Following Jesus Jan. 2015

FREE WINTER 2015 | FR A ZER UNITED METHODIS T CHURCH

FOLLOWING

JESUS T

H E M

A G

A

Z

I N E

MARY CAUSEY

The Joy of the Lord PAGE 6

A FAITHFUL MAN CARL BARTLETT 12

DO YOU KNOW THIS MAN? JOHN ED MATHISON 16

K E V IN A ND C A MI C UL PEPPER

HEARTS FOR CHILDREN PAG E 26

PLUS BILL ALLISON •KAYE PORTER • CELEBRATIONS • MORE

PLEASE TAKE ONE.

more together We are more when we are together.

More alive. More open. More powerful.

This fall, take the More Together

But what if we could make our times

Challenge. Reach out to another couple,

together more meaningful? What if we could be intentional about bringing our walk with Christ and our circle of friends together?

or two or three friends—people you already connect with. Ask them to take a 6-week Spiritual journey with you.

We’ll work with you on all the resources and training you’ll need to have a lifechanging experience with your group.

CONTACT SMALLGROUPS@FRAZERUMC.ORG TO GET STARTED.

What God will do when we become more together?

FOLLOWING JESUS VOL. 2 NO. 2 WINTER 2015 Published by Frazer Memorial United Methodist Church

Joy Unspeakable MY WIFE IS A BIG ‘CASTING CROWNS’ FAN. She nearly exploded with excitement when she found out the band is coming in concert here at Frazer in a few months (April 16, 2015).

Since Christmas, she has been listening to their new album “Thrive.” It’s all about finding abundant life where we don’t just survive, we

6000 Atlanta Hwy.

thrive through Christ. The bridge of the title

Montgomery, AL 36117 Printed in USA by Publications Press

Editor & Layout Ken Roach

Writers Mac MacClellan Ken Roach Photographers Lori Mercer Lee Werling Mac MacLellan Nick Drollette cover image:

Frazer

Contemporary Worship Band on ONE Sunday, 2014.

Photo by Nick Drolette. ©2015 Frazer Memorial United Methodist Church. Limited per-

track has a toe-tapping refrain: “Joy unspeakable, faith unsinkable, love unstoppable, anything is possible!”

One of the characteristics I’ve observed in each of the people whose stories we share in this issue of Following Jesus is an overwhelming sense of joy. I don’t mean by that mere happiness or peppy personality; in fact, they range from extremely outgoing to fairly calm and quiet.

Rather, underneath the surface, there is a deep reserve of joy that flows from their living connection to the faith, hope and love found in Jesus Christ.

Joy like that does not grow only when life is good and the weather is fair. It’s roots go down deepest amidst trials, suffering and grief. It is a joy that comes from the fountain of life, the resurrection of Jesus, that has overcome sin and death and sorrow forever. As the Apostle Paul wrote in Philippians 1:18-21, “Yes, and I will rejoice, for I know that this will turn out for my deliverance through your prayers and the provision of the Spirit of Jesus Christ, according to my earnest expectation and hope, that I will not be put to shame in anything, but

mission is granted to reproduce

that with all boldness, Christ will even now, as always, be exalted

articles in their entirety for

in my body, whether by life or by death. For to me, to live is Christ

the purpose of spreading the

and to die is gain.”

gospel of Jesus Christ without commercial gain.

It’s my prayer that as you read these stories, you too will come to be connected to the source of abundant life, and experience “joy

APPLY TO BE A VOLUNTEER WRITER OR PHOTOGRAPHER. CONTACT KEN ROACH, KEN@ FRAZERUMC.ORG 334.272.8622

unspeakable.”

Ken Roach, Content Director Frazer United Methodist Church

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THE NEW HOPE FUND A NEW VISION FOR A BIGGER MISSION

FOLLOWING JESUS MEANS ALWAYS SEEKING NEW WAYS TO SHARE THE LOVE OF GOD WITH ALL PEOPLE. The Frazer family is invited to prayerfully consider giving above and beyond the regular Frazer Missions and Ministry budget to the New Hope Fund for emerging missions opportunities here at home and around the word.

DESIGNATE YOUR CHECK TO “NEW HOPE FUND” OR TEXT $ AMOUNT AND “FRAZER HOPE” TO 45777

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TABLE OF CONTENTS Joy Unspeakable Joy begins with receiving God’s overwhelming mercy toward us poured out on the cross. It is deepened by discovering that Christ goes before you and beside you through the valleys of suffering and grief.

But the crown of joy comes when we have the privilege to share with others the love of God, and see them come to experience the same joy that has been born in us. Look for joy in the pages of this issue!

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The Joy of the Lord is My Strength: Mary Causey

A Heart for Children: Kevin and Cami Culpepper

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30

A Faithful Man: Carl Bartlett

Serving in the Lord’s Army: Bill Allison

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40

Do you know this man?

John Ed Mathison

22 Celebrations

Running the Race for Christ: Kaye Porter

46 A Vision for Pike Road FOLLOWING JESUS

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The

Joy of the

Lord is my Strength

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OUTREACH Mary Causey brings a smile to Frazer’s Outreach Ministry

BY KEN ROACH | You could say that Mary Causey gets paid to be cheerful. Joining Frazer’s staff six months ago as Connections Coordinator, Mary is responsible for the outreach of the church, including the hospitality ministries that welcome new guests.

However, it doesn’t take long being around her to see that her chipper demeanor is not put on; her smile is genuine, and her joy comes from within. Her enthusiasm and outgoing nature are infectious, and already in her short tenure on staff she has helped to make the church even more welcoming and friendly. However, as she shares her story, it becomes evident this is more than a case of an extroverted, bubbly personality.

Mary has discovered the true joy of Christ—even in the midst of heartbreaking pain—and she is passionate about helping others discover that same joy for themselves.

Life in the church was not always joyful for Mary.

Although she was raised in a Christian home and attended a Christian school, she says her understanding of God was “more about the law vs. the relationship.”

She was focused on being good, keeping the rules, rather than on following Jesus and knowing Him intimately. Her parents, Steve and Debbie Diermayer, are believers, and she is thankful for the Christian values they instilled in her and the efforts they made to get her involved in church and pray for her, along with her grandmother and other Christian friends and family. Nevertheless, she had not yet discovered for herself the deep love and grace of Christ.

That began to change in 2007 when she and her husband, Adam, began attending Frazer. Mary had attended Auburn University at Montgomery, where she and Adam began dating, having met while still in high school, and the couple married in 2005.

Adam works as a CPA, and Mary also launched a career in accounting with Hyundai, a field she now

says “was not a good fit for my personality.” Adam was not raised in the church, although he attended at times with friends. Mary and Adam knew they wanted to find a church home, and they found that when they came to Frazer. They were attracted to the Contemporary Worship style (“music is big for me,” Mary notes), but their real connection came when they got involved in a small group.

Led by Amy and Mike Presley, the group introduced the Causey’s to several other young couples with whom they developed friendships. Here, they began to experience following Jesus as a relationship. “Being in community, praying together, and being in a church family showed me what a real relationship with Christ could look like, instead of just something you do because it’s what you’re supposed to,” Mary says.

Then three years ago, Mary and Adam had a child, Abby James, and life began to change once again. Mary left the workforce to be a stay-athome mom, a role she cherished. Other couples in their small group were having children as well, and they sensed they needed to move to a Sundaymorning class when a nursery would be available, so the Causey’s joined a group led by Frazer’s Student and Young Adult Minister at that time, Brian Word. “Brian challenged us,” Mary recalls: “he said he would spend a year intentionally discipling us in what it means to follow Jesus, and after that, we should be open to allowing the Lord to use us as small group leaders to turn around and disciple others.”

