Although small in number, this Texas congregation’s legacy will live on.
By Bobby Ross Jr. | The Christian Chronicle
GREENWOOD, Texas — After 128 years of faithful service to the Lord, the end came suddenly for the Greenwood Church of Christ.
I’d worship at the little country church a few times a year, arriving a half hour or so early with my parents, Bob and Judy Ross.
Mom would fill the communion trays and set out homemade cookies or brownies, while Dad, the preacher, reviewed his Bible class lesson and sermon notes.
Wayne East, elder and songleader, would show up a few minutes later with his wife, Theresa. They’d smile and greet me, and Wayne would hand me a copy of the single-page church bulletin he’d edited and printed out.
Even though I lived 160 miles away and visited infrequently, I knew I’d find my wife, Tamie, who suffers from rheumatoid arthritis and other autoimmune diseases, on the prayer list.
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I’d shake hands with Bill Woolaver, the other elder and Theresa East’s father. I’d talk about baseball with deacon Lonny Henry, a truck driver and farmer, and enjoy hearing his wife, Joy, discuss her nursing work.
In its heyday, this North Texas community settled by 19th-century pioneers boasted two saloons, four grocery stores, a hotel, a bank, a barbershop, a blacksmith shop and a cotton gin.
More than a century later, a little country store serves the few remaining residents of the unincorporated ranching community, 55 miles north of Fort Worth.
Up the street from the store and the volunteer fire station next door, the Greenwood church gathered each Sunday — with roots dating all the way back to 1896.
This story appears in the February print edition of The Christian Chronicle.
Photo by Bobby Ross Jr.
Faith. Family. Fastballs. 