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(4.)
Sesquicentennial
Celebration
Liberty ~ Graham Baptist Church, Butlerville,
Jennings County, Indiana
(It
is sufficient to)
say that it seems God has always sent
the right Pastor at the right time, and each one is unique in the way he
has affected the Church. We thank God for each one. A list of the Pastors
and Deacons is included in the back of this book.
Money was not mentioned in the early Church minutes. The congregation
gave of their love and labor to the Church. In, 1846 money was
first noted when the Church agreed "to pay a claim of a brother
against the church."1 It was later agreed to take up 'Scription"
to obtain funds to enable us to build the house and pay her debt. " 1
A committee of two was appointed to take the subscription paper around.
In 1858, E. T. Spaulding was hired as Sexton for $6.00. For this
sum he was to furnish "wood, water and lite and keep the house in
good order"l for one-year. Now for the first time it was agreed to
take up a collection quarterly to defray expenses of the Church. It was
the rule for each brother to pay $1.00 and each sister 25 cents.
Sometimes they were excused from paying that much if they protested that
they were financially unable to do so. A
resolution was passed in 1889 that,
"seven brethren be appointed by the Moderator
whose duty shall be
to assess each
member, what in their judgement he or she ought to pay
for church
expenses. "1
In 1891 it was resolved that "all members
of said Church failing to pay the amount assessed them within six months
after it becomes due, shall be dealt with in the Church as a majority of
the members present deem proper."1
Evidently this assessment was a good way to get money for the Church,
as it was the practice for several years. When special funds were needed
many years later the "Lord Acre" plan was adopted. Pledges were
made and a few suppers were held. Through the years though, Graham has
mainly depended on tithes and offerings for her finances.
Graham had preaching once a month, called "quarterly
preaching." The early Preachers were circuit riders, riding horseback
to the various little Churches to bring "The Message." She often
shared her Pastor with two or three other small Churches. In the 1860's,
Graham had a local resident for a Pastor and although he preached at more
Churches, he managed to bring "half time" or every two weeks
preaching to Graham. Later, Graham went back to quarterly preaching. This
was made up in part by the Saturday business meeting, which always
included "prais prayr and sermon. "1
The Preacher was, often the Church moderator, and helped conduct all
the church business. In 1940 Graham started having "half time"
preaching again, sharing the Pastor with her sister, church in Dupont. On
January I, 1948, Graham started "full time" (every Sunday)
preaching which continues to this day.
There is no record of when music was first used in the church, but as
far as anyone living today remembers, Graham has always been a musical
Church.
Among the, things we might find different today if we visited the
Church in the early years would be the fence around
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4.
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