My first Riverchase bulletin article had the same title as today’s.
We arrived for our first Sunday on September 26, 1999. That night there was a congregational sandwich supper complete with homemade ice cream and a “pounding” for us. If you are not familiar with a “pounding”, the congregation brought grocery items to fill up our pantry. And fill it they did.
So my first bulletin article was thanking you for welcoming us in such a grand way.
Now, just a month away from our twenty years of being together, I thank you again and I thank God for you on a constant basis.
What an overwhelming surprise and outpouring of love you gave to us Sunday night.
Thank you so much for all the kind words, cards and loving expressions you showered upon us.
These twenty years have been filled with all that life can bring to us. We have lived it together and grown together in the way God desires his family to grow. I’m so glad I’m here and look forward to whatever time God continues to give us.
But there are some others who have served for over twenty years. Those still living who were elders when I came twenty years ago are Don Genry, Grover Jackson, Don Bowen and Ron Steen. Ron Jackson may have also served for a total of twenty years. He was not an elder when I came, but had been one previously and returned to being an elder shortly after our arrival. These men and all of our elders deserve our gratitude, thoughts and prayers because of all that they do for all of us.