but not the same. We missed stained glass windows, organ music and hymns.
Then I received a letter from LBC inviting my family to their 200th Anniversary!
I was so excited! Not all of my gang could make it but half of my kids did come with me on the beautiful drive to our hometown.
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| There was a pretty cool fog bank as we approached the Mohawk River. |
I was recognized right away, as was India. People didn't recognize Amanda though. The funny part was that despite all of his involvement with Tech and IT as well as how much time he spent with the Reeds, No one recognized Matthew. Of course, when we left he had no facial hair and had shoulder-length thick blonde hair. His reputation still held though and he was known as the guy who built and installed the system.
There were photo displays, a wonderful service with each of the living former pastors speaking, culminating in OUR Pastor Reed coming from his retirement home in Alaska to do the sermon. P. Reed had been there since the 1980s but after he left the other gentlemen have led the church.
Pastor Reed left Lowville a few years after we moved away. His son was raising his own family in Alaska so P. Reed and Carol joined him there. Carol past last year but P. Reed was accompanied my Susan. I wasn't able to speak with her very much but she seemed so nice.
Pastor Reed often said that the Baptist Church runs on it's stomach. Always, and proud of it. I do miss the monthly church dinners. For this event it wasn't potluck but was catered by Squishy's BBQ and Catering. It was so delicious!
After dinner there was cake, cut by Pastor Reed.
And, of course, fellowship. That is, after all, why it's called a Fellowship Hall.
During fellowship I was able to talk to my former sister-in-law and friend from school who was kind enough to give me a signed copy of her book. Thank you Heidi!
We all went home with wonderful memories and little mementos to cherish. I have a promise from my oldest that we will make the short 2-1/2 hour drive home to church (maybe) once a month. Pastor Reed won't be there, but Pastor Leon seems like a very kind person and he has been there for several years now. I think we would enjoy his sermon.
