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Fond memories, tinged with sadness

While veteran church members look forward to the new building, they're a bit wistful about leaving the church's longtime sanctuary.

By GAIL HOLLENBECK
Published December 16, 2006

INVERNESS - For many longtime members of First Baptist Church, the move this week from the facilities on Seminole Avenue into a new building on Pleasant Grove Road is bittersweet.

At a recent service, several members shared their memories of church life over the years.

Dwight Hooper, 37, recalled coming to the church as a small boy.

"I went through the history of how our family came there, went to Main Street (Baptist Church) for awhile and then came back when I was in third grade," Hooper said in an interview. "We've been at First Baptist ever since."

Hooper rededicated his life to the Lord, was married and as a deacon baptized his two children at the church.

"It was a great experience," he said. "You get all choked up."

Hooper was choked up again last Sunday when he sang the invitational hymn at the end of the service, knowing it would be the last time he would sing it there.

"That was sad," Hooper said, "but I'm looking forward to new memories."

Hooper said he is ecstatic about moving to the new site.

"We had choir practice a little while there today," he said. "It was really neat. I'm excited about what God's doing."

Arlyn Sukut, 73, and his wife have been at the church since 1976.

One of his fondest memories is being part of a threesome that did church visitation.

"We had three men who just absolutely had a delightful time making visits in our community," he said. "We'd say we were just making a social call and we want to invite you to come to our church. Sometimes you expect someone to say we don't want to have anything to do with your church, but the fact is we were just pleasantly treated by everybody, even though three men don't normally come to visit. That's my memory."

Being a part of the choir along with her husband, Frank, for the past 23 years is what stands out in the mind of Patricia Pullen, 77.

"It's always been a pleasant experience for me," she said. "I always felt we accomplished something with our choir. We have a very gifted choir director who is very devoted to the Lord, and we anticipate increasing our numbers in choir quite a bit as a result. Not only are we going into a new building, but we really, in essence, have started with a new preacher and new choir director. They are a very good team."

Mrs. Pullen said she and her husband were living in Florida for about a year before deciding to join the church here.

"We decided that this is where we should be, and we haven't regretted it," she said. "The people at the church are very friendly and have come through some difficult times. I'm excited about having more room in our church to take in more people. This will be great to grow our church more."

Clarice Jordan, 95, has been at the church for 65 years and can remember much of the church's history.

"I came in 1941," Mrs. Jordan said. "We've been through several building programs since I've been a member, but we've never changed addresses before. I thought that was an interesting memory. We always stayed on the same lot and now we're going out in the country."

According to a history prepared by church librarian Joyce Sukut, services were first held in the Old School House, which stood between Trout, Cherry, Emery and Dampier streets. It was there the church was first organized with six charter members. The first church building was built around 1902 on the southeast corner of Grace and Pine streets.

In 1907, with 16 members meeting once a month, the church became known as First Baptist Church of Inverness.

The church began holding services twice a month in 1912. In 1921, the Rev. A.W. Lamar was called as its first full-time pastor, and the church maintained a full schedule of services. Educational buildings were added in 1924 and 1956.

In September 1961 plans were made for the construction of an additional educational building and new sanctuary on Seminole Avenue, which was dedicated in 1962.

In 1975 a youth building was added. A fellowship hall was added in 1986.

In 1999, property was purchased on Pleasant Grove Road, where a $5.5-million, 50,000-square-foot facility was recently completed. The existing buildings were sold to the Citrus Memorial Health System.

[Last modified December 15, 2006, 19:45:02]