The People of a Church

I met the subject of today’s post for lunch.  She wanted to talk about the people of Hayes Barton Baptist Church who have impacted her and who need to be acknowledged and remembered as we walk toward our 85^th anniversary celebration in the coming days.  We enjoyed talking so much that I took few notes but, fortunately, she had recently shared her testimony with her Sunday School class and shared the notes she had from that experience.  While talking at lunch, we found we have much in common professionally and personally.  One of the commonalities is that we treasure the wisdom and life experience of those among us who are have lived many years, seen many seasons, and loved many people. The story today is about Debra DeCamillis.  And also about the many people at Hayes Barton Baptist Church who have impacted her life.

Debra DeCamillis and her husband Clayton first visited Hayes Barton Baptist Church in 1984.   They received a call from Becky Ferrell soon after that visit, and Becky offered welcoming kind words.  “We felt at home” from the very beginning, says Debra. And a journey was started.

Debra’s testimony is filled with the names of people who have been on her journey and who have changed her life.  In addition to Becky Ferrell, the names referenced in Debra’s testimony are:  Dr. T.L. and Helen Cashwell; Kate Hall; Hilda Tillman; Bert Barksdale; David and Nancy Langford; Helen and Wood Middleton;  Louise Veazey; Betty Griffin; Fabian Thornhill; Bob and Barbara Whiteman; Jim and Betty Bailey; Clarice Bridges and Henry Bridges; Wallace Richardson; Bill Yost and Agnes Yost; Ruth Dudley; Freddie Thornhill; Dorothy Smith; Grace Alphin; Roma Robinson; Louise Eubanks; Ruby Pleasants; Martha McAdams; Cindy King; Cara Lee Smith; Eloise Jackson; Martha Stevenson; John Moore; Al Morris; and Dr. Hailey. Plus those with just their first names:  Frances; Helen; Mary; Jolene; Iona; and Marie.   And the missionaries:  the Grossmans; the Dysons; and the Newells. 

At the risk of leaving someone out, I think you get the picture.  Or get Debra’s picture.  Each of these people is an important person to Debra and is a part of her faith journey at Hayes Barton Baptist Church.  “You don’t always know what you have done that changes someone’s life,” writes Debra in her testimony.  “I want you to know.”

What these people individually and together have done for Debra is provide her with a church that, in her own words, “has taken me from a young wife to a new mother.  It has helped me raise my children and build a family of friends.  It has given me new responsibilities and nurtured my talents.  It has helped me grieve my losses and, today, it gives me my home base.”

The parts these people have played in Debra’s life have been impactful.  Writing her testimony, Debra says, allows her to share:  “This is who I am.  This is what has happened to me inside these walls.  This is about how God has provided for me.  And no one will know how much all this means to me unless I tell them.”

And while Debra’s testimony includes a great story about Hayes Barton Baptist Church as a church building (“When I get drive through Five Points,” Debra writes, “I have a little tingle and think, ‘That’s my church; I belong there.’”), Debra’s testimony stands as a witness to the reality that the people of a church are what bring it to life and enable it to be a place of Faith, Hope, and Love.

All of the people Debra mentions in her testimony, those who are now among the Cloud of Witnesses and those who are still among us, enable Hayes Barton Baptist Church to be the blessed church that it is.  They are part of the heritage we have and continue to build, part of the hope we value, and part of the home that the church is for us.   Who has impacted you on your journey?  And who are you impacting?  Both are good questions to ask ourselves; thanks to Debra for reminding us to do so.