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MEMOIRS OF THE SECOND TWENTY-FIVE YEARS

CBC 1985 -2010

Two basic Biblical teachings have guided Calvary Baptist Church. Since its inception, giving to support missions and teaching disciples have been foremost in its ministry. The first meeting of the group interested in forming a church was Aug. 7, 1958. By Aug. 19 they had taken an offering, and had $5.00 in the treasury.

By Nov. they had Sunday School classes organized. By June 1960 they had saved $800.00, had 28 people attending Sunday School and were planning to build a church building! As soon as the building was built, they planned a VBS the following spring. After implementing these teachings for the first 25 years, the church looked with new vision for its second 25 years of ministry in Monticello.

Joel Stutevant continued his ministry with CBC from 1981-1990.

In 1991 Curt Bier was called as pastor. Curt, his wife Deb, and their three children ministered to the church during a new era of church growth. Curt was a talented musician and the Sunday School enjoyed singing with his guitar accompaniment on Sunday mornings. Deb was enrolled in the Library School at the U of I and she worked diligently to help the church create and maintain a church library. The WMU and Brotherhood sponsored active mission groups for children. Boys and girls attended conferences, track meets and camps. Mission groups participated in support for migrant workers in E. Central Illinois and women worked at the Christina Activity Center in E. St. Louis. They also kept in contact with college students by sending them “care packages” to let them know the church supported them.

In 1996 the church decided to elect deacons for 3 year terms instead of allowing deacons to serve a lifetime appointment.

Brother Jerry Parmley was called to the church in July 1997. He and his wife, Dena, served until his retirement in Jan. 2009. Two seminal events occurred during Brother Parmley’s tenure. The church participated in a mission trip and a tornado lifted the roof off the church building.

MISSION TRIP -Several ladies had participated in two or three day trips to the Christian Activity Center in East. St. Louis, but the church had never sponsored or participated in a full week mission project. Hope Prather, who had grown up in the church was serving as a short-term missionary for the North American Mission Board of the Southern Baptist Convention. She was working in Waterbury, Ct. and invited the church to send a mission team to conduct a weeklong day camp for the mission. The church accepted the challenge and sent a 17 member team to Ct. for a week in July of 1997. The church supported the team financially and prayerfully as the team taught classes, did crafts, played games, witnessed to people and learned a great deal about the urban area of Waterbury Ct. The church even paid the expenses for some college students who volunteered through the Baptist Student Union to participate on the team as well. It was a life-changing event for the church, and especially for the team members. The Waterbury Mission was to play a significant role in the life of the church in years to come.

By 2000 the church seemed to be at a crossroads. They wrestled with several problems. The parking area limited attendance. The building was land-locked and limited what ministries could be conducted. The church had talked for years about turning the auditorium around to facilitate better use of space. They could never seem to come to any consensus. On Oct. 24, 2001 a tornado tore the roof off the auditorium! Now the church HAD to do something.

FIRST: Should they sell the property and locate somewhere else or stay in the same spot?

After months of consideration, the church finally felt they were following God’s will to stay on the property where they were. They prayerfully sought for the best use of the land and resources available to them. They stepped out in faith and chose a design that allowed them to make the best use of the insurance money from the tornado damage; that use included extremely careful use of money available and huge amounts of volunteer labor.

Remember the trip to Waterbury? The Waterbury Mission gave the largest single donation to the new church building. They felt led to give $25,000 of their limited resources to CBC’s new building. They had been saving money for a new building and it did not seem to be their time for a building, so they gave the money to us. Maner Tyson, the director of the mission, felt God leading him to make the donation. There were other donations, monetary and in-kind. Messiah’s Masons, a brick laying team from N.C. came and bricked the church at no charge – a savings of perhaps $40,000. Not only did we save money, we make wonderful friends on the brick laying team and members from CBC have volunteered to lay bricks with them every summer since 2004.

The new auditorium was dedicated in Aug. 2004. It is a valuable asset to Monticello and is being used to magnify God’s witness in town.

During the last half of the 1990’s the church saw strong youth programs led by interested and dedicated parents of youth. The church had sought to provide activities for its youth since the 1960’s. The group’s attendance waxed and waned over the years, and by 1997 the church began wrestling with whether it could call a Youth Minister. After years of indecision and off and on searching, the church called a part-time Youth Minister. Ryan Tackett accepted the call in Aug. 2008. In 2009, the church extended the call to full-time and Ryan married Claudia Willoughby in Aug. of the same year. The youth were delighted to participate in the wedding and showed their approval by donning sunglasses for the reception! Ryan and Claudia are bringing a new dimension of growth and enthusiasm to the youth of our church.

In Aug. of 2009, the church called its seventh pastor, Rev. Randy Dempsay. Brother Randy, his wife Deana, and their 3 children have started their ministry with Calvary Baptist Church.

At age 50, CBC continues to carry out God’s will in the changing world. The congregation has changed significantly from its early Southern Baptist Kentucky roots. The message hasn’t changed, but the delivery of the message of God’s love for all men may look different from what it did in 1960. Forms of worship, music, Bible study, youth ministry, missions, and many other questions arise for the church. If it remains true to God’s call, God will lead the church and it will endure.