Here is a little bonus. About five years ago I send a pastoral epistle to the church that I founded with a few other families in beautiful central Ohio. Here is that letter:
Dear Friends at Community Bible Church;
Every hour of every day at the parsonage on Pine Street where we now live we hear the ringing of the Westminster Chimes. The music comes from a little clock that we carried away from our Grange Hall on our last Sunday together almost four years ago. The time-honored chime reminds us of the sweet years of fellowship we enjoyed in beautiful Knox County with you.
The clock was symbolic of the other things we carried away in our hearts. We also carried with us many wonderful memories of the kind favor of the Lord. I believe the Lord smiled on our simple work there.
On the back of the clock is a gold plate with the words of the Psalm we chose as our church bible verse during those days Psalm 90:17 “And let the beauty of the LORD our God be upon us: and establish thou the work of our hands… yea, the work of our hands establish thou it.”
That was my prayer ten years ago when I first carried the old sandwich board sign out to the road in front of the PCA building. That was my desire on those early mornings when we would meet with our leaders at McDonald’s to study the word together. That was our intent as we searched the Scriptures together to discover God’s plan for a church polity that would allow us to secure the sure direction of the Lord through the counsel of men who love God and love each other. That is what motivated me to work hard on our little weekly mailing and discipling families in the evenings…. that the beauty of the Lord would be upon us and that He would establish the work of our hands.
I have a little picture of the Grange Hall in my study and I often pray for you. As you continue to fellowship together under the direction of your fine new pastor my prayer is the same: “Oh precious God in heaven bless the ministry of Community Bible Church, display your beauty there and establish that work in faithfulness until you come back.”
If you love God with all your heart you will love one another and you will love the lost. If you do that the beauty of the Lord and the blessing of the Lord will always be upon the group that meets in the little preaching hall nestled in fields of corn on Tucker Road.
“Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labor is not in vain in the Lord.” 1 Corinthians 15:58
Pastor Kenneth L. Pierpont and Family
Pine Street Parsonage
Fremont, Michigan
September 29, 2000