Sure enough, when the time came, Mary felt called to step up and start their own small group.

She had become involved as a volunteer helping to organize Mom2Mom, a play group where mothers of toddlers could fellowship together. Mary says that as she got to know these moms, she thought

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ABOVE: Mary and Adam Causey with daughter Abbie James. P HOTO BY MAC MACLELLAN.

to herself, “Someone has invested in me; who will invest in them? Where would I be if no one had done that for me, and where will they be in a year if no one does something for them?”

It was a faith leap for Mary, but perhaps even more so for Adam, who is more naturally introverted.

“I’ve seen him grow slowly but steadily over time,” Mary says of her husband. “When we first came, he was cautious about participating in small group sessions, and unsure of himself as a spiritual leader.

Yet he started coming out of his shell little by little as our group learned that we could trust one another, and we were not being judged.” Today, Mary says that Adam leads the two of them in times of prayer and reading devotions together. After getting away for a camping and prayer retreat, Adam came back ready to respond to God’s call and become a group leader.

Together they went to Susan Fisher and offered to lead a small group. Getting started was not easy.

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“Mrs. Susan gave us a list of probably 40 couples our age; we called every one, but only a few said they would come,” she recalls. “Then, our first meet and greet didn’t go so well. No one knew anyone yet, some couples didn’t show up and some couples definitely had their walls up.” Nevertheless, they persisted because they believed God had called them to this ministry. Almost to her surprise, several couples came back the second week. One year later, they are all still meeting together regularly, and they have become an extremely close-knit group.

“We check in on one another and encourage each other with text messages all through the week,” she says. That foundation of support upheld Mary in her greatest battle.

In 2010, Mary’s mom and best friend, Debbie had been diagnosed with Multiple Endocrine Neoplasia (MEN1), a condition that inhibits the body from fighting tumor growth in the endocrine system, leaving the body vulnerable to damage to the pitu-

itary gland, parathyroid, pancreas, and other vital organs. Debbie had endured pain in her stomach area for a year before being diagnosed, at which time it was discovered she needed multiple major surgeries. She spent several weeks at UAB over the course of 5 months due to multiple surgeries and complications, with Mary by her side much of the time as her caretaker. It was a difficult recovery, and both Mary and her mother found that they had to depend on Christ just to make it through the day. “We would write in our journal daily and list things to be thankful for…mama said, there has to be something to be thankful for on this day, and before we knew it we would fill up two pages of all the things that we could be thankful for…it’s amazing that no matter what you are up against, your blessings really do overflow if you will just take the focus off of you and what you are feeling in that moment and turn your focus outward to all the blessings around you.”

To make matters worse, although Debbie is currently in remission, the condition has no known cure, and tumors could come back at any time.

Specialists have given her a prognosis of 3-5 years to live and she is going into her fifth year. “My mom is a nurse,” Mary points out, “so she’s in tune with the reality of her situation, and the fear can be overwhelming at times. But, she’s a fighter. She has these moments when she can think things like, ‘this could be my last Christmas,’ but she doesn’t dwell on that. She has learned how to live daily, and not worry about tomorrow. Mama has struggled with wondering why God has left her here and what is her purpose, but she recently told me that seeing how much I have grown spiritually since we started this journey, and the difference in who I am as a Christian woman compared to 5 years ago, gives purpose to all that we have been through.”

MEN1 is a genetic disorder, so after they understood what was happening to their mother, Mary and her brother were tested to see if there was a chance they would develop the disease. Her brother’s test came back negative; hers came back positive. Symptoms do not normally show up until a person reaches their 30’s—the age Mary is now.

Suddenly, her future became a cloud of unknowns.

Perhaps hardest of all, she and Adam will wait until Abby James is a little older to have her tested to find out whether she, too, may be at risk.

Mary’s small group has rallied around her, caring for her and supporting her in prayer. Nor was she the only one in the group facing challenges. As they got to know one another, they discovered that one couple was facing health issues with a child, another faced a job loss, still another was having trouble with family; in short, everyone has a story.

The Christ-centered focus and environment of trust built in their group enabled them to share these burdens with one another and grow in their faith as they learned to trust God through the storms.

Throughout this time God had been developing in Mary habits of faith that support her on a daily basis. She has developed a love for K-LOVE, a national Christian radio station with a local broadcast

BELOW: Mary and her daughter with her mother, Debbie

Diermayer. P HOTO CONTRIBUTED.

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ABOVE: Adam and Mary’s small group at a recent Christmas party. P HOTO CONTRIBUTED.

featuring Contemporary Christian praise music. “I feel God’s presence and power through worship music,” she says, “and so often I feel like the lyrics were written just for me.” She uses several apps that help her stay connected to the Bible and how to apply it to her daily life, as well. She also seeks out spiritual mentors. “I feel that I’m so young, illequipped and untrained; it’s a blessing to be able to reach out and seek wisdom from more mature people,” she says.

God was also growing in Mary a vision of even greater service. She is inspired in part by her mother’s example. “She gets strength from helping others; it deflects her mind from what she’s going through,” Mary says. When Debbie remained in a cancer support group in which 2 of the 4 original members died, Mary asked her, “why do you go—why would you want that constant reminder of your sickness?”

To which Debbie responded, “They need me, and I need them. It’s my calling.”

Mary’s own calling started with a dream, literally. She had been perfectly happy and comfortable as a stay-at-home mom. “I’m glad God gave me that season to enjoy my daughter,” she says.

However, she found herself inexplicably becoming uncomfortable with being comfortable. Susan Fisher had mentioned to her that the church was looking for a Director of Outreach. One night, she felt that she heard God speaking to her in her heart. “He was saying to me, get up out of bed, write this down, and I started creating a spreadsheet full of ideas God was giving me for how to do outreach

at Frazer.” It seemed almost crazy to her, and she wondered if it was real, but she awoke two more times with the same sensations.

Not long after, Mary formally applied for the job, and after interviewing with Pastors Tim Thompson and Patrick Quinn, she was hired. She was amazed at how closely the vision Tim and Patrick had for the ministry lined up with the vision God had already given to her. “This job is not comfortable or easy,” she says. “I absolutely have to rely on God to do it.

It’s really a blessing, because I have to draw close to him; I don’t have a choice, because every time I try to get through it on my own, I get knocked down to my knees. It’s crazy how I can’t even start my day without a quiet time in prayer; if I do, my day starts to go completely wrong, and I realize I’ve got to spend that time with God.” Two passions animate Mary in her work. First, her connection with Jesus has become so much more real because of her experience in small groups, she wants everyone she meets to have that same opportunity to connect. “People can feel so far from God that they can’t even begin to understand Him, but they can receive love from other people, and through that they can find God,” she explains.

However, making that connection to a group is hard work and requires a willingness to be open.

“I want to tell people, there is so much joy you can experience if you would let your guard down, and open yourself up to a church family. You’ll discover unconditional love, contentment, forgiveness, and faithfulness.”

Second, Mary wants to help every church member find their calling of service, just as she has. That calling is unique for each person. “I tried serving Meals on Wheels, volunteering in the clothes closet and other ministries, but I didn’t find joy in that because I only did it out of a sense of duty,” she remembers. “For someone else, those are wonderful ways to serve, but not for me. So I’m very protective of our new members; I want them to find a place where they are excited, where they sense they are bringing God glory, not just filling a hole or doing a job. You are like no one else; be true to how God made you, and you will thrive.” In a sense, she sees her role as Connections Coordinator as a matchmaker, pairing up visitors and new members with the small groups and service opportunities God has made them to participate in.

Mary says, “Jesus is my rock, the one who sustains me through anything and gives me hope.

