Church-Part 9

SUNDAY MEMORIES

Judy Wills

Back to my original thoughts on church…. 

Now I would like to talk about the church we are members of now.  We’ve been in that church since 1996, and love it.

Just six months after we joined this church, the pastor said the church secretary was leaving, as her husband was being transferred from the area, and they were accepting applications for the position.  I told Fred I wanted to apply.  He looked at me strangely and said, “are you sure?” (We had thought we would come to Orlando to play at Disney)  I said, “well, it feels right.”  And so I applied, and was hired.  That position lasted nearly nine (9) years for me.  I guess it was where God wanted me.

Judy’s picture as Church Secretary

Within just a few months of my becoming church secretary, both the Minister of Youth and the Minister of Music left to go to other churches – one in Texas, and one in Colorado.  There was no problem with the church – they both needed to take care of ailing parents.  The Senior Pastor was a bit beside himself!  When he found that Fred had two seminary degrees, he asked Fred to come on as a temporary/part-time Administrator.  That position eventually became nearly full-time, and he held that position for about 14 years.  Some temporary position, hmmmm?  He still dips his hand in whenever he is needed.

Fred’s picture as Church Administrator

This body of believers has about 40 different nations represented in our church – and we are all worshiping the same God!  It’s wonderful!  The first pastor we worked with said many times that “this is what Heaven is going to look like – all different nationalities and languages, all worshiping together.”

Recently our church held its 40^th Anniversary as an established church. 

We had a Saturday evening worship service, with a young man preaching, that is the son of one of our members.  He is now a pastor in south Florida, and also a Seminary professor.  As a black man, growing up he said wherever his family lived, “there were white churches, and then there were black churches.”  Every single city/town/state they lived in.  However, he said, when he came to South Orlando Baptist Church to preach the very first time…he saw heaven – so many different races and tongues within the same congregation.  He was overjoyed with the blessing that gave him.  He is always willing to come and preach at our church.  That is another reason we love this body of believers.

I would like to quote myself from last week:   This congregation is not a mega-church, as so many are these days, but a nice-sized church of about 800 members.  Of course, not all attend at the same time, so we have between 300-350 attending each Sunday.  That changed when the pandemic hit, unfortunately, and we haven’t gotten back to full-strength yet.  However, between all those attending, and those watching through live-stream, we are close.  I am thankful for the live-stream, so I can still “attend” church when I am home on a Sunday for some reason or another.  But it’s just not the same as being with other believers and worshipers.

WE….ARE THE CHURCH!

~~~~~~~~~~To Be Continued~~~~~~~~~~

Judy is living in Central Florida with her retired U.S. Air Force husband of 50+ years. Born in Dallas, Texas, she grew up in the Southwestern United States.She met her husband at their church, where he was attending the university in her town. After college and seminary, he entered the Air Force, and their adventures began.They lived in eight of our United States, and spent six years in Europe, where their oldest daughter was born. She was a stay-at-home mom for many years .

  Judy has always been involved with music, both playing the piano and singing. Always interested in exercise, she was an aerobic dancing instructor, as well as a piano teacher for many years, and continues to faithfully exercise at home.

After moving to Central Florida, she served as a church secretary for nearly nine years.Her main hobby at this point in time is scanning pictures and 35mm slides into the computer. She also enjoys scrapbooking.She and her husband have two married daughters and four grandchildren, including grandtwins as well as a great-grandson and a great-granddaughter. She and her husband enjoy the Disney parks as often as possible.

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