Reflections from a CRBC Lifer
By Sarah Sutton
Except for a few years living out of state, I have been a member at Council Road Baptist Church since 1969. In fact, sometimes I think I was born in the Chapel because one of my earliest memories in life is sitting in the gold pews counting the spokes in the light fixtures in the ceiling (that are still there) while Pastor Willhoite preached. In the second grade, I played The Old Rugged Cross on the organ for a Sunday night offertory. Sharon Panick, our organist at the time, made sure the settings were correct before I climbed up on the bench to begin. The organ sat behind a wooden divider, and mom said the only thing you could see was the big, pink bow in my hair as I played. Years later, Sharon also catered Dave’s and my wedding reception in Fellowship Hall. And the reason I played the organ is because CRBC’s first foreign missionaries, Dr. Bill and Leslie Williams, left their organ with my family when they moved to Nigeria. I am thankful for the way families in our church become intertwined throughout the generations.
My entire life is centered around my church. It’s where I work, it’s where I worship, it’s where my ministry is and it’s where I join other families to walk God’s purpose for our lives. It’s where I have made life-long friends, and it’s where I met my husband. I have celebrated weddings, births, graduations, ordinations, anniversaries and birthdays, and I have also mourned at funerals and walked with others while experiencing life’s trials. The key has been doing life together with my church family. Hebrews 10:25 says, “Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching.”
CRBC has always been a church with missional ideals. When Pastor Hartman led us to put our purpose into words, Dr. Bill is the one who insisted we put the word ALL in the phrase “loving all people to Christ.” His wisdom has driven our missional purpose ever since, and I personally think that was an impetus for members in our congregation to start their own ministries for CRBC to come along beside and support. When Pastor Rick arrived in 2003, we saw a new and heightened missional emphasis.
Our history has included plenty of funny things that have happened:
- Carolyn Lovelady and 40 senior adults showed up one day to board the buses for a trip only to find out Chris Wall had taken them to Arizona.
- Norman Behymer forgot he had performed a funeral service, then later asked the sister how that person was doing.
- Brad Schaeffer swung from the Chapel baptistry as Cupid for a singles’ Valentine event.
- One day, we had a wedding processional line up outside the Chapel as the casket from a funeral was being wheeled out.
- Pastor Rick had a baptism hijacked by a stranger, and that person held his friend under water too long.
- Pastor Rick also introduced Todd Tamura as flying F-150s in the Gulf War.
- Mark Reighard used to play the theme from “Jaws” on the organ during baptism.
- Steve Genheimer dropped a musical greeting card behind Norman’s office wall that played for months until the battery ran out.
- Denise Behymer led the Praise Song ensemble off the stage in the dark and ran right into the door while they all pan-caked behind her.
- Brad Riggins fell onstage and took out two guitars and the drum set in the process.
- Carolyn Bailor threw Mark Hartman out of her office for missing deadlines.
- The entire choir and orchestra exited the stage during a prayer after performing for the Baptist General Convention and left me there alone with the keynote speaker. To this day, I don’t close my eyes during a prayer if I’m onstage.
- Pastor Rick preached about Mimosas instead of Meosa.
There are hundreds of other funny stories, but there are even more times that we have been brought to the throne of God. The reading of the entire Bible around the clock as we dedicated the Worship Center in November 1982. The Sandi Patty songs in the 1990s that Denise Behymer, Joanie Pullen and Teresa Cope effortlessly sang as John Bernard, Julie Clifford and David Sutton arranged and played instrumental and vocal parts. The full choir and orchestra productions and original dramas written by Kevin McAfee and Dan Moore with sets that stretched from one end of the stage to the other built by Ted Parrish and Jeff Behymer. And the amazing music that Norman has led has always been accompanied by anointed preaching by our senior pastors: Fred Wilhoite, Wendel Estep, Claude Thomas, Mark Hartman and Rick Thompson.
God has always had His hand on Council Road and has bestowed blessing upon blessing on His church, its leadership and its people. We pray that the Lord will continue to bless us and keep us and make His face to shine upon us.
Author Bio
Sarah has worked at Council Road in a variety of ministries since 1984. She currently serves as the senior pastor’s assistant and staff editor. She has played flute in the CRBC orchestra since 1983 and met her husband, Dave, while serving in the music ministry together. She enjoys traveling to wherever Dave is photographing a beautiful landscape.