Whatever I walk through, He uses it to form me into a person I don’t deserve to be. He gives me life, all because of His unconditional love.” She has moved beyond the legalistic understanding of God she had as a young person, to a real relationship with Jesus.

Likewise, to those exploring a connection with the church she says, “You can become a person you think it’s impossible for you to be, by allowing others to pour into you—but you must open yourself up.”

It was from a prison cell, under sentence of death, that the Apostle Paul wrote the words of Philippians 4:4, “Rejoice in the Lord always, and again I say, rejoice!” Perhaps it is no coincidence that through the valley of a genetic “death sentence” for her mother—and the shadow of death over her own life every day—Mary Causey nevertheless overflows with the joy of Christ, and dedicates herself to bringing that same transforming joy to others. The joy of the Lord is our strength.

BELOW: Mary assists a new member to get connected to the church. P HOTO BY MAC MACLELLAN.

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LEADERSHIP

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A Faithful Man Carl Bartlett demonstrates leadership in church and community

BY KEN ROACH | The polished offices of Jim Wilson & Associates in the Lakeview Center behind Montgomery’s EastChase shopping district seem a world away from the small town shops of Roanoke, Alabama, an hour north of Auburn near the Georgia line. The prestigious real estate development firm has shaped retail centers and residential neighborhoods across the southeast. Yet inside, under the title of Executive Vice President, Carl Bartlett has stayed true to those small town roots, and the deep faith that was nurtured there at the Roanoke First United Methodist Church.

Carl is a soft spoken man with a humble bearing, who nevertheless has provided significant leadership as a lay person here at Frazer. He has served on committees from Finance to the Charitable Trust to Staff-Parish Relations. Perhaps most notably, he served as Chairman of the Board of Stewards during the transition years during and after the retirement of long-time senior pastor John Ed Mathison, providing a calm and stable voice to pilot the church through a season that was sometimes challenging and uncertain.

The journey of following Jesus began for Carl as a child, attending church with his father Jack and mother Myrtice, both of whom have now gone on to be with the Lord. “They were

so devoted to church,” Carl recalls, “Martha, my sister, and I never had a chance not to be involved. In a small town, our whole social calendar revolved around church activities.”

Formative events for Carl included participation in camp for a week or two every summer at Sumatanga, the North Alabama United Methodist campground. “The influence of being around other kids who shared the same faith as me was so powerful over time,” he says. Adult mentors were also vital. “Jack Dillard was the pastor of our church when I was around 12-16 years old,” Carl remembers. “He was evangelistic, animated, a man’s man; he played golf with us and kidded around with the young people. That showed me that you didn’t have to be grumpy to be a Christian.”

After graduating from high school Carl attended Auburn University where he met his wife, Aneta. From there the couple moved to Birmingham where Carl attended law school at the Cumberland Law School of Samford University, a Christian college. His career brought them to Montgomery in 1980. The Bartlett’s visited several churches, but it was Aneta’s father who suggested they try “a place way out East with a guy preaching whom you’d probably like,” referring to

OPPOSITE: Carl and Aneta Bartlett. PHOTO CONTRIBUTED

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ABOVE: The Rock Sunday School class in 2011. The Bartlett’s have been members of the group for over 30 years.

PHOTO BY LEE WERLING?.

Frazer and John Ed. Soon Carl and Aneta were getting connected with other young couples and finding a church family that has endured now for 35 years.

Finding a small group was a vital part of that connection. Early on the Bartletts became members of The Rock class, at that time led by Don Hill. Aneta was the social chairperson, and she divided the class up into supper clubs. The group they ended up with have proven to be enduring friends. “We meet at least once a month,” Carl explains, “and we laugh and talk together, take trips together, sit in worship together—it’s such a support and encouragement.” The group has shared the joys of life, such as raising children together, including Carl and Aneta’s three— Grace, Katie, and Jack. “It’s so important for kids to see the whole family following Jesus together and surrounding ourselves with friends who do the same,” Carl notes. Their small group has also shared the trials and suffering of life together. He notes that when one couple in their group lost a 15-year-old daughter, they grieved with them just as if they had lost their own daughter, and they all still remember her all these years later. More recently, with the passing of his own parents, Carl has once again found strength from his Christian brothers and sisters as he faces the burden of realizing “we are now the elder generation.”

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As sustaining as a community of faith has been for his walk with Christ, Carl also draws strength from his personal practices of devotions.

One simple but powerful tool he uses is his system for marking his Bible. Each morning when he comes into the office, he sets aside time to read God’s word. Then, with the systematic approach of a legally trained mind, Carl writes the date next to what he read. “I’m very dogmatic about it,” he admits, “but that date becomes a record to remember what I have read, and it keeps me on track.” Each January, Carl prepares a “guide page” that includes a key verse for the year and some keywords to focus on for prayer. As he adds notes through the year, the sheet becomes “almost an encyclopedia of the year’s ups and downs that I can look back on,” says Carl.

The faith that grows from these daily personal disciplines and life in a caring community naturally lead Carl into service to others—although, when I ask him about service, his immediate response is “I’m never satisfied with how I serve.” He would love to participate in a “boots on the ground” mission trip. However, he has found ways to apply his gifts and skills to ministry. In addition to the leadership roles previously mentioned, Carl has used his expertise in real estate to serve Frazer, helping to oversee the church’s investment in the Village Green apartment complex.

Beyond the walls of the church, Carl’s witness is felt in the way he conducts his work. “Your business ethics, how you act at work, show what you really live by,” he notes. Carl credits the company’s founder, Jim Wilson, Jr., and other members of the management team for establishing an environment where values of honesty, hard work, integrity, generosity and community involvement are honored. “It’s great to be part of an executive team that is open about their faith,” he adds. “We pray at the company Christmas party, talk about one another’s families and discuss our involvement in our churches.” In return, Carl wants to be sure his actions always reflect that faith. “If people see my Bible out on my desk, I want to them to also see that I live by it. I hope others will see Christ in me.”

In addition to church and work, perhaps the greatest impact of Carl’s walk with the Lord is his influence on his family. He is devoted to wife

Aneta, whom he calls his “even-keeled source of support who keeps me balanced.” His three adult children are all following Jesus in their father’s footsteps. Jack and his wife Kate work with youth at First Methodist, and Grace and her husband Wilson are active with their church in Birmingham. Katie now serves as a full-time missionary in Hong Kong, seeking to share the gospel with students who come there from mainland China who might not otherwise ever hear the truth of Jesus.

Carl is quick to call his own story “boring.”

While it may not be flashy, I would prefer to call it “faithful.” Through a steady life of following Jesus, the faith that began in a small town church has grown to impact the long term direction of Frazer, the corporate board rooms of Montgomery and beyond, and continues in the next generation as far away as China. Thank God for such “boring” but faithful men.

BELOW: Carl and Aneta with their children, Katie, Grace and Jack, and their spouses, Maik, Wilson and Kate.

P HOTO CONTRIBUTED.

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OPPOSITE: John Ed Mathison speaks at a recent

Frazer SPIRIT event.

P HOTO BY LEE WERLING.

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LEGACY

DO YOU KNOW THIS MAN? The story behind John Ed Mathison… and what he is doing today » FOLLOWING JESUS

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John Ed Mathison is not slowing down.

Editors Note: For many Frazer member, John Ed Mathison needs no magazine article; after 36 years as senior pastor of the church, many already know his story. However, there are many new members since his retirement in 2008 who can benefit from hearing the story anew, and I believe every Christian can be encouraged and inspired by learning more about what John Ed has been doing in the years since then.

