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A CHURCH REMEMBERS

MAY, 1985

I was a thought in the mind of God. Having been planted in the hearts of men, I became Calvary Baptist Church on May 8, 1960.

God used several people in the Bement Baptist

Church to implement His plan for a church in Monticello. He especially used the five people who met at the home of Lyle Moreland on August 8, 1958 to plan a Southern Baptist Mission in Monticello.They had invited A. G. Rednour, the Director of Missions for the East Central Illinois Baptist Association, to meet with them to discuss their dream of a mission. Their plan began to take shape and the next meeting saw 12 people in attendance, planning my future. They decided my next meeting should be at the back of Bro. Lyle Moreland’s Barber Shop which was located on the west side of the square in Monticello. After a few meetings there, my organizers rented Kratz Hall, above the

present site of the State Bank. They received rent subsidies from the Home Mission Board and Bement Baptist Church for about six months. Brother Robert Anderson was called to be my first pastor in December of 1958. Bro. Anderson was a bi-vocational pastor. He and his wife, Janell, devoted much time to nurturing my congregation and helping my people grow.

In Feb. 1959, Lyle Moreland, Bob Anderson and Basil Hartman were appointed as a budget committee. By May of that year, Bros. Anderson and Wayne Scott were named to head a building committee. I was to have a building of my own!

The molders of my future were growing so that they needed more room. In October 1959 they rented three more rooms above the bank for $15 a month.

On Jan. 6, 1960 my organizers made the bold move to look into the possibility of organizing me into a church. In March they voted to constitute me into a church on May 8, 1960. At the April business meeting my organizers wrestled with an appropriate name for me. They turned aside Trinity, Friendship, New Hope and Eternity Baptist Church in favor of Calvary Baptist Church. A good choice now it seems. After they accepted a name for me, they accepted a constitution on May 8, 1960. The list of my charter members is attached. These people made a bold step on faith because they

had a hope of what I might become at the hand of God.

Things really began to move in my life now! In October of 1960 the church purchased the present church property for $2000. At the time this land was outside the city limits, but with the new subdivision to the north, my founders were assured that this property would soon be taken into the city. Their faith was rewarded. The church also purchased a triangular piece of property (the present west parking lot) from John Stoddard a few months later for the price of $1.00. That completed the tract of land where my building is located today.

My founders voted in Aug. 1961 to apply for $18,000 worth of bonds to begin building my permanent home. By Feb. 1962 Noel Davis had been hired as architect and he submitted plans for my building in March. In April, the building committee was able to put out stakes for my building. They started grading and actual construction was begun on June 14, 1962. By August I had a completed shell awaiting the windows. Work continued on my building until it was finally completed and in use in Feb. 3, 1963.

The sanctuary has seen the joys and sorrows of my people. Foremost in my sanctuary are the baptisms which take place there. Obedient Christians follow my ordinance and are buried beneath the waters and rise to live out God’s will in their lives. The picture which hangs behind the baptistery was painted by Mr. Clark, husband of Norma Clark, our associational office secretary. Mr. Clark, who was deaf, had painted the picture to hang behind the baptistery in Pennsylvania Ave. Baptist Church in Urbana. After PABC had built al new sanctuary and could not use the painting any longer, Bro. Smith saw it in a storeroom. When he remarked that we could certainly use that painting, Mrs. Clark assured him that her husband would like nothing better than to have the picture put to its intended use. I now had a sanctuary complete with a painting behind the baptistery.

In my sanctuary I’ve also witnessed the happy times of marriage and baby dedications. My people who consecrate these vows in my sanctuary are a witness to the world of Christ’s importance in their lives. I’ve also witnessed the times which friends and relatives perceive as sad. My people, however, fully understand as joyous, the funerals of my faithful members who have died to this world and joined their Father for eternity. All of these events take place in my sanctuary.

Robert Anderson left to enroll in Southern Baptist Seminary at Fort Worth, Texas in 1966. Gail Bierman, Teacher at Missouri Baptist College in Bolivar, MO., came to U of I for one semester. He was sent to minister to our church for several months while a student there, by East Central Assoc. Director of Missions. Clyde White came to help us for several months before Owen Smith was called as Pastor. Both of these men played an important role in life of the church.

