- June 26th, 2006, 1:26 am
#19104
Is anybody else going to find it odd to be calling it Thomas Road Baptist Church now that it is not on Thomas Road anymore?
'God's going with us'http://www.newsadvance.com/servlet/Sate ... 4949&path=
By Ron Brown
rbrown@newsadvance.com
June 26, 2006
Shortly after 5 p.m. Sunday, a stream of cars rolled down Lynchburg’s rain-slickened Thomas Road, which has been roughened in anticipation of improvements.
It was a kind of fitting symbol of what was about to occur at Thomas Road Baptist Church, the street’s most famous resident.
The church, like the street it sits on, will soon be getting a new face.
Sunday, it moves into a new $20 million sanctuary
on the Liberty University campus to coincide with the church’s 50th anniversary.
Like many of its members, Tina and Bill Dean said Sunday night’s service was a bittersweet experience.
“We’re looking forward to going to the new church,” Tina Dean said. “We’ve only been going to this church for six years. We don’t have the deep roots that some people do, but still it’s poignant. It’s kind of sad, but we’re looking forward to what’s ahead.”
Bill Dean said he hates to leave the old church, although he’s excited about the possibilities of what a new church could bring.
“I think the church is going to grow and there will be new people coming in,” he said.
Bill Dean said he likes having the church in close proximity to the university.
“Liberty students bring a lot of joy to my life,” he said. “I love having the young people around. Liberty students are different than a lot of young people you see. They are friendly and clean cut.”
Saundra Slagle said she’s been attending the church for 30 years.
“This is home,” she said. “But we’ve got greater opportunities. We’ll be so much bigger. We’ll be able to get more people, more people for Christ.”
Once the service began, there were songs sung that have brought comfort for five decades.
Music included “’Tis So Sweet To Trust In Jesus,” “Heavenly Sunshine,” “No One Ever Cared For Me Like Jesus” and “We’ve Come This Far By Faith.”
The Rev. Jerry Falwell baptized 18 people, many of them children.
“I’ve got the city of Lynchburg back here,” he joked. “Through the years, it has been amazing to watch God work.”
While Falwell emphasized the promise the new church building holds, he recognized that leaving would be tough.
“We are just a little bit overwhelmed as we say goodbye to this sanctuary,” he said.
Falwell left it to the Rev. Ed Hindson to charge church members with the responsibilities the new church will bring.
“This church has touched all 50 states,” Hindson said. “It has touched over 100 countries around the world … It is not the building. It is the spirit of God in this place … Every single day somebody comes to faith in Christ in this community because of the outreach of the people of Thomas Road.”
Jonathan Falwell, the church’s executive pastor, recalled some of the memories included in his 39 years of attending the church.
He remembered kicking a few shins and rolling his matchbox car over a bald man’s head.
He could remember talking a little too much and getting a “mean” stare from his father on the pulpit.
Like many in the building, he choked back tears as he talked about how he’d come to know Christ in this building in 1972.
“When we walk out of this building tonight, it’s going to be sad,” he said. “But you know what, this building has never saved one person. God’s going with us.”
just a sid enote medic, they have a coffee shop in there and a huge indoor playground for the kids.
- By Dalegarz1