Our story here at RELAYT CHURCH is like many stories and yet it is a rare story filled with faithfulness and a daring group of folks who were willing to say yes to God. Like a child, your child comes into the world and the potential of a great future is in that child. The child’s characteristics and disposition are somewhat decided at the moment of conception.
So what was God thinking when this church was born?
As in our own family, God works with what He has, our parents. So this church had folks who birthed the church. In those days the community had a strong Lutheran demographic and still does. So First English Lutheran Church was born and began holding services, partnering with other churches in the surrounding communities and making an impact for the kingdom of God. It all started in 1928!
Fast forward to the fall of 2013. Jim Hallaway was called as the church needed someone to conduct services in a little bit of an urgent manner. Jim came and began to conduct services and God began to make a place for him. He was called and installed as an associate pastor in May of 2014.
In God’s providence, the churches, there were three at that time, had just called a man who was not a Lutheran to serve in pastoral ministry.
Perhaps you have had a moment in your life when you took a new course, started a new topic of study, became sober after a time of addiction, were married, had your first child. These are major life events! Some of them are surprises, some of them are planned.
In retrospect, it seems like the course the church would take, becoming a non-denominational church, a new testament church, was a surprise to everyone but God. God knew what would take place long ago.