Owen Smith, based with the Air Force in Rantoul, came to be my pastor in the summer of 1968. He, his wife Carlene and their four daughters ministered to the church until 1976. Owen oversaw the two additions to the church.

Within five years after the completion of the sanctuary, my growth stretched the bounds of my building and plans were made for an addition in 1969. That addition consisted of a fellowship hall and six Sunday School rooms.

The next era of my growth came in the early 1970’s. I saw a fruitful bus ministry in 1973, Jim Wilson and Al Fleener served as directors of this Ministry. High school girls from the church served as hostesses on the bus which traveled to Beals and Kelly Additions and all areas of Monticello to bring children in for Sunday School. The hostesses had planned activities and songs for the passengers on the bus to make their trip more enjoyable. Many children were able to attend Sunday School because of this bus ministry.

Another high point in my life in the early ‘70’s was the very active youth group. These young people were a vital part of my witness in this community. They organized themselves into a traveling group which provided youth revivals for churches. Members of the group preached, sang, played various instruments, read poetry, etc., for congregations. They traveled in the church bus to Farmer City, other surrounding towns and even to Terre Haute, In. Members of that youth group included Jon Lobos who is now a minister, Brad and Connie Smith Gustafson, Kim Summers Parrish,

Gayla Cogswell Keeter and Brenda Allen Dunlap who are still members of my congregation here in Monticello. Many other young people had valuable and life-changing experiences from their travels and chances to witness.

When Owen left his ministry with me, Rev. Dan Wilford was my next minister. Dan brought his wife, Carol, and infant daughter to minister to my people. Dan was my first seminary trained pastor and his library is still a legend in my history. He maintained my strong Sunday School program and strengthened my teachers.

Dan left his ministry with me in 1981 and Jim Godsoe, Director of Language Missions from the state office served as my interim pastor. Jim brought a whole new dimension to my people’s Understanding of what the gospel meant to everyone. His vast experience and loving tolerance of my people helped them grow in areas of personal witness and their prayer life. His quiet, strong leadership led by people through a period of seeking a new pastor. That search ended with a call issued to Rev. Joel Sturtevant.

Joel, his wife Carolyn and their two sons came to minister to my people in 1981. He is leading my people into a maturity of their faith and maintained my ministry in Monticello.

Soon after Joel came to my congregation, the youth made two meaningful trips. Since Joel had served as chaplain at the Centralia Correctional Center (or had come from prison as my deacons were fond of saying) he arranged for my youth to tour the Correctional Center. What an experience! My young people were searched before they entered, ate lunch with the prisoners, saw the prisoners at work and school and ended their visit with some informal discussions with the prisoners. I was glad to see the same number of my youth come out as had gone in the Correctional Center.

In August of 1982 members of the youth group went to Rockwell Baptist Church in a rough downtown area of Chicago. Rev. Jim Godsoe helped arrange that trip through his contact with this Spanish-speaking church. My youth went armed with buckets, rags and cleaning supplies to assist the church. They handed out tracts, attend an evening revival service, watched a film in Spanish and slept on the floor while two sponsors got up hourly to see if the hubcaps were still on the vans parked on the street below. All was well and my youth returned home the next day, tired, but richer from their experience.

At present, my people maintain an active Sunday School with 166 people enrolled. I presently have 163 resident members. Over my 25 year ministry I have touched the lives of 482 different people. The WMU directs the mission emphasis in my church. They sponsor mission study groups for all my children and youth, and sponsor home and foreign mission offerings.

I cooperate with the East Central Illinois Baptist Association and the Cooperative Program of the Southern Baptist Convention to make my witness reach around the world. Through these facilities I support prayerfully and financially thousands of missionaries around the world.

I have ministered to the community of Monticello for 25 years. This is where I have come from and what I am. What will I become? God will continue to use the people in my congregation to work out his purposes and bring about his will.