Recently, we have had a number of older people at the church pass away, move away, move into a nursing home, or something else to that effect. It has really gotten me to thinking about what the church was like when I first moved here and how it has changed over that time. I moved to Louisville in December of 2005 and joined the church soon after.
At that time, with a few exceptions, the church was made up mostly of older people (60 and above) and a few younger people (30 and younger). There were hardly any members at all between the ages of 30 and 60. Most of the older members had been a part of the church for a long time. They had raised their families here, had faithfully served in leadership positions, had humbly served in different ministries, and had sacrificially given to the church and her ministries. Most of the younger members were very young—either seminary students fresh out of college or brand new believers. Many were from out of state. Few knew the history of the church or the community, but we were looking for a church family to join, serve, learn from, make mistakes in, gain experience among, and etc.
As we have been celebrating and mourning the several losses we have experienced lately, I have been thinking a lot about this generation of believers and the legacy they are leaving behind at FBC, Fairdale. I imagine that it wasn’t always easy for these older members to have a young inexperienced pastor or group of pastors in their 30s. I would have expected them to have a bit of a hard time with some of the changes that were discussed or put into place. I would have expected them to have been a bit hesitant to allow these younger people to serve in leadership or other positions in the church. It would have been easy for them to have resisted or blocked some of these things. They could have gotten disgusted or upset when mistakes were made, but they never did. They supported and encouraged and forgave and helped these younger leaders. They continued serving in various ways. They were quick to welcome new members and visitors in a fully genuine and willing way. They allowed us to be as fully members of the church as they had been for so many years. In many ways, they were ideal church members!
Over the last week, as we were thinking about and reminiscing about a recent death in the church, my thinking about this generation has crystallized in my mind. Their legacy, I think, is that they made it so easy to be church members here! They were generous with their church!
May we all seek to follow their example!