BY KEN ROACH | For a minister who is “retired,” Frazer’s pastor emeritus Dr. John Ed Mathison stays awfully busy—traveling through tornadoes and Ebola scares, racking up frequent flier miles and jet lag hours, praying with leaders and training pastors across continents. His current mission is a “small” project called the Billion Soul Initiative, a plan to plant 5 million churches and reach 1 billion people for Christ by 2020 that was launched by the late Bill Bright, founder of Campus Crusade for Christ.

Indeed, John Ed is so focused on his vision for tomorrow that it takes some effort for me to divert him to the subject of the past. Nevertheless, it is perhaps worthwhile to take a look back at what early influences might have formed him into a man still so impassioned for the cause of Christ at age 76.

John Ed made an initial commitment to follow Jesus at a high school youth camp. His father, Si Mathison, was serving as pastor at First United Methodist of Opelika, and he was friends with the pastor of Frazer at that time. Together they worked to send a couple hundred young people to Camp Glory in Perdido Beach. It was also at that camp that John Ed met Joe Pat Cox, who would go on to serve alongside John Ed for decades as Frazer’s Minister of Music.

Back in Opelika, John Ed felt a call to the ministry during Youth Week at his home church.

In addition to his parents, he was nurtured in his faith by a number of mentors. “I benefitted from a great Scout leader, a strong youth program, Sunday School teachers, and coaches.”

In addition to influencing John Ed for Christ,

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those coaches helped him develop the other love of his life, athletics. He played several sports, making all-state in basketball his 10th grade year and earning a scholarship to college. He attended Young Harris Junior College and then Huntingdon College, where he was captain of the basketball team. When he went on to seminary at Candler School of Theology of Emory University, he was able to support himself helping to coach tennis. Over the years John Ed has consistently ranked number one in his age division in tennis in Alabama and has won seven state racquetball championships.

However, his love for Christ was always integrated with his athletic endeavors. He once played on a team called Athletes in Action which used basketball as an entry point to share the gospel across numerous countries in Asia. Over the years, he has developed a strong involvement with the Fellowship of Christian Athletes, speaking at chapels and coaches conferences.

After seminary, John Ed pursued postgraduate studies at Princeton before returning to the Alabama-West Florida Conference of the United Methodist Church. He would go on to earn his doctorate back at Candler. For John Ed, this path seemed simple. “I’m thankful that I had a clear sense of my calling early in life, so the only questions were ‘where’ not ‘what’,” he says.

Undergirding that confidence in the Lord’s direction for his life is John Ed’s personal devotional disciplines. “I had a roommate in college, a fellow basketball player,” he recalls, “who always got up early before everyone else to read the Bible and pray. I started following his example and I’ve done that ever since.” He says nothing keeps him “in tune” with God like this daily quiet time. Yet he has been challenged recently to set the bar even higher. “The pastors that we are training in India often pray for two hours in the morning before starting a full day’s work, in addition to days of fasting and prayer,” he notes.

John Ed’s love for Jesus is real and personal.

“I have no life outside of Him,” he says. “He is my

hope, my motivation. I fail, but He’s more interested in helping me look to the future. I’ve never seen a situation where what He said wasn’t true.”

After serving at churches in Montgomery, Mobile and Phenix City, John Ed was appointed to Frazer in 1972, where he served as Senior Minister for the next 36 years. He experienced great success, with Frazer growing from 400 members to 8,800 during his tenure and having the largest Sunday School attendance of any United Methodist Church in America at the time.

However, there were also times of suffering in John Ed’s life. His first wife, Joan, died after a battle with cancer in 1992. “It’s one thing to talk about grief,” John Ed admits, “and another thing to go through it.” During that season, he found strength through his connection to a community of faith. “My base of strength was this local church. Frazer walked with me through the valley of the shadow of death.”

Four years later, the church was there again for John Ed when he married Lynn (Frith) Mathison. As he points out, not many churches have the experience of their senior pastor getting married while serving. When John Ed isn’t traveling the world these days, he and Lynn are enjoying their ten grandchildren and operating her business, Mathison Interiors. When he speaks of Frazer as

a “family,” John Ed has experienced what that means on a personal level.

For John Ed, this personal love for Christ and connection to His church always results in a mission of service to others. One of the hallmarks of his ministry, the “Every Member in Ministry” approach, emerged from a challenging conversation. The church was in a season of rapid growth, which demanded more and more time from the young minister. A lay person confronted John Ed and said, “You’re working all the time, making 4-5 visiting calls a night, 2 nights a week. If you would train 20 of us to do the ministry, we could make three times as many calls in one night!”

From that seed grew the vision of shifting the emphasis of church staff from doing the work of the ministry, to “equipping the saints to do the work of the ministry” (Ephesians 4:12). The “In His Steps” campaign was developed (more recently known as “Followership”) to challenge every member to find his or her unique gifts for service. “We wanted to create a culture of positive peer pressure where everyone serves,” John Ed recalls. “We started off at 20%, and grew over the years to over 80%.”

Those who know John Ed would testify that he does not just preach service, though, he lives it. He was known as a leader who never asked

BELOW: Jimmy Poole and John Ed team up for a round of Pickle Ball in Frazer’s North Gym. Athletics have

consistently been an important part of John Ed’s life. P HOTO BY LEE WERLING.

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others to do a job he was not willing to do himself. So perhaps it was not a surprise that he agreed to continue serving when a group of lay people approached him after his retirement with a dream of creating what is now John Ed Mathison Leadership Ministries to provide consultation and coaching to other churches and ministries.

In addition to speaking at conferences and retreat centers like The Cove (Billy Graham’s training center), John Ed now travels to preach at churches and meet with pastors that are doing well, but believe God is calling them to do more. “It fuels me to help a leader see a bigger picture, to take on the challenge to do more, to witness and share Christ with even more people,” he says. “I try to discern where God is doing something and get on board—not try to start something myself.”

That openness to God’s leading has recently resulted in an international expansion of JEM Leadership Ministries. Although he had met Bill Bright many years ago, John Ed was surprised to receive a phone call inviting him to attend a prayer and fasting conference in California for the Billion Soul Initiative. A vital part of the ambitious plan to plant new churches is to provide core theological and ministry training to native pastors, and the team wanted to add someone from the Methodist tradition to their group. Using internet technology, top teachers provide video based courses for pastors, who then gather twice a year for face-to-face intensives. John Ed has contributed a module on developing an “every member in ministry” church mindset. He recently returned from one of the intensive training sessions in India, where he was

impressed with the local pastors’ dedication to learn how to grow their churches.

More and more, John Ed is gripped by the global scope of God’s mission. “Less than 5% of Christians in the world are in North America,” he notes. “In India, 25,000 new believers are coming to Christ every day.” He explains that while “missions” used to consist of western nations sending out missionaries to the rest of the world, now more missionaries are going out from places like South America and Africa. China and India are on track to have the largest Christian populations.

For John Ed, the need to equip these nations to do ministry is urgent. “I’ve learned through experience that when a door is opened, you walk through it, because it doesn’t stay open long.” He thinks back to doors that were opened at Frazer, such as launching a television ministry and starting a Contemporary worship service. Now, the door is open to train pastors around the world.

You could say he has gone from “every member in ministry” to “every nation in ministry.”

Following Jesus is a lifelong process for John Ed. “You’re either growing or you’ve quit following Him,” he says. “It’s like riding a bicycle: you can’t stand still, you either pedal forward or fall off.” From a high school youth camp in Perdido Beach, to a pastor’s conference in India all these years later, John Ed is still riding that bicycle. As he puts it, “Jesus didn’t say ‘believe in Me,’ He said ‘follow Me.’ When I’m doing that, I know I’m where I need to be.”

Follow John Ed’s blog at johnedmathison.org or connect with him on Facebook.

BELOW AND OPPOSITE: John Ed at a pastors training event in India. P HOTOS CONTRIBUTED.

