I shall never forget when I

finally finished seminary in 1972 and became the pastor of the First Baptist

Church of Alvaton, Ga.

This was on Ga. Highway 85

going south from Atlanta, then through the little (at that time) town

of Fayetteville, then Senoia, then Harralson, and finally across the White

Oak Creek bridge to the one stoplight in Alvaton. You would then take

a right and go past several homes with wonderful people in them and there

was our church.

I will always love that church

for many reasons. First of all it was my first church and the place where

many of my ministry outreach ideas were formed. I remember that we were

not just any country church, but a church with no indoor plumbing.

When I first saw the outhouse

I thought to myself, how in the world am I going to make something positive

out of this situation? So when people asked me about my church I would

tell them, "We are not like a lot of other churches; our church does

have an outhouse, but, we are a TWO HOLER!"

I will never forget when I

introduced the idea of building a bathroom several people looked at me

like I had lost my mind and said, "We all go before we come to church."

They didn't realize that we had all driven from Atlanta, which was 47

miles from the church, and were in dire need of the outhouse when we arrived.

I honestly believe we were

the only people who ever used the "facilities." We later spent

52 Saturdays working on the new bathrooms, which are still there today.

I finally finished all my training

and went into the Army as a chaplain serving at Fort Benning, in Columbus,

Ga. At this time the church called my father to be their pastor. We actually

switched pulpits. He left the Army chaplaincy and took my pulpit, and

I went into the Army and took his.

I shall never forget driving

to see Dee on that long Ga. Highway 85 before I-85 was completed. There

were a few radio "dead spots" where you couldn't pick up any

local radio stations, but somehow I would get a gravel-voiced radio preacher

from Del Rio, Texas. After hearing him preach, I never felt quite "saved."

It's interesting what we remember

about the "good old days," isn't it?

So here we are, full circle.

After serving around the world we have arrived at the "Church Alive,

in the Doublewide, on 85" and loving it. It reminds me of that preacher

from Del Rio, Texas.

Our church has, like many other

mission church starts, worshiped in two different schools, and the American

Legion Log Cabin in Fayetteville. We will have our first service on this

Sunday, Jan. 21. If you're not attending a church, come visit us. We are

on Highway 85 south just south of Highway 16, Senoia. When you pass the

fire station, start looking for us on the right. We'll open the door for

you in Christian love.

The Rev. Dr. Knox Herndon is

the pastor of His House Community Church (SBC) and a substitute school

teacher in the Fayette County School System, and a former Army chaplain.

The church has moved to its new location just below Senoia on Ga. Highway

85. Prayer line 770-719-2365; e-mail [email protected].