I believe there are two things that are crucial for a person to have in their life! A good church and a good home! I would like to tell you about the great church I belong to.  Ya’ll already know I have a great family and home life! 

My family and I moved to Columbus from Dayton in 1987.  The wife of the man we bought our house from invited us to come to their church, Grove City Church of the Nazarene.  We started going there and we really liked it! My Dad was asked if he would teach the College and Career Sunday school class, which I was attending.  He said he would with one condition; that he and the class would be allowed to seek out an outreach project to do together!  

We heard about a church in the inner city of Columbus, Bellows Avenue Church of the Nazarene.  At the time they were struggling with low attendance and the manpower needed to run any programs.  The class decided to go down on Thursday nights and do a children’s program. It would consist of providing a meal and then breaking up into classes for a lesson and craft.

I found my own niche! Susan (a woman about my age) came. We ended up spending the evening together, having supper, doing a craft or just visiting.  I really enjoyed it.  Susan was very nice and we got along well! We had our own little ministry.  Susan ministered to me and I (hopefully) ministered to her! Isn’t that what it’s all about?  Ministering to one another daily, we don’t need any programs for that!  

Guess who would cook the supper.  I bet ya’ll only needed one guess.  That’s right, good ole Mom! Mom cooked for armies all her life! I know Mom is up in the heavenly kitchen helping to cook for all the armies of Saints! One day we’ll all be there eating with them!  I know we’ll eat good then!  Look where we’ll be… HEAVEN! No need to say anymore! (I know what you all are thinking, “Cate, come back to us from your sidetrack tangent and tell us more about the great Church you go to!”)

One thing led to another and before long my parents, several of my siblings and I started attending Bellows regularly. I fell in love with the Church and the people; I’ve been there ever since!

I would like to tell you a funny story.  When I first started going to the Church, I noticed on the bottom of the folding chairs, on a bright orange sticker, it read “BACON”.  I couldn’t understand why they said  “BACON”.  I love bacon!  All I knew was that seeing the bottoms of those folding chairs made me really hungry for BACON! Then someone explained it to me (I wasn’t smart enough to figure it out on my own!) It stood for Bellows Avenue Church Of The Nazarene! Since then, the name of the Church has been changed to Lower Lights Community Church of The Nazarene. (I STILL LOVE BACON!)  It will always be Bellows to me! 

I will never forget when a lovely, sweet and wonderful woman asked if I wanted to sing for them at church! YOU KNOW ME, I’M NOT SHY!  The church’s love for me and their willingness to give ME opportunities to be in ministry was very AWESOME! 

Another ministry opportunity I was given was to lead a bible study for a group of young girls.  I gave it a good try. The very first night, I was prepared with a lesson and a craft we were going to do!  I tried for a couple of weeks to come up with lessons. I’m not good about coming up with lessons!  Luckily for me, there was a little corner market within walking distance.  They would walk and I would ride my scooter.  We would go get snacks! I’m not shy! I will be totally honest with you!  I would keep finding items I wanted so I would keep telling “my girls” that they could pick out another item!   I didn’t feel it was right for me to have more than “my girls!”  Ministry in that group was a two-way street!  “My girls” ministered to me as much as I hope I ministered to them! 

Another time, around Christmas, we went caroling.  I’ll just say not all the houses we went to were full of Christmas jollies and we were not welcomed with open arms! Fortunately, a mother of some of the girls in the group went with us.  I was very glad she did too!  She was able to help us and move us along.  It’s one of those stories that’s not funny at the time, but it is now, and it’s a good memory!  I would like to tell “my girls” you will always be “my girls” and I LOVE YOU ALL SO VERY MUCH, NOW AND FOREVER!

One thing I really appreciate about my church is that everyone is given a chance to minister! Everyone has the need, not only to be ministered to, but to be given the chance to minister! My church does that and does it well.  I really appreciate that! EVERYONE HAS SOMETHING TO GIVE! I still sing solos in Church. I admit that I’m no Amy Grant but, I can make a joyful noise unto the Lord!  I even had the opportunity to serve on the church board.  I’ll be honest, I really felt inadequate and wasn’t quite sure what to do.  BUT I had the sense of belonging and being valued!

I try to stay away from preaching in this blog but please allow me to say one thing.  If we really want world revival- and we all know we desperately need it…it’s going to take EVERYONE!  Old, young, rich, poor, lay persons and ordained… you get the picture!  MY PREACHING IS NOW OVER!

I will never forget, the church had a computer stolen and we were in a Sunday night service.  A young man stood up in front of the whole church and confessed to stealing the computer!  My heart went out to him.  I felt nothing but love toward him.  After his great example to all of us, I wanted to stand up and say you are welcome at this church anytime!

We had a gentleman who loved to sing Blue Christmas, so for a couple of weeks prior to Christmas we heard it every Sunday.  That same man would then lead us in the Lord’s Prayer.

The pastor we have now, he and his wife are TOTALLY AWESOME!  They both are very approachable! They both make time, even with their busy schedules, to meet with you personally! My (I like calling him “ my pastor “) pastor and I have met many times for coffee!  When I was going through my depression, my pastor and his wife brought lunch to my house and ate with me! The rest of the Church staff are equally TOTALLY AWESOME! 

My Church family has been there for me through good times and bad! For example, celebrating with me when I graduated from college and supporting me during my depression.  They were totally awesome to me all throughout my depression, praying for me and sending me cards. They were there when both of my parents died!  I have many good friends at my Church!  They care and look out for me, and I try my best to care and look out for them.

If you don’t have a Church, I invite you to come check us out at Lower Lights Church of The Nazarene!  If you do come, you’ll be loved and welcomed, and I hope you’ll be able to see why I love this Church so very much and and want to stay at this Church for the rest of my life!