On Sunday, April 18, several members of our congregation share their memories of the past and their visions for the future of our church. Here are some of their reflections:
From Neil Stewart:
We have been here for just three years next month, but it really feels as if we have been here much, much longer….in a good way!   Over that time, so many of you have welcomed us, made us part of your lives, and made our daughter feel special. We are thankful that when we relocated to Greensboro from Cincinnati, we were fortunate enough to find the church’s website and brave enough to come visit that first time.
Many of you know that Tracy and I did not grow up in the Disciples church but that we remember our experiences as children – I spent several years in a suburban Cincinnati church, attending Chi Rho as a teen, and Tracy attended her grandmother’s church in Cincinnati as well on special occasions. Even though these were not long-lived experiences, they were impactful.  When we were dating and learning about each other, eventually we got around to religion:
“What religion are you?” I asked.
“You’ve never heard of it,” she said.
“Try me,” I said.
“Disciples of Christ.” My jaw dropped. And after I picked it back up off the floor, we launched into discussions of our childhood memories of church.
We got engaged not long after, and as our wedding date approached, we contacted a Disciples minister in a church not far from our home and spent some time with him in counsel. He married us in Tracy’s grandmother’s church, on October 8th, 1994.
And that, sparing a few visits to a new Disciples church that opened close to our home some years later, was the end of our adult church life until we came here.
When we relocated to Greensboro, my cousin who lives here said “if you want to begin to meet people in the community, you’re going to need to go to church. That’s what they do in the South.” OK. So we searched on the internet for Greensboro…churches..Disciples….and the rest, as they say, is history.
We’ve found a wonderful church home here and have walked that journey with you if even for a relatively short time. I’ve participated in Church Growth, been Vice-Chair of the board for two years, been to my first Regional Assembly, and been a strong advocate for Church Transformation. Tracy revitalized the church website, has taught Children’s Church for 3 years, was baptized here, has helped with all things computer, and has even thrown in a peanut butter cake or two for TWF. Our daughter does not remember life without church, God, Jesus, and the Bible – these concepts are part of her being – and for that we give thanks. We don’t know how long we’ll be allowed to stay in Greensboro, but we do know that we are part of a loving church family while we’re here.
The Growing Together campaign gives Tracy and I the chance to be part of something visible and tangible, to heal and expand the building where the love we’ve felt and the memories we’ve made have come from.  Just as those who built this building made their sacrifices 60 years ago, so will Tracy and I sacrifice of ourselves financially for this campaign – as much as we can. And just maybe, 60 years from now, there will be another family new to town who will find themselves looking for a church home…and we hope that this building will still be open and full of welcoming, supportive individuals ready to share the good news again and again.
From Lib Murray:
I first became acquainted with the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) when I met Jim Murray, the man I was to marry later on. He was an active church member at that time, so of course, I became active also. All this was in Elm St. Christian Church. While there, plans were being made to buy property to build a new and much needed larger church. This was a very big undertaking for a small congregation.
Early in the 50′s, construction began on this church. It was an exciting adventure for all and with the Lord’s help, a successful one. At the time of construction, we lived about 3 blocks from the new building. It was exciting to walk with the family almost every afternoon or evening to see the progress from day to day. The nearer completion, the more excited we were. I’m sure many other members felt the same as we did. The move into First Christian and getting settled was wonderful! Aren’t you glad we, who were from Elm Street, bought this property and with God’s help built this lovely church?
One project during those early days and before college students had automobiles, was our ministry with the college girls at UNCG. Jim Murray and others drove to the college every Sunday for those who wished to attend church. One Sunday Jim invited two girls to come to “Sunday Lunch” with us. One of those girls was Linda, and Jimmy was home from college.
Following that Sunday, Linda and Jimmy had “Sunday Lunch” at our home every Sunday and you know the rest of this story.
In the early 70′s, Jim became very ill. This was before Hospice came into existence. I can truly say that members of First Christian were Hospice for us at this time – visiting, bringing food, sitting with him so I could run errands; even some did yard work. When he was in the hospital for almost 6 months, many loving acts of kindness were received from loving and caring friends of our church. So, we had “Church Hospice” as we ll as Home Hospice from First Christian.
As we begin our stewardship journey together with the Capital Stewardship Program, I see a vision for the future of our church and the opportunity to be good stewards of this facility for future generations and for even greater ministry in the future.
From Jeff Minton:
This church has such a rich history, and an equally thriving present but what about the future of this congregation. Have you ever stopped to wonder what this church will be like twenty, fifty, or a hundred years from now? What will the building look like? What will worship be like? Will it be the biggest congregation in Greensboro? Will it be the most active congregation in this area? The thing about the future is that we do not yet know. The cool thing is that we can dream and hope and develop an idea of what that looks like. We can then develop a plan, and with God’s help, the dreams could become realities.
I am speaking on behalf of those concerned about the future of the church. Many of us in this congregation have a vested interest in the future of this church because we have children or grandchildren that attend here. I want First Christian Church of Greensboro to be even more vibrant and alive than it is today.
I went through much of my childhood in churches that had small numbers of kids in my Sunday school classes. They had too few children to do youth activities at night. It wasn’t until I moved to an Episcopal Church my senior year of high school that I got to experience a church that was full of young people. Their youth program probably had over 15 children on an average Sunday night and several of them brought friends. It didn’t stop there. We would travel as a group to all of the different youth events that were offered by the church. I really feel like it was because of that youth group and those experiences that I truly began to understand God and his purpose in my life.
There is a church directly across the street from the school in which I teach that has an extremely thriving youth program. It is a very small church in a very rural community. The sanctuary would probably fit twice inside ours easily. I have contemplated on a number of occasions leaving this congregation and going there so my children could be in fellowship with more children. What keeps me here is my love of this congregation and this church. In the future, I would love for us to have to expand our Sunday school wing because we have so many children. I would love for us to send more children to camp and other events than anyone in our region. I envision us getting out in the community more than we did for the summer of service project conducted last year. If we are going to grow, we are going to have to go out and market ourselves and make ourselves more visible. David Prescott is quoted as saying, “We are called to live our faith in the day to day world. Jesus was a transformer of people and institutions. We need to be the same. We are not merely a social club with many beneficial activities. The Church’s eyes must be open to injustice and poverty, to hunger and deprivation around the world. We must do more than simply acknowledge the growing gap between the rich and the poor at home and abroad.”  In order for this to happen, everyone needs to be committed to helping. In churches today (ours is not immune), the same people serve in many different roles in the church year after year. If everyone would use their gifts (monetary and otherwise) and talents from God, the sky is the limit for us in the future.
Think about what you have heard today. You are part of a wonderful congregation. It was and still is an energetic place to worship. We don’t need to stop here, though. We need to continue to reach out in the community in new ways through God’s guidance and grace. We need to inspire people to come and join us and be part of our church family. I feel like God has an amazing plan for us here at First Christian. How can you get involved and be apart of it? Just ask God. He’ll show you what to do!
