MEMORIES OF NORTHSIDE BAPTIST'S 60TH ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATION AND ALSO OF MY DAD.

 

 I've been a part of other anniversary celebrations for churches (though, amusingly, none before we moved to Indianapolis). I was there for the 40th, 50th, and 60th anniversary of Arlington Avenue Baptist Church. But each of those were a one day celebration. It took a whole month to celebrate Northside's 60th.

One thing they did was focus on the eras - '63-77 the first week, the '80's the next week, the 90's for week #3, and the 2000s today. Before each week, they mentioned the fads of that period in case you wanted to dress that style. I debated doing that by investing into 4 new shirts - a 2nd Chapter of Acts T-shirt, a Daniel Band T-shirt, a Beracah T-shirt, and - you guessed it - a Divine Martyr T-shirt. They did mention for the first week gloves and buttons. And me unable to find my Thurmon Munson catcher's mitt and my "Carter for President" button!

Picnic, Northside Baptist Church, Indy

Each week, the worship consisted of songs we'd sing from that era. Nobody mentioned it, but it did show a reflection of the hymn vs. chorus debate. The first week we sang hymns ("My Tribute" and "Sweet, Sweet Spirit" being the more contemporary ones for that time. The next week, we sang choruses, three of which we sang through twice. Interestingly, contemporary worship songs have more verses again, and often a bridge! Bottom line - each era has God honoring songs.

We also had greetings from several individuals, such as missionaries, that were shown on the video.

Pastor Jeremy Couture started a series on the book of James the first week, but the anniversary colored this week's sermon, based on the vision of dry bones in Ezekiel 37. He also presented his vision for us to reach 500 people the next 3 years through Evangelism, Worship, Family Ministry, and Leadership.

Yesterday, we had a church picnic. It included one person playing the #1 songs of each year up till '80 and then Christian songs after prayer. Hey, any day I get to hear both "Sugar Sugar" (the Archies) and "Beyond Belief" (Petra) is a good day! 

KVIO, Cottonwood, AZ; not my dad in picture.

During the first part, we got candy if we knew the song and artist. When he announced the year '76, I was already on the way, because I knew it was "Silly Love Songs" (Wings). It helped having a father who was a DJ during that era, and listening to the songs on KVIO, 1600am, Cottonwood, Arizona.

Picture of Dad and Becky.

I'll admit - I was starting to get emotional during that point. The day before (Sept. 22), I saw a memory post from 9 years ago, where a high school friend posted a picture of the radio station and mentioned my Dad working there. The following day, the memory posts included one I did mentioning my Dad's passing. I realized the station picture was originally posted 5 years and 1 day before Dad went to heaven. Then, hearing the songs Dad played on the radio...

A lot of fond memories from this past month.