An Amazing Past

I am currently working on a paper for my Methodism class, which, by the way, I am struggling with.  I am writing specifically about my church, Ruffin UMC, and the influence that Bishop O.P. Fitzgerald had on its mission, beliefs and development over the years.  Bishop O.P. Fitzgerald was from Ruffin, NC, and remnants of his family still exist in this area.

This is the historic marker on Business 29 in Ruffin

As I was doing some research for my paper I was looking through some of the Ruffin UMC history books and found some amazing stories shared by various people over the years.  I think sometimes we take for granted the places that we worship, the way that they were developed.  Ruffin UMC has been around for well over 100 years, closer to 150.  The church building itself is only about  74 years old, because there were two other church buildings (possibly a 4th as well) in the past that were either sold or burned down.

This church did not just appear out of nowhere, but there were people who worked to build it, to make it what it was, to make sure that the mission was lived out, and that throughout history, more and more people would claim Ruffin UMC as their church home.  There were people who made it their life's work to make the church successful.  There were people who donated their own land, their own money, their own equipment, and their own time to make sure that the church existed.  My hope and my wish is that we can reawaken that love and that passion for God's ministry in the world.  To remember what so many people have worked for in the past and to make sure that dream stays alive.  Ruffin UMC has an amazing history, a spectacular past, and just the same, Ruffin UMC has an incredible future ahead of it.