By: Caroline Belsher Smith
A merry band of like minded people, as individual as any group could be, but linked with the commonality of reaching a community with the gospel, is what resounds in my 9 year old’s memory of our “church”. Hardly a church, in the most common usage of the word, but a church we were!
My family, of 2 younger siblings, Geoffrey and Heather, and my parents, Selwyn and Evelyn Belsher, and a few other families and individuals lead by Pastor Robert Dargan and wife, Edna, met together every Sunday morning in the Kingsview Public School.
As I recall, our little, but mighty group would hold a Sunday School and Worship Service every Sunday morning. But the day hardly finished there!
Following the service we would have a lunch together, that the women had prepared, and then go out into the community in small groups, distributing information pamphlets and witnessing door-to-door.
As I look back on those early days, I recall the extraordinary commitment in personal resources made by young families and individual, to provide this community with a church that outwardly demonstrated their commitment to God. I remember, most vividly, the ground breaking ceremony, when my proud and smiling father, Selwyn, placed his hands on the be-ribboned shovel to commemorate the momentous day that had finally arrived.
I still feel much pride in this building today because I was fortunate to be part of its beginning and now, as an adult, I truly understand the sacrifices of my parents and the others to realize a dream.