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Halleeeeeeeelujah! Ministry in India B Y JOHN ED MATHISON God opened a huge door for our ministry in September 2014, in India through the Billion Soul Initiative.

I was a part of a four person teaching team in New Delhi.

We worked with a great ministry known as [for the safety of believers facing possible persecution, somes names and places have been redacted from this article]. This is a network of hundreds of ministry groups throughout India.

Dr. [redacted] is a medical doctor – a neurosurgeon. He devotes most of his time in giving leadership to [redacted]. At his invitation some 800+ pastors came to Delhi for teaching and inspiration. We met in a room that seated 600. About 200 sat on the floor or stood.

The Indian pastors were ready to begin at 8:30 in the morning and would stay until 5:30 in the afternoon.

There was a brief tea break and short time for lunch (I didn’t eat much lunch). These men and women took copious notes and there was never a problem with them going to sleep during the teachings.

Of 600 unreached people groups in the world, 300 of them are in India. [redacted] has done extensive research in identifying these groups and providing a strategy to reach them. It is exciting to hear [redacted] report that now 290 of the unreached people groups of India

have been adopted by some group and are experiencing some aspects of ministry!

One young man was a painter in [redacted]. He came to faith in Christ and felt led to an unreached people group in [redacted]. In the past 10 years he has seen 4,000 people come to Christ and he and his group have planted 150 churches in that area. They are actually doing ministry in 19 unreached people groups!

Another young man was attracted to the Christian faith because of the persecution of some people he knew who were Christians. He made a faith commitment and went to [redacted]. He has now planted 20 churches and has added 35,000 believers in the last 8 years.

A very interesting man is [redacted]. He is only about 4 feet tall. He said he was short and had no education. He went to [redacted]. He has seen 3,000 people become believers and has planted 18 churches.

Pastor [redacted] is serving in [redacted]. He has giving leadership to starting 3,000 churches and baptizing 50,000 people. One young minister was from [redacted].

Through his ministry the last 7 years 15,000 people have been baptized. The goal is by to have 1,100 churches and 100,000 people by 2020.

Several of these pastors had been arrested and persecuted. Their hardships only made them more committed in their ministries and God has blessed them tremendously.

They have a practice of saying “hallelujah.” It is like a football yell. We hear football fans say “Rolllllll Tide” or “Warrrrrr Eagle.” They do the same thing with “Halleeeeelujah”. I must say that the pastors were as energetic with the hallelujahs as I have seen Auburn/Alabama fans with Roll Tide and War Eagle. I love football in our state – but one team always has to lose. The hallelujah pastors never lose. They are involved in a game in which they know that God is going to win ultimately in this life and for eternity.

These are just the stories of a few of the 800 pastors. They are not intimidated by living out tremendous vision. They understand that God can do anything. They trust Him and move forward. It is a estimated that there are now some 25,000 new Christians every day in India!

The expectations are that soon India will pass China as the country having the most professing Christians in the world!

Halleeeeeeeeeeelujah!

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We are One!

In October of 2014 Frazer celebrated a special “ONE� Sunday, on which our normal three hours of worship were combined to one hour only so that the entire church could gather at one time, as Wesley Hall and Sanctuary services joined together in the Atrium to take communion. The experience gave a powerful visual representation of the unity in diversity that is Frazer. PHOTO BY LORI MERCER.

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LISTEN: Frazer’s 2014 Christmas

musical “Listen…It’s Christmas” featured adult and children’s choirs, orchestra, dancers, and drama team, and an original play by Will Adams.

P HOTO BY LORI MERCER.

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FAMILY

A HEART FOR

Children Kevin and Cami Culpepper bring a history of investing in young people as Cami becomes Frazer’s Children’s Ministry Director »

BY KEN ROACH | In November of 2014 Cami Culpepper joined Frazer’s staff as Children’s Ministry Director, beginning an exciting new chapter in her life. However, long before that, Cami and husband Kevin have been leaving their mark on the lives of children and students for Christ in a variety of beautiful ways.

Kevin and Cami both grew up in church, starting at First Assembly of God here in Montgomery for Kevin and Evangel Temple for Cami, where the two would eventually meet. Cami recalls falling asleep on the pews as her parents served in the choir and other ministries. She gave her life to Christ when she was very young at a Children’s Crusade.

Kevin recalls going “down front” to give his life to Christ at a Sunday Night Camp Meeting when he was in the fifth grade, through the ministry of Children’s Pastor Craig Burns. “My mom told me that day—if you were to die tonight, you would go to heaven,” says Kevin. “I thought, ‘that’s cool, but I don’t want to die yet!’”

Cami of course was not perfect, but her path through school was largely on “the straight and narrow.” She was active in her church and was

passionate about sharing the love of Christ with others, especially through music, participating in choirs and later, while in college, a traveling singing group. When she was only 14 while at a summer Bible camp, she felt a call to ministry. “Today you see more single women in ministry,” Cami notes, “but for me at that time, that calling included finding the husband God would have me to serve together with.”

Meanwhile, Kevin’s walk with Christ was more like the Prodigal Son. Beginning in junior high school, he was more interested in “being cool” than following Jesus. “I went the wrong way,” he summarizes. However, at 15, God called him back. “I got serious with God,” he recalls, “crying my eyes out at the altar.” Kevin rededicated his life, and that same night felt a call into the ministry. In school and his later ministry, he would become very active in sharing his faith on mission trips, traveling to Argentina, Bolivia, Belgium, France, Germany and the Soviet Union.

Both of them went on to Southeastern College (now University) in Lakeland, Florida, a Christian school with ties to the Assembly of God tradition.

OPPOSITE: Kevin and Cami Culpepper with daughters Cara and Carli. P HOTO CONTRIBUTED..

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ABOVE LEFT: Kevin and Cami show their “Goofy” side in this snapshot from 1995.

RIGHT: The Culpeppers served a church in Memphis where Kevin led the youth ministry. P HOTOS CONTRIBUTED.

Kevin majored in Pastoral Ministry. The couple began dating and were soon married. After graduating, Kevin served as Youth Pastor at churches in Florida and in Memphis, Tennessee.

Later, a new chapter in the Culpepper’s witness for Christ. Cami had begun teaching in a private school, and Kevin began teaching there, too. In 1998, they moved back to Montgomery to be closer to family, with both taking positions in the Montgomery Public School system. From there they have been able to influence students and fellow teachers alike. “Although I was limited in what I could say to students in a public school, I would pray for them every morning when I turned on the light in my classroom,” recalls Cami, “that I could shine my light before them in the way that I lived.”

Jay and Christy Johnson invited the Culpeppers to Frazer. At first, they were unsure about worshipping in such a large church. However, they were swayed by the excellent children’s ministry. “We knew we wanted to be somewhere that our children could get what they needed to grow in their faith,” Cami says. The decision paid off. At 3 years old, their daughter Carli gave her heart to Christ while participating in Cherub Church under the leadership of Tim Singleton. Younger sister Cara would make a similar decision later.

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Before long, the Culpeppers were volunteering in the Frazer Children’s Ministry. “Staff in the nursery, such as Aleta Fountain, loved our children so much, and the volunteers were so awesome, it made us want to be a part of the team,” Cami recalls. Children’s Ministry Assistant Gayle Elmore challenged them, “you need to be teaching Sunday School.”

Kevin and Cami taught 4 and 5 year-olds “Under The Sea” Children’s Church, with Kevin adding to the experience through puppets (“I rock and roll at that—it was fun!” says Kevin) and for the past five years the Wednesday night children’s choir.

They both volunteer in other areas as well.

