A good church is a Bible-centered church. Nothing is as important as this–not a large congregation, a witty pastor, or tangible experiences of the Holy Spirit. ~Alistair Begg
My husband and I have been members of a little country church ever since we got married. His family lived right down the road from the church. Darrell’s father was a tenant farmer and they moved fairly often while Darrell was growing up. Darrell has good memories of the church they had been part of before they moved to the farm close to our church now, Goshen, and they all had regrets about moving away from that church where they had so many friends among the members there. But after they had moved to the farm close to Goshen, they did what most churchgoers did at that time and looked for the church closest to them instead of driving miles to their old church.
Things aren’t that way as much now. In fact, many of our current regular members drive a good distance to come to our church each Sunday. Darrell and I drive past a much larger church to attend our little country church. After we married, we did that because his family was still attending there and we wanted to be in the church with them. Then one by one, Darrell’s brothers married and moved away. Eventually, his parents moved to a different farm farther from Goshen and then to a house they bought when they were ready to give up farming, but while the brothers found new churches, Darrell’s parents along with us kept driving back to Goshen. I loved the feeling of being in a close knit church family. I liked getting to know the older members and having them enrich my life and teach me about being a Christian. I liked my children growing up and learning about the Lord there.
Most of those beautiful Christian men and women who taught me and my children so much about the love of Christ have passed on now, and Darrell and I are the senior members. Our church lacks young members right now. As one of our members said a year or so ago, we are a senior citizen church. But the Lord doesn’t put an age limit, young or old, on Christians. He welcomes all. So does our church even though we don’t have the resources for the youth programs the larger churches have. That doesn’t mean we can’t worship and sing and pray.
We lost our long time pastor in March this year after thirty-seven years of his leadership and Bible sermons. The Lord sent us a new pastor who shares Bible sermons too, and has been a blessing to our church in the short time he’s been there. We’re hoping for many more years with him as our pastor. He has an enthusiasm for the Gospel and a love for people.
Br. Mark was excited about sharing his first Homecoming Service with us today. Homecoming Day at Goshen is a long standing tradition. While I don’t know if the church people have had one every year of the church’s two hundred and nine years, I do know they’ve had one every year since I’ve been a member there. And I know Homecoming Day was a long standing tradition before I was a member because I heard stories of those past church homecomings. I wrote about our church homecoming here on my blog back in 2018 and have a diary entry of a visiting preacher coming to help dedicate the new church building in September 1889. We still meet in that sanctuary now.
I love Homecoming Day at Goshen because of the sweet fellowship. Most of those Homecoming Days had a program of Gospel music and then a delicious pot-luck dinner on the grounds. In the early years one of the farmers might pull a wagon up into the churchyard for people to use for a table. We now have a beautiful fellowship hall that gives us the chance to enjoy food and friends even when the weather doesn’t cooperate as it didn’t today. Poured down the rain. People got soaked leaving after the dinner, but they left full of food and carried away memories of fine fellowship. I ate lunch with a former member who is 93 years old and still comes to every Goshen Homecoming Day. He has sweet memories of growing up in the church along with his ten brothers and sisters. When he was a child, the churchyard was full of youngsters. It was good to hear him talk about those times. Conversations like that are the best thing about Homecomings.
Have you ever been part of a country church and been to an old-fashioned Church Homecoming?