Dwain Evans
Exodus Bay Shore Reunion
April 20, 2012
Greetings in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. We are all here by his grace and mercy. I want to begin with a poem that one of you contributed.
Union
lf I arrive in Heaven
who will welcome me?
I want it to be you.Shall we gather now
while we are still earthbound
--a sort of rehearsal?
It is you who can remind me
of who I am
who I have been and can be,
who keep me grounded
when I'm tempted to disconnect
from higher ground.
I'm human but not only so.
The mix in me is troublesome
yet gives me understanding
of the many others that I meet
and through my sundry parts
I can compare and sort
the self I want to be.
My choices draw me to conclude
that my most permanent desire
is to be with and to be
welcomed by you.
Union
lf I arrive in Heaven
who will welcome me?
I want it to be you.Shall we gather now
while we are still earthbound
--a sort of rehearsal?
It is you who can remind me
of who I am
who I have been and can be,
who keep me grounded
when I'm tempted to disconnect
from higher ground.
I'm human but not only so.
The mix in me is troublesome
yet gives me understanding
of the many others that I meet
and through my sundry parts
I can compare and sort
the self I want to be.
My choices draw me to conclude
that my most permanent desire
is to be with and to be
welcomed by you.
I think the words of this poem express the yearning in the hearts of all of us. Some fifty of our number have preceded us to the banks of the "river of the water of life." They have joined that "great cloud of witnesses" who are urging us on, urging us to keep the faith, urging us to lay aside every weight and sin, urging us to run with perseverance the race that is set before us, urging us to keep our eyes on Jesus who endured the cross, despising the shame and is seated at the right hand of God.
And there are many of us here tonight who are not far from the river ourselves. This will be the last time we see each other until we are reunited on the banks of the river. I want Richard Salmon to come and lead us in the old song "Shall We Gather at the River."
I can't begin to describe the impact you folks have had on my life. You encouraged me, you corrected me, you became angry with me, but above all, you loved me. Don Haymes, back in the days when he was a "Torch Book" theologian before he became a for real theologian was one of my gadflies. It was not uncommon for Dick Scott, during one of my sermons, to noisily drop his songbook in the rack and stride out of the assembly. But
Dick loves me today. You brought so many great and marvelous gifts, far exceeding what I could offer,
And just here I must express my gratitude to GeneAnne Masters and Lisa Porterfield for putting the mechanics of this reunion together. And to David Powell who has put our slide show together. And Paula Link has worked long and hard to put together the memorial walk at West Islip and to plan our memorial service here.
I am deeply moved every time I think of what you did back in the 60's. From the lips of one of the least of his servants you heard the call of Jesus. Like Abraham, who "marched off the map" not "knowing where he was going" you set out without any clear idea of your destination. Just as surely as Peter, Andrew, Jarnes, and John walked away from their fishing boats, you sold your houses, quit your jobs, and moved to Long Island without any
guarantees. You came in U-Haul trailers, converted school buses, in cars, pickup trucks and even motorcycles. But you came.
Barbara and I had our financial support. We did not carry the burden that you did. Oh, we had an employment conference at the Baker Hotel in Dallas in January before we moved in August but I thought no one got job from that. But Ginger Coffman Clayton told me that she did. But you came without the promise of anything but the presence and power of the Holy Spirit.
How many of you were there for that first service in the Jewish Tabemacle in Bay Shore? And do you remember those three store fronts with the printed tin ceilings. I thought I had died and gone to heaven when I heard that singing!
Although we had come from a dozen different states with different Church of Christ cultures, we like our brothers and sisters on the day of Pentecost "were of one heart and soul." And you became an example to other chtrches, so much so that there were Exoduses to Rochester, NY, to Somerville, NJ, to Stamford, Ct. to Newark, NJ, to Toronto, Canada and to Burlington, Massachusetts.
Do you see what your example of faith unleashed? James and Vi Hance drove up with seven children in a Chewolet station wagon and a pickup truck. He went to work immediately to build our first pennanent facility at 600 Montauk Highway in West Islip. And do you remember the mass confusion at Wolff's Cabins in Great Neck as people came pouring in?
We had made arrangements for the North Richland Hills church (our sponsoring church) to send a bus load of young people for a door to door campaign. But we decided we could not provide for them and I called Fort Worth to tell them not to come but the bus had left. Somehow, by the grace of God, we took care of them. Rod Spaulding, Richard Salmon, and others trained them for their task. They went door to door asking folks if they would like to have a Bible class in their homes. The response was overwhelming.
And we had to train teachers! Again, Rod led in this task. Thank the Lord for Jule Miller filrn strips. Soon we had 70 Bible classes each week in sessions. One of the first to be baptized was Jeanette Sauer and with Jeanette came the beginning of my ecumenical education. I announced to the church that Jeanette had become a Christian. She took me aside and said, 'T have been a Christian for many years. You folks taught me that I needed to be baptized." That was a powerful lesson for me.
