From 1905 to 2005…

It was a cold, cold day, 100 years ago in Maple Hill. Blizzard conditions had struck. The winds blew fierce. The snowdrifts were terrible. People huddled in their homes trying to keep warm – back in a time when most houses in Maple Hill were heated by wood-burning stoves.

And the timing wasn’t good either. It was dedication day for the newly renovated church building at 4th & Prairie. Many, many people in the community had worked hard for this day. Donating their time, labor, and carpentry skills, they had turned a shabby old schoolhouse into a very nice place of worship. Having shared facilities with the Maple Hill Methodist Church for over a year, the time had come to officially move into the new site.

But the weather was Arctic! The snow was so steep that the train carrying the Alma Congregational Church choir couldn’t pass. What would they do? Cancel the service? Reschedule it for another date?

Nope! Too many people had worked too hard for too long to put it off. And so the service went on as planned. They got wood in the stove that morning at 6:00 a.m., and by church-time the building was packed. People came in droves, from the town and from the countryside. The Rev. W.S. Crouch, the church’s pastor since 1882, preached to the listeners. The whole congregation sang, and God was glorified.

Ask yourself, my friends: Does your eagerness for worship match that of our forebears?

We’ve been worshiping in the same building ever since then. The hardiness of our forebears set the pace. Let us continue that same spirit of worship in 2005! No meager excuse should inhibit us from doing as the Bible commands. Weekly worship in a common place is a staple of life. Nothing can replace it!

God Bless you,

Pastor Andrew McHenry