Page 6 - 2016TVTimes.October30

6 – Saturday, October 29, 2016 – El Dorado NEWS-TIMES
Smith heard call to ministry while in Army
News-Times Staff
Lt. Charles Smith of The Salvation Army first heard God’s call
when he was just 21 years old and still serving in the U.S. Army.
He first learned the impor- tance of ministers as a youth. “I would say it was while I was growing up, my father was a pastor, so I saw my own perspective of what a bi-vocational did,” he said.
Smith has been a pastor for 20 years, and he is in his second year as leader of The Salvation Army in El Dorado.
Smith was raised in the Southern Baptist tradition, and was a Freewill Baptist pastor for 18 years before joining the Salvation Army.
He said mentor pastors are invaluable to ministers. “It helps me to be held account- able,” he said. “Every pastor should have a mentor.”
Smith said that if he were not a minister, he thought his life would be miserable. He said his favorite part of the job is “just the opportu- nity everyday to pray with people.”
Smith said his hardest moments as a minister came early in his career.
“My first pastorate was a struggle, it made me realize to trust in the Lord Jesus Christ more than anything else,” he said.
His advice for any young people considering a life in ministry is to be sure they
See SMITH, Page 9
Terrance Armstard/News-Times
Salvation Army: Lt. Charles Smith has been a minister for 20 years and has been in El Dorado for two years.
Hillsboro Continued from Page 4
any church are now common place in many denominations.”
In 1954, the elders of Block and Hardy decided to purchase an acre of land on College Avenue. The Block and Hardy property was mortgaged for $46,000 to the First National Bank and First Federal Bank of El Dorado. A group of 66 members (nearly half the Block and Hardy membership) moved to College Avenue for the dedication on Aug. 21, 1955.
“The members of the College Avenue Church owe a debt of grat- itude to Block and Hardy for mort- gaging their property after losing 66 members and sponsoring us at our new location,” wrote Hogg, who was an elder with the College Avenue Church of Christ.
“What all had in common was a desire to see a great work done for the Lord in El Dorado,” John Fields wrote of the founding of the College Avenue church.
By 1963, less than eight years later, the Block and Hardy Church had grown to about 140 members and had outgrown the facilities. Plans were made for a change in location to what would then be called the
West Hillsboro Church of Christ. Pastor Benny Bristow was central to the planning of the Hillsboro church while serving on the build-
ing committee.
“When he first went to the church
lot he said he wasn’t sure if it was the right place,” Fields stated. “Tall grass, briars and weeds overran a lot where the broken down remains of an old home place had been.”
With a lot of hard work, that over- grown lot became the the present home of West Hillsboro Church of Christ. The building was completed and the first sermon was preached there on May 16, 1965.
Since the founding of West Hillsboro Church of Christ in 1965, the church has had six ministers. Benny Bristow served as pastor from 1963-69; C.F. Shirey led the church from 1969-72; John Wheeler was pastor from 1972-81; J.R. Sullins was minister from 1981-87; David Smith served from 1987-1993; Ken Stegall was the leader from 1993- 2007; and John Fields has been pas- tor since 2008.
Last year, the church celebrated its 50th anniversary, but the roots of the Hillsboro congregation stretch-
See HILLSBORO, Page 9
al — too casual for me,” Moore said. “As a child, every week, I had to complete my assignment for the fol- lowing Sunday — reading the Bible, filling in blanks, matching, mem- orizing scripture. Today, I never hear a child say, ‘I can’t do that on Saturday until I get my Sunday School assignment done.’”
Two boys that Moore taught in Sunday School have, at different times, told the same story from the pulpit about her.
“They said that I was the only Sunday school teacher they ever had who gave tests that had to be taken home and signed by a parent.”
Randall Bagley, 61, has attended Hillsboro Church of Christ all of his life as well. His earliest memories of church include helping in his grand- mother’s Sunday School class.
He says societal changes that have influenced the church and the liber- alism of God’s word are the biggest changes he has seen over the years.
“The racial barriers that were there in my childhood have disap- peared,” Bagley said. “Things that would never have been allowed in
You don’t need to be perfect to be loved by a Perfect God.
Quality Electric Co. Inc.
101 Nick Springs Rd. • 870-862-9958
1628