From Our 149th Anniversary
We have a church rich with creativity, and we celebrated our 149th anniversary on Sunday, October 29th 2023 with music and song. Please click here to watch a recording of this event.
There was also a poem written for this occasion, as written below.
Title: This Church
By: Sarah Newman
For: Armadale’s 149th Anniversary
This church is where we sing and pray and break bread
Upon generations of lifted voice.
I stand where my grandfather stood,
My grandmother stood,
And use my voice to give others choice
To follow Jesus if they would.
This church is more than a building,
It is a people
Who 149 years ago gathered without walls
And later built this place of worship
Through volunteered hands and arms and backs and sweat.
We cannot choose when the Spirit calls,
But with brick and mortar, board and nail
The Holy Spirit can be availed.
This church has seen many a face
Who have chosen to run God’s greatest race;
Through rain and snow and sleet and pain,
This altar has seen tears and smiles again
And again, and again.
I stand not only on Holy Ground,
But with brothers and sisters forever abound.
This church is not just mine, but also yours too
And it is our call to see it through
To lift it up in more volunteered strength and love and might
As we keep the good fight in sight.
Like Peter and Paul and Priscilla and Phoebe
Who gave voice to their voiceless age
Can we step forward into darkness assuaged?
Jesus hold us fast, hold us firm and tight—
Because in the palm of your hand,
Our footing can only be right.