fort_graham_92203

Posted: 9/19/03

Landmarks highlight church's destiny

By John Hall

Texas Baptist Communications

WHITNEY–In 1942, the few remaining members of Fort Graham Baptist Church closed the doors and donated the building to a farmer who wanted to dismantle it and build a barn.

That day, one woman of the church broke down and wept near a tree, begging God to rebuild the congregation.

By 1992, the church had restarted and was growing. At a building ceremony near the same tree, that woman declared the expanding church an answer to her 50-year-old prayer.

More than 10 years later, Pastor Allan Lane warmly reflects on the meaning of landmarks around the church campus–the tree where the woman cried, the pristine white steeple, the centuries-old oak tree and the parking lot. Each has a story. Each is used for ministry.

The church facilities are an avenue for the church to meet people. Youth commonly play basketball and skateboard in the church's parking lot. Teenagers practice driving there. Families picnic in a field behind the church. Friends spend time together on a wooden deck under the large oak to the side of the church.

The facilities house 12 Sunday School classes and an after-school program for 100 students, including 40 teenagers. Three hundred students recently attended a football post-game event on the deck. The church witnessed 55 baptisms this year.

But ministry doesn't stop at the property line. The church has several groups that do door-to-door visitation. Five Bible study groups meet off-campus–two in homes, two in aging-care facilities and one in a recreational vehicle park.

Two past Bible studies grew into churches. The congregation also supports other new works in the area.

Lane helped form the Lake Whitney Ministerial Alliance, which distributes $150,000 in federal funds to people in need. The alliance started an assisted living facility and a hospice program.

The outreach is needed in the area, Lane noted during the Baptist General Convention of Texas-sponsored Evangelism Summit. A divide formed between the financially well-off around the lake and the impoverished residents further away from the body of water, he explained.

The Lake Whitney area is believed to have the highest number of methamphetamine labs per capita in Texas.

The church's location makes it ideal as a place for people of various economic levels to meet and discuss issues, Lane asserted. The congregation has unified differing factions of the area and found ways for them to work together to build community and strong families.

“This was a forsaken community, and there are forsaken communities all over this state,” Lane said, describing the condition of the area when the church started.

“Where there are places we say that are not safe for people, that's exactly where a church should be started. Churches ought to be offering a sense of hope, understanding and community.”

However, location without commitment to action leads nowhere. People considering joining the church are strongly encouraged to be involved in ministry.

“I articulate we are here to serve, not to be served,” said Lane, who is bivocational.

The church reassesses community needs every five years, considering demographic studies and discussions with churched and non-churched individuals about where ministry is needed.

“You have to overcome the initial inertia of not looking past yourself,” Lane said. “A church has got to be outward. You can't be thinking me, my focus.”