Lessons Learned at CRBC
by Dave Gillogly
Millicent and I joined CRBC 46 years ago. When I think of all the ways God has used this church to change our lives, my first thought is, “How could I ever recall or list them?” This special place has been a part of every adult season in our lives: child rearing, careers, empty nesting, retirement. God has used it to support us, teach us, grow us and to use us our entire adult lives.
I guess the best place to begin is the beginning. We joined in 1977 and almost immediately became involved in back-to-back-to-back-to-back capital campaigns to add education and administration space, build the education building, buy land to build the Worship Center and finally to build the Children’s Building. During our first two decades at CRBC, we were in a capital fund raising and building campaign. Then we took a breath for a few years before we launched the Cube project.
What did God teach us? None of those projects was funded by a single individual or family. We learned that none of us could say, “I can’t afford to do that, so count me out.” Rather, we learned that God called the church to do those works, and He only expected each of us to do what He asked of us individually so that, as a church, all the needs were met. We learned the power of Christian community. We bonded through shared sacrifice. We grew as God provided resources differently for each of us to accomplish His will collectively.
Before joining CRBC, I was not a tither (I’m not sure I’d ever heard the term.) But through preaching, studying and the influence and wisdom of others, I learned not only to tithe, but also to give beyond the tithe for these capital projects. We learned that you really could do what God asked, regardless of how ridiculous, extravagant or foolish it seemed. For one of those campaigns, God told Millicent and me to give a sum that was greater than our net worth at the time. Instead of paying our pledge over three years, we were miraculously able to do it the first year. We learned that He is infinitely generous with His children and if He is in it, He will make it happen if we are obedient. Ever since then, when a question of how much to give comes up, Millicent and I usually share or write down a number that God has given each of us in prayer. It’s nearly always the same, or close enough, to tell us what to do.
I was co-chairman of the second Children’s Building campaign. On the way home from church one Sunday, Millicent and I were talking about how we could even include children in the campaign so that they could be part of the giving community and learn the lessons that the rest of us had been learning. It would also give them a sense of ownership in their new space. My idea was to let children and young people buy bricks for the building. This was in 1987, so bricks only cost $.25/piece. Coincidentally, or more likely providentially, our younger daughter, Kacy, had consolidated her piggy banks and traded all her saved pennies, nickels, dimes and quarters for a $20 bill which she was eager to use to buy something for herself. As Millicent and I talked about my idea for children participating in the fund-raising campaign by buying bricks for a quarter, we heard this quiet seven-year-old voice from the back seat ask, “Mom and Dad, how many bricks would $20 buy?” All the money we’d ever given, or would ever give in the future, could not repay God for that glorious, shining moment.
Over the years, God has kept on using CRBC to teach us not only about giving, but also including and trusting Him in all areas of life, in evangelism, in ‘as you go’ discipleship and the importance of Christian fellowship both with close friends and our whole community, and on and on. But those are stories for another day. As God’s love is infinite, so are the stories.
Author Bio
Dave and Millicent Gillogly have been members of CRBC for 46 years. He has had the opportunity to serve in nearly every lay leadership capacity at Council Road. God has used the church to build his spiritual faith and character. He says God is not through with him yet.