There were so many high points. I can just touch a few of them:
IF THERE WAS ONE MAJOR LESSON WE TOOK AWAY, IT WAS NOT DOCTRINAL PERFECTION BUT THE GRACE OF GOD!!
I give our Father thanks for you, brothers and sisters. Many of you are in my prayers even today. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all.
And there are many of us here tonight who are not far from the river ourselves. This will be the last time we see each other until we are reunited on the banks of the river. I want Richard Salmon to come and lead us in the old song "Shall We Gather at the River."
I can't begin to describe the impact you folks have had on my life. You encouraged me, you corrected me, you became angry with me, but above all, you loved me. Don Haymes, back in the days when he was a "Torch Book" theologian before he became a for real theologian was one of my gadflies. It was not uncommon for Dick Scott, during one of my sermons, to noisily drop his songbook in the rack and stride out of the assembly. But
Dick loves me today. You brought so many great and marvelous gifts, far exceeding what I could offer,
And just here I must express my gratitude to GeneAnne Masters and Lisa Porterfield for putting the mechanics of this reunion together. And to David Powell who has put our slide show together. And Paula Link has worked long and hard to put together the memorial walk at West Islip and to plan our memorial service here.
I am deeply moved every time I think of what you did back in the 60's. From the lips of one of the least of his servants you heard the call of Jesus. Like Abraham, who "marched off the map" not "knowing where he was going" you set out without any clear idea of your destination. Just as surely as Peter, Andrew, Jarnes, and John walked away from their fishing boats, you sold your houses, quit your jobs, and moved to Long Island without any
guarantees. You came in U-Haul trailers, converted school buses, in cars, pickup trucks and even motorcycles. But you came.
Barbara and I had our financial support. We did not carry the burden that you did. Oh, we had an employment conference at the Baker Hotel in Dallas in January before we moved in August but I thought no one got job from that. But Ginger Coffman Clayton told me that she did. But you came without the promise of anything but the presence and power of the Holy Spirit.
How many of you were there for that first service in the Jewish Tabemacle in Bay Shore? And do you remember those three store fronts with the printed tin ceilings. I thought I had died and gone to heaven when I heard that singing!
Although we had come from a dozen different states with different Church of Christ cultures, we like our brothers and sisters on the day of Pentecost "were of one heart and soul." And you became an example to other chtrches, so much so that there were Exoduses to Rochester, NY, to Somerville, NJ, to Stamford, Ct. to Newark, NJ, to Toronto, Canada and to Burlington, Massachusetts.
Do you see what your example of faith unleashed? James and Vi Hance drove up with seven children in a Chewolet station wagon and a pickup truck. He went to work immediately to build our first pennanent facility at 600 Montauk Highway in West Islip. And do you remember the mass confusion at Wolff's Cabins in Great Neck as people came pouring in?
We had made arrangements for the North Richland Hills church (our sponsoring church) to send a bus load of young people for a door to door campaign. But we decided we could not provide for them and I called Fort Worth to tell them not to come but the bus had left. Somehow, by the grace of God, we took care of them. Rod Spaulding, Richard Salmon, and others trained them for their task. They went door to door asking folks if they would like to have a Bible class in their homes. The response was overwhelming.
And we had to train teachers! Again, Rod led in this task. Thank the Lord for Jule Miller filrn strips. Soon we had 70 Bible classes each week in sessions. One of the first to be baptized was Jeanette Sauer and with Jeanette came the beginning of my ecumenical education. I announced to the church that Jeanette had become a Christian. She took me aside and said, 'T have been a Christian for many years. You folks taught me that I needed to be baptized." That was a powerful lesson for me.
There were so many high points. I can just touch a few of them:
- Dave Wilkerson, The Cross and the Switchblade, Street Meetings
- Walter Maxwell and Pauline Roosevelt, Freeport Church of Christ, Pat Boone
- Missions Conference, Faith Corps, Carl Phagan. We sent workers to Nigeria, Canada, Brazil, Costa Rica, Jamaica, Guatemala, South Africa.
- Inner City Faith Corps: Lamar and Freda, Don and Betty, became Shiloh Inner City, where Phil Roseberry gave his life.
- And I have to mention the "Carriage House." Forrest Wells, "Jesus is Lord."
- Civil Rights. Islip was the first township to pass an open housing ordinance.
- And then there was the Holy Spirit. We went from "word only" to the belief that the Holy Spirit was active and powerful in our lives.
- And we had to examine what it meant to be a true Church of Christ. Should we change our name? We called ourselves "The Church in West Islip." I think we finally decided to be the non-denomination denomination.
- And then there was the Abilene lecture. Haymes. A brotherhood that had been overly laudatory suddenly became very critical.
- World Council of Churches took note.
IF THERE WAS ONE MAJOR LESSON WE TOOK AWAY, IT WAS NOT DOCTRINAL PERFECTION BUT THE GRACE OF GOD!!
I give our Father thanks for you, brothers and sisters. Many of you are in my prayers even today. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all.