On June 1 and 2, the Corner Brook Seventh-day Adventist Church celebrated a double anniversary: 80 years in Corner Brook and 30 years at the Philip Drive location. The theme for the weekend was “All for Jesus.”
Events began on Friday evening with “Music ‘n’ Memories” featuring musicians Mike Keough, Phonse Keough, and Kevin Bennett on guitars, Jim Hunt on the accordion, and Judy Caravan and Louise Smith leading the singing. The program was interspersed with memories and greetings from former pastors Olavi and Olga Orpana, Victor and Nettie Gill, Keith and Judy Brackenbury, John and Murial Lyons, Dave and Shandra Jamieson, John and Kari Redlich, Hanan and Shelagh Merrill, and Robert and Gabriela Pohle; former conference president Dave Crook; and former teachers Floyd and Fern Penstock, Ed and Marion Reimche, and Elsie Chhangte.
A highlight of the evening was Geraldine Hiscock, a community friend who was a student at the school on Carmen Avenue back in the 1940s. She delighted everyone with snippets of history and a poem that her teacher, George Russell, wrote for her.
The Sabbath morning worship service included a true children’s story (as relayed by Olavi Orpana), an “In Memoriam” presentation honouring members who had passed away, and a musical selection “Trust in You” by Heather Perez Diaz.
The guest speaker, Trudy Morgan-Cole, is the great-granddaughter of Amelia Moyst, who was the church’s lay leader in its early years. Trudy’s message “On Giants’ Shoulders” was tailor-made for the Corner Brook church. The history of the faithful members, combined with the inspiring passages in Hebrews 11 and 12, left quite an impression:
By faith Gerald Dolan and a handful of believers in Corner Brook founded a church in 1938, knowing that they could boast no fine building nor expansive congregation, but only a tiny group of people who remained faithful to God, who continued to be a light to this community as the city grew around them, who remained steadfast through the passing years, so that 80 years later their spiritual descendants could come together and worship and celebrate that heritage; so they could look back at how God had led them in the past, but also forward to what He was calling them to in the future.
At the fabulous “Anniversary Luncheon,” Olive Hunt, the oldest attending member, was the official cake cutter.
The Wall of Memories was a huge attraction (literally!) with pictures arranged in decades, going back as far as the 1950s. Joyful exclamations could be heard when folks recognized people they had known from years ago.
The weekend wrapped up Saturday evening with the 80th Anniversary Bible Challenge. The questions were given a meaningful application to our relationship with God and what Jesus means to us. The program ended with a final singing of the theme song “All for Jesus,” followed by sweet fellowship and light refreshments.
