Our 50th Anniversary Celebration
was held at Grace
on Sunday, November 5, and it was a true blessing to all who
attended!
From 9 to 10 a.m., the fellowship hall was filled with families and
friends
enjoying hugs, reminiscing, and looking at Grace memorabilia.
Then
over 300 members, former members, and visitors filled the sanctuary for
the worship service. We sang several of the old, familiar hymns,
and were treated to special music by the Chancel Choir, Children's
Choir,
and Youth Praise Band. We enjoyed a wonderful sermon by Grace
founding
pastor, Dr. Doug McGuire. Holy Communion was served by four of
our
former pastors, Henry Blount, Jim Humphries, W. O. Lynch, and Larry
Miller.
After a two-hour service, the whole group moved to the Ruston Civic
Center
to enjoy a delicious meal of Buster Kees' famous chicken spaghetti
along
with salad, homemade bread, and homemade pies. There we were
treated
to special music by the Chancel Choir and comments by the pastors and
friends
of Grace. Those who attended haven't stopped talking about this
truly
memorable day!
Thank you to Dr. Doug McGuire
and the charter
members of Grace for their vision and dedication—and for giving us a
reason
to celebrate!
We sincerely appreciate
everyone who helped
make the celebration such a huge success. So much hard work went
into planning it—beginning over a year ago. We extend a very
special
thank you to the 50th Anniversary Committee—its chairperson, JoAnne
Rainey;
Jean Lay; Joy Lowe; Wes and Deborah Lynch; Bob and Debbie Smith, and
Irene
Walker—for their dedication and hard work throughout the entire
year.
Thank you to Alan Einsel for helping set the plan in motion and to Bro.
Ken for helping see it to fruition; to the former pastors who
participated,
and their wives; and to those of you who worked tirelessly for the past
year (and especially the past few months) helping gather memorabilia,
prepare
displays, put together the Fifty Years of Grace booklet, put the
multimedia
presentation together, plan for the worship service, work on the music
presentations, and endless other tasks. A special thank you
to the 80+ people who helped with the chicken spaghetti luncheon at the
Civic Center—who chopped vegetables, cooked spaghetti, baked pies and
bread,
prepared lettuce and salad dressing, set tables, served the meal, and
cleaned
up afterward. It was a tremendous effort by everyone that made
this
event so special and so memorable!
Pictures from the 50th
Anniversary Celebration
are available in the church office for you to look at and order!
There is an album in the office containing over 50 pictures that
capture
special moments throughout the day. Feel free to stop by and
order
your own keepsakes. Your order will be delivered to the church
for
pickup.
We also have extra copies of
the booklet, Fifty
Years of Grace, available in the church office. If you were
unable
to attend and would like to receive a copy, please call or come by the
office.
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