I want to say something about my home
church, Bethany Holiness Church. The environment that has been built here by
Pastor Darrel Toliver and many others is amazing and life-changing.
We are probably running between
200 to 300 on the services that everyone is able to be in one place at the same
time but most of the time that is not possible. In this one little country
church we have so many ministries and outreaches going on that I fail to
remember them all at the same time.
Pastor is on several boards
literally across the continent, there are several ministers involved in a very
large homeless mission style out reach program, different ministers take on
jobs of driving buses and vans, organizing special services, preparing large
meals and serving them, setting up and taking down instruments and sound
systems in multiple sanctuaries, several brothers have a ministry in a local
jail system, several sisters share in the jail ministry, at least one family
opens their home to children that are troubled and up for adoption, we have a
sister that works through CASA to mentor extremely troubled children, board
members that meet and pray and make wise decisions to keep the entire system
working, multiple families and individuals working in our own private Christian
school system, A great young minister and his wife and children working
diligently every day to minister to and help train our youth, many many
families, businesses and individuals that give extra money above and beyond
their regular tithes and offerings to finance all of these different
ministries, a minister that is going around teaching and preaching healing
campaigns, sisters that specifically write notes, make cards bake cookies and other
things to give for encouragement to active ministries, young families and new
converts, people filling prayer rooms and prayer closets at designated
undesignated times to hold up all the workers, workers and volunteers that
manage The Saving Place Furniture Store owned and operated by one of our
ministries, people that intentionally purchase their mattresses and furniture
as much as they can from The Saving Place so that the money that they have to
spend anyway goes to continue to support our ministries, our former Pastor,
Brother Tommy Toliver and his wife still aggressively evangelizing full-time at
an age when many have to or choose to slow way down, a satellite church being
put together in the ghetto of inner-city Tulsa so that many can be reached that
are not able to be reached from as far out in the country where the mother
church is.
Just this week alone we have
three weekend services, including a traditional morning service and a
traditional evening service and a Christmas for the homeless outreach afternoon
service, a special Christmas singing at a cancer treatment center, a Christmas
play and program put on by our school and our youth, a work night at the
satellite church, a service and singing at the county jail, the church as a
whole sponsoring a mother and baby for Christmas, another family sponsoring
another mother and baby in tremendous need also for Christmas, and multiple
families sponsoring children from several other families for Christmas that
otherwise would have very little. And the list goes on and on. There are many
support roles such as book keeping, setting up and taking down tables and
chairs, multiple levels of Sunday school teaching, etc that wasn't even
mentioned. The list is just too long.
My point is this. I have dreamed
of s pentecostal conservative environment that not only teaches good, preaches
good and worships good, but one that "for once", the people not
involved in ministry are kind of the outsiders instead of the other way around.
I travel the country over and over and many places that I go, the ones that
want to do ministry are doing it kind of off in a corner, almost in shame. Not
really fitting in. Dear God I pray for my home church. Protect this
environment, let it spread here and many other places. Let others catch the
vision to not just grow MY CHURCH but rather grow YOUR KINGDOM.
I live a charmed life.
Your humble servant,
Rev. D. Todd Sloggett
