FINDING CHRIST AND FELLOWSHIP AT WAYSIDE CHRISTIAN CHURCH By: Daniel L. Ledford & Tim Taylor
*Wayside Christian Church was founded on April 3, 1963 with approximately 30 members. Most of them had formerly been members of Glades Christian Church in the building known as Old Silver Creek School. The founding Minister was Watson Caudill who designated the name "Wayside" so as to welcome all those looking for a special Independent Christian Church, not on the ordinary straight path.
This early period was one of steady growth and true Christian harmony. As a lad of 13, I joined in the summer of 1963 and how well I remember the enthusiasm, the real goodness and kindness then as well as now, which made "Wayside" something special indeed. The friendships I formed in this period (1963-64) have never died.
*Brother Caudill was able to begin building a new Church in the summer of 1964 on Menelaus Pike in the Middletown district and with glad rejoicing we began services there on the last Sunday of August '64(August 30th). A strong vibrant youth group and a revival held in Oct. '64 by Keith McCasslin expanded the Church with quicker growth than any other Church in Berea.
*No one is perfect but God. (Mat. 19:17), and as in all Churches problems, mostly financial, developed after the summer of 1965. This led to the departure of Brother Caudill in December '65. We were unable to find a really full-time minister from 1965-1968. Harrison Sallee and Bobby Maynard were our part-time Ministers.
With the arrival of Scotty Richmond in 1969 things began to improve steadily. In 1971 David Carnine became Minister and things were on the upswing. With the Coming of Minister Jack Prather in 1973 many new changes began to happen beginning with the opening of a Christian School in 1975. These too, were exciting days but by 1980 financial hardships forced the closing of the Christian School which existed at "Wayside" as many new expansions were made on our Church building in the mid 70's. Minister Mike Whittaker and Brady Clark succeeded Jack Prather in the mid 80's. Minister Maurice Dula came to us in 1985 and membership which in the early 80's began to fall down a bit, started to reach 1964 figures by 1986. Walter Ballinger followed after Maurice and was a great asset our Congregation. After the departure of Walter we went a while without a full time minister. We had many fillins and in January of 2000 Ron Lutes became our new Minister until present. With the arrival of Ron the Church prospered greatly. Within just a few years our Church grew and we were able to pay the Church morgage off which had been a great burden. We will forever be greatful to all who pulled together and got this done. Ron is a very powerful Preacher of Gods' Word, he is a great inspiration to all of us. Ron Decided to leave at the end of 2008. He felt the Lord Was telling him it was time to move on. We wish Ron the best and are going to miss him very much.
The Lord continues to Bless us with the arrival of Alan Epperson this January 04, 2009. Alan is a very inspirational speaker who like Ron still teaches the whole truth from Gods Word. Without adding or taking away anything. We look forward to working with him to further Gods Kingdom in this area. We invite you to come and hear him.
We are supporters of The Haiti Christian Mission, The Galilean Childrens Home, The Madison County Right To Life Organization among other local Charities. We are a member of the Berea Chamber of Commerce. We are a firm believer in the value of each living soul, ( Born or Unborn). We will continue to stand up and speak for those who are not given the chance to speak for themselves.
We are a growing Church yet with many exciting prospects for the future. But most important, we have plenty of love, kindness, and gifts of the Holy Spirit within our Church family and we are so eager to share it with others. I feel if you will give us a visit, you'll find us special and willingly we extend our hand of Christian love to all, whoever you may be, to come and join us in worship. The salvation of our Lord Jesus Christ and the closeness and caring of Christian fellowship is a gift from our Saviour to all of us. We are eager for new members always. Please come! Our services are: Sunday School 10:00 am, Worship Service 11:00 am, Evening services6:30 pm. Wednesday Prayer Meeting 6:30 pm. God bless you all.