Kevin, who teaches broadcasting and technology in the school system, has worked with Frazer’s Media Ministry team. Cami used her singing ability as part of the Shine Your Light women’s ministry worship team. However, it was through a season of suffering that God would call Cami to the next chapter in her ministry.

In the Spring of 2014, a cancer scare with a baseball-sized (but ultimately benign) tumor forced Cami to undergo two surgeries. During the recovery time, she was on her back for extended periods, and found herself praying more. “I was happy with my job,” Cami says, “but God began to give me a feeling of searching and unsettling. I started ask-

ing, ‘is this all God has for me?’” Not long after, the Children’ Ministry position became open, and Cami got a call from Discipleship Director Susan Fisher.

She knew this was what God had been preparing her for all along.

As much as the Culpeppers love partnering with other parents to minister to children, it’s when Kevin talks about his own daughters that his passion for Christ really shines through. His eyes tear up when I ask him what he has learned about following Jesus from being a dad. “Grace and mercy,” he responds emphatically. “Those two girls are my greatest joy.

I thank the Lord for them every morning.”

The Culpeppers are sustained in their walk with Christ by reflecting on the Bible and relationships with other Christians. “I get up every morning at 4:30 so I can have time before everyone else is up to spend time in the Word,” Cami says.

They are both members of the Believers adult Bible study class, led by Mark Bain. Cami participates in a small group of women led by Mark’s wife, Ginger, while Kevin has participated in a variety of men’s groups. “I think the groups that have impacted me the most are those with strict guidelines and

responsibilities,” Kevin notes, “those that require homework and scripture memorization.” For men, those kinds of high-challenge groups are more work, but they also pay off in greater life transformation, Kevin explains.

Following Jesus has not always been easy for Kevin and Cami. Thinking about times of challenge or suffering, Cami says, “I laugh when I look back on it. I kept asking God to fix the situation, but it was through the hurt that I drew closer to God. I’ve grown more when things have been dark, because that’s when I see His true love for my soul.”

Cami sums up their walk with Christ in this way: “The reason God made us is to glorify Him. As Pastor Tim often quotes from John 3:30, ‘more of Jesus, less of me’ is what its all about. We just want Jesus to move us out of the way, and do what He wants to do through us.”

Whether it’s singing, serving, teaching in a classroom, or leading a church ministry, the Culpeppers will continue to do just that: allow God to use their unique gifts and talents to glorify Him, touching the hearts of children and students for Jesus Christ.

BELOW: Cami helps to lead worship at last year’s Frazer VBS. P HOTO BY LORI MERCER..

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SERVICE

IN THE LORD’S

Army From the U.S. Army to the Salvation Army, Bill Allison has followed Christ faithfully

BY MAC MACLELLAN | Their journey together began one evening in Columbus, Georgia. Martha John Harris, age 15, and her friend Frances Tice, walked into Wells Dairies ice cream parlor, a favorite teenage gathering place. Martha John commented about the handsome young soda jerk behind the counter. Frances, being a little older and wiser, quickly devised a clever trap for the unassuming fellow. Frances slipped him a note with Martha John’s phone number and with instructions to call.

Bill Allison, age 16, made the call.

Bill and Martha John were sweethearts while attending Auburn University. After graduation they were married on Aug. 20, 1961. Five months later Bill began his career as an army officer. In addition to numerous stateside assignments, Bill served three tours overseas. His first overseas assignment was to Korea in 1963. “Martha John was seven months pregnant when I left on that 13-month tour,” Bill recalled. “Alisa, our first daughter, was born while I

was there. She was 11 months old before I saw her.”

“In 1967 I was off to Vietnam,” Bill continued.

“For one dreadful year Martha John faced the uncertainties that came with being the wife of a Combat Infantry Company Commander. She filled her days teaching kindergarten, writing to and sending care packages to me and praying for my safe return. Actually, she had the entire First Methodist Church in Phoenix City praying for and supporting me. After the TET Offensive of 1968, and with many answered prayers, I returned safely home.”

Bill, like other true heroes, doesn’t say a lot about his time in combat as the Commander of “Charlie” Company, 2nd Battalion (Mechanized), 22nd Infantry, 25th Infantry Division. He was put in command three times, replacing commanders who were relieved or killed in action. He was commanding the company at a fire support base near the Cambodian border when it was attacked by a 1,500 man Viet Cong force and later during the Tet

OPPOSITE: Bill Allison receives an award at Frazer’s SPIRIT. P HOTO BY MAC MACLELLAN.

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offensive of 1968. For his action in combat, Captain Allison was awarded the Silver Star for Gallantry in Action, three Bronze Stars, two with “V” device for Valor, and the Combat Infantryman Badge.

Following the 1973 Yom Kippur War, Major Allison was assigned to the United Nations Truce Supervision Organization in Palestine with duty as a Military Observer in Damascus, Syria and on the Golan Heights. Initially he was the only American military in Syria where he worked daily with 18 Soviet KGB Officers.

“In 1985, with retirement approaching, we were assigned to Maxwell Air Force Base,” Bill said. “I was assigned as Chief, Army Advisory, Air University, and joined the faculty of the Air War College where I retired as a Colonel in 1988. I use the pronoun we, because Martha John has correctly pointed out that my 27 year Army career had been her career also.

She was the ideal, supportive Army wife.”

HOW DID YOU COME TO KNOW THE LORD? “My Father, an army officer, was assigned to Fort Benning in 1949; he bought a 200-acre farm near Columbus, Georgia and told me that I could have any farm animal I wanted as long as I cared for them, Bill said. “My 4H projects became my love and consumed most of my time; I didn’t realize that when I added Jersey cows to my list of projects that they had to be milked twice a day 365 days a year.

Because I stayed busy with my livestock, chickens, gardening, soapbox building and school, as a young teenager I was pretty much a loner. The foundation of my faith grew slowly as I daily read my Bible and attended church and Sunday school. Then one year my faith and focus on life turned 180 degrees with two events. The first was when a group of young men, who attended a different high school, asked me to join DeMolay [a youth organization teaching leadership skills and civic responsibility]. The first

BELOW: Bill and Martha John talk about one of their favorite Christmas decorations, which is actually on display

all year long, a miniature Salvation Army street corner band. P HOTO BY MAC MACLELLAN.

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time I attended a DeMolay meeting, I remember thinking, “Why Me?” I guess my mind was like a sponge as I learned the philosophy and principles of DeMolay. I grew, not only in my Christian faith, but also came to understand the history and faith of others. The essential teachings of DeMolay became my values as I grew into manhood. The second, and more important event, was when I met and fell in love with Martha John. When I met Martha John’s mother, I started to understand what life should be as a servant of Christ. Martha John’s mother became my mentor for the next 59 years, not by what she said, but by the way she served her Lord each day. Her faith was first and her love for us was a close second.”

read, then they would start asking questions before looking through the books; next they would ask if I would buy them some religious books the next time I went to Beirut, Lebanon.

AT WHAT POINT IN TIME DID YOU CONNECT WITH THE SALVATION ARMY AND WHAT DREW YOU INTO DOING ALL THAT YOU DO TODAY?

“There were two things,” Bill continued. “We had a Walmart across the street from Frazer where Hobby Lobby is today. A member of the Roy Cox Class came into our Sunday School class one day and started talking about bell ringing at Walmart for the Salvation Army. At that time no one at Frazer was ringing bells. He said let’s sponsor a day of HOW DID YOUR MILITARY bell ringing so we started ringing bells over there SERVICE SHAPE YOUR FAITH? in the late 1980’s. Then I was in the Lion’s Club I would reverse the question because it was when General Stan Umstead (we working with the my faith that shaped my military service. Before I Blue/Gray football game) came to me and said ‘We joined the Army my faith and Christian values were need you in the Salvation Army.’ So I went down firmly set and were never in question. My faith and now it’s been more than 25 years I’ve been sustained me and gave me hope during my most working with the Salvation Army.” demanding assignments, and my values opened Bill has built a unique system of points of condoors of opportunity. The New Testament that tact, combined with a detailed flow chart he uses The Friendship Class of The First Methodist Church to form his Red Kettle Team of “Ding-A-Lings”. Bill of Phoenix City gave me the night before I left for said, “I have found that at Frazer, and throughout Vietnam is worn and literally stained with blood and the River Region, if I can locate an individual within tears. When I left for Vietnam I did not understand a group like a Sunday School class and ask them the true power of prayer; but for the next year I to be my point of contact for that class to take a not only had a wife and mother-in-law praying for day or days to ring for the Salvation Army it prome but also the First Methodist Church congrega- vides an overall structure to get things done,” Bill tion. I will always believe that their intercessory said. “I started out telling the Salvation Army that I prayers guided my guardian angel that provided would be responsible for all the days at Sam’s Club me with many shields of protection. Also, my faith and this year I will also take all the days at the influenced my relationship with Soviet officers when Chantilly Parkway Walmart. Frazer, First MethodI was serving on the Golan Heights in Syria. Two ist Church, First Baptist Church, Gateway Baptist military observers would man each of the United Na- Church, Young Meadows Presbyterian Church, the tions observations post located along the no man’s Montgomery Rotary Club, and the Kiwanis Club land between Israel and Syria that stretched from have all committed to help. Once I have a structure Mount Hermon to the Jordanian border. When I I can sit down in two hours and cover the 25 days was out on an observation post for four days at a and the 500 volunteers it will require. I can call diftime (most of the time with a Soviet Officer) I would ferent individuals and they will take a day or days read my Bible and study books on the Holy Land. and ensure that all times are covered. We usually The Soviet Officers, who had grown up with the use two ringers on a door at a time. Sometimes belief of universal atheism, would first watch me families come along and we might have 10 on a door

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BELL RINGERS: Bill Allison prepares to ring the bell

for the Salvation Army along with Jack Fowler and Ed Sensintaffar. In 2014 more Frazer members than ever volunteered to be bell ringers for the Salvation Army Red Kettle Drive. Bill said, “Between the Friday after Thanksgiving and Christmas Eve more than 500 members of Frazer’s Sunday School classes were ringing the bells at Sam’s Club and Chantilly Walmart. They were joined by more than 250 other volunteers including those from First Baptist, First Methodist, the Kiwanis and Rotary Clubs, and Subway. This increase in volunteers was the key to our local Salvation Army nearly doubling the kettle collections to over $293,000!” Bill was quick to acknowledge that Ed Sensintaffar’s early involvement with coordinating the more than 750 volunteers was invaluable in generating this support for the less fortunate in our community. PHOTO BY MAC MACCLELLAN.

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instead of two. The Refuge Sunday School Class always takes the last two days before Christmas because they want to be the last to ring the bells.

There are a lot of interesting stories that come out of bell ringing, but these are three of my favorites: “Jerald Labovitz, the owner of Alabama Steel, who is Jewish, even though the Salvation Army is a Christian organization, is a Board member. He came to me and said, ‘You know Saturday is my Sabbath. Why can’t I ring on Sunday? The Salvation Army doesn’t ring on Sunday, but they will make an exception for me.’ So, what happened, the Jewish Synagogue now takes two days. The younger members challenge the older members and the Rabbi to see who can raise the most money. It is amazing how this program continues to reach out!”

“Several years ago someone put two $500 bills in the kettle at Walmart on Atlanta Highway on Frazer’s shift. John Ed Mathison, our Senior Pastor

at the time, said ‘Why don’t we auction them off because they don’t make $500 bills anymore.’ So we had the two bills validated as being genuine, John Ed put a notice in the bulletin, and the bidding began. The highest bid was $1,500 for one of the bills. I called the winner and delivered the bill to his home. The winner said ‘I didn’t expect get this for $1,500.00,’ and handed me $2000. The second bill sold for $1,000. In all that $1,000 donation turned into $3,000. God does, indeed, work in mysterious ways.”

“Not too long ago I had set a goal of $40,000 for Frazer. All of a sudden we had a week less because we can only ring at Sam’s and Walmart between Thanksgiving and Christmas and the calendar wasn’t in our favor. I had to lower my goal by $10,000. On Christmas Eve, a member of Frazer came up to me at Sam’s and asked, ‘Bill, how are you doing on your goal?’ I told him because of the re-

BELOW: Major Vicki Strong and her husband Major Walter Strong present the Life Member of the Salvation Army

Advisory Board of Montgomery Certificate to Bill Allison in 2014, as Martha John looks on. P HOTO BY MAC MACLELLAN.

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duced number of days I had reduced it from $40,000 to $30,000, but I was sure we would make that goal. He said, ‘Bill you’re going to do all right,’ and put $10,000 in the kettle. I feel that when people realize the Salvation Army takes care of those who have the least, things like that will happen, and the next Christmas it happened again. This generous family continues the tradition to this day and now divides this incredible gift between the Salvation Army and Wesley Gardens.”

Captain Roy Harris, leader of the Montgomery Salvation Army until June 2014, who nominated Bill for his recent award of Life Member of the Salvation Army Advisory Board of Montgomery, put it this way, “Even when Bill had open-heart bypass surgery seven years ago, he kept things rolling along, even directing the action from his bedside. Within two weeks he was up, meeting folks at the kettles locations.”

YOU’VE BEEN INVOLVED IN A SPECIAL MONTHLY EVENT AT FRAZER CALLED “S.P.I.R.I.T.” HOW DID THAT COME ABOUT? “Bill was asked to speak to the 50+ Club,” Martha John joined in. “It was a speaker and a pot luck dinner at that time. It was the only activity or program for older adults. That was in 1985. They always had a monthly meeting and 24 to 34 attendees were considered to be a good group. Bill did speak and we just enjoyed being with that group so much and they asked us to come back and be with them. Rudy Heintzelman was more or less taking care of the group at that time. We did go back and had a great time. We were not yet members of Frazer and we actually looked at two other area churches during this time, but it just wasn’t there.

We felt the presence of God and a sweet spirit at Frazer. We don’t unpack the boxes first, we get into the community. We were going back, probably to our second meeting, and I walked up to Rudy and asked is there any way I can volunteer to help with this group, and his response was ‘An answer to my prayers!’ He then asked if I could come on staff part time and I did.

“Martha John said, “Rudy told me, ‘There are

two things I want to see happen with you. First, get rid of that name 50+ Club. We are a church, not a club, and second we need to make it into a Ministry.’

So, after waiting an appropriate length of time to settle in, we had a Change the Name Contest. There were 19 names submitted and all were good ideas.

The group voted, and the winner was S.P.I.R.I.T.T. (Special People Involved Regularly In Thanksgiving and Testimony) which we shortened to S.P.I.R.I.T. The winner was Charles Jackson and he was given a special award. By this time our membership had been increasing and we had grown to 65 and soon reached 100. That was the end of the pot luck dinners. I went to our food service and the price of the first dinner was $2.50. Today, when we order food, it is often for 500+ attendees.

WHAT IS THE LINK BETWEEN WESLEY GARDENS UNITED METHODIST RETIREMENT HOME AND S.P.I.R.I.T? “One Sunday evening, in the late 80’s, Diane Sims walked up to me and said ‘Martha John, I have a friend who works at Wesley Gardens and she wants to know if you would consider bringing a group in for a Sunday morning service?’ Actually it was still Halcyon Terrace at that time. ‘Would you consider talking to the administrator and the activities director about it?’ As it turned out, the activities director at that time, Randy Allen, is now the administrator at Wesley Gardens. ‘We have a wish list. We have a couple at Taylor Road Baptist Church that comes in and has a Sunday School class, but they no longer want to do this. Will you bring Frazer into Halcyon Terrace on Sunday mornings?

Our second wish is that you would help form an auxiliary made up of members of many churches to come in and help our residents?’

“Bob Wilson, a retired minister and Bill and I were all we had to make it happen”, said Martha John, and we really didn’t want to give up our Sunday School Class, the Roy Cox Class. In addition, we wondered if the folks at Halcyon Terrace would even accept us when we walked in. When we walked in that first Sunday they were sitting there, the men in their suits and their ties, the women

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in their Sunday best. Bob and I were speechless.

Here they were, waiting for us. A lot of these people had never had visitors. It was Robert L. Wilson, a past district superintendent, who was part time staff in Frazer’s Congregational Care, who looked around the room that day and said, ‘Now I have a congregation again! Now I have a purpose!’ He was an incredible man who memorized books of the Bible and preached week after week and provided the foundation for what we are doing at Wesley Gardens today. It wasn’t easy going at first because it was just Bob, Bill and I, but that was 25 years ago. We are truly blessed now because we have four weekly teams, and the 5th Sunday Team makes five. The First Sunday Team includes Barbara Duke who has played piano on First Sunday for 15 years. We use retired ministers that have been residents of Wesley Gardens, we use lay people, and “potluck” is Martha John and

Bill. We need a song leader, a speaker, a minister for prayer, and an organ/piano player. This is not a Sunday School Class, it is a traditional service. The collection taken each Sunday is used to help meet needs of Wesley Hall residents. We started out in the Parlor. Later on the Wesley Gardens staff designated a room to be used as a chapel and raised funds to furnish it; however, when they expanded the Special Care Unit, we lost that facility and were back in the Parlor again. This led to the need for a Life Enrichment Center, a multipurpose facility, which would also house the Bob Wilson Chapel.

The initial price for construction was $324,000, which rapidly increased to $400,000+ when the new construction was required to meet city codes passed since the original facility was constructed.”

Bill said, “Martha John became the unofficial campaign chairman to help raise the additional funds for the Life Enrichment Center and she wasted no

BELOW: The Kempter family performs at a Frazer S.P.I.R.I.T. event. Bill and Martha John help to organize the

monthly dinner that provides the community with inspiration and entertainment. P HOTO BY MAC MACLELLAN.

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time putting together events like golf tournaments and all sorts of other fund raisers, including a Card Day, which attracted some 300 women playing a variety of card games, and a book sale using books generously donated by a Frazer member; however; it was another Branson Show that led to the ground breaking and start of construction.”

“Randy Allen, Wesley Gardens’ Administrator, is a key component in pulling these Branson shows together,” Martha John said. “He invited people from Methodist Homes Corporation headquarters in Birmingham to attend, and the CEO and one of their attorneys came down. When they entered Wesley Hall there were over 1,700 people in attendance. When the show began they were amazed at the quality of acts like the Kempter Family and Fiber Grass, a local Blue Grass Band, and others that included a number of Frazer members. When the CEO, Christopher Tomlin, learned that this outstanding effort had raised $17,000 for the Life Enrichment Center he said that based on the tremendous effort Frazer had put forth to build the Life Enrichment Center construction should start as soon as possible and Methodist Homes Corporation would support the financing.

The rest is history. On May 25, 2011 a ground breaking ceremony took place at Wesley Gardens, complete with music provided by the Wesley Gardens Band. In late November 2012, just in time for Christmas, The Life Enrichment Center/Bob Wilson Chapel opened its doors to the residents of Wesley Gardens. The Parlor has been returned to its original purpose and is now available for friends and relatives to visit seven days a week.

Bill and Martha John have instilled their strong moral and work ethics into their daughters, Alisa and Yancey, and they are always in close contact with them. Both have received undergraduate and Masters’ degrees. Alisa is on the Theater Arts staff at Auburn University, and Yancey is a freelance photographer. If you ever want to see her work, Martha John and Bill have it framed and display it all over their house.

The story of Martha John and Bill’s participated in numerous organizations, including civic and religious causes, and their help with the homeless and the military would fill this entire magazine, but they all exhibit these three qualities: their love and support for God, their family, and each other.

BELOW LEFT: Exterior of the Life Enrichment Center at Wesley Gardens United Methodist Home. RIGHT: Martha John Allison, Dianne Griswold, a member of Frazer and a great supporter of Wesley Gardens, and Bill Allison following the groundbreaking ceremony for the Life Enrichment Center in 2011. PHOTO BY MAC MACLELLAN.

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RUNNING MY

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Kaye Porter is finding strength, love, and freedom in Christ

BY KEN ROACH | Training to run a marathon is not something everyone can do. 26.2 miles is grueling, wearing down the body and breaking the will of all but the most determined. Yet, some find joy in the race; the feel of the road, the wind in their face, the will to endure and the deep satisfaction of finishing what seemed impossible. Where the casual jogger gives up, the true distance runner finds new energy from within, a fountain of strength that keeps them going on cold mornings and hot afternoons until they cross that finish line.

Kaye Porter is such a runner. She completed the Soldier’s Marathon in 2014 among many other shorter races.

But running is more than just something Kaye does physically; it is a picture of her inward life, the journey that she has begun with Jesus Christ. The joy she has discovered in following Him motivates her and shapes her from within in often unexpected ways.

Like so many in the South, Kaye grew up in the church and in a Christian environment, but her experience of the Lord was based more on rules and moralism than on a real relationship based on love and grace. She had good parents: she says her mother and father were “not real preachy” but they led by example.

“My mom has the biggest servant heart of anyone I know,” Kaye says. “If I want to know what Jesus is like, I can just look at her.”

College years came, and Kaye got away from the church. She made mistakes, and became a person she’s not proud of today. Without the roots of a deep relationship with Jesus, she drifted away until her life was far from being centered on Christ. “All I knew was following rules, and I’ve never been good at following rules,” Kaye admits.

It was one of those unexpected storms of life— literally—that began nudging her back to the Lord.

OPPOSITE AND TOP: Kaye Porter participating in Frazer’s Ryan’s Run, and displaying the award she received.

ABOVE CENTER: Kaye with husband Drew. P HOTOS CONTRIBUTED.

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ABOVE: Kaye’s son Jack and daughter Toni. Both have been active in Frazer’s Student Ministry and YWA. PHOTO CONTRIBUTED.

A tornado came through Montgomery in 1996, and smashed right into Kaye’s house. Her daughter Toni was less than a year old. When they emerged from their safe place after it passed over, there was a pile of bricks in Toni’s crib. Although they were not coming to Frazer at the time, they received a care package with baby clothes and other items from a Frazer Sunday School class that wanted to help out.

Not long after, Kaye began attending church more regularly. “If that won’t get you back in the church, I don’t know what will,” she laughs. At first, she just came in for the worship service. Then Kim and Scott Skoneki invited her to their Sunday School class, led at that time by Shane Segars. The class was studying through the book of Romans in the Bible, which explains the good news of the “righteousness of God by faith.” Kaye began to understand the difference between rule and a relationship with God through Jesus. Just as importantly, she

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began to observe the example of other Christians who were following Jesus. “It compelled me to want to live differently,” Kaye says.

Kaye, who works as a Physical Education instructor at Peter Crump elementary school, volunteered to coach Upward Basketball at Frazer for her son, Jack’s team. She made friends with women who were in the JBUG (Just Between Us Girls) Bible study on Wednesday nights. At the time it was a small group of about 15 women. “They would talk about little home lessons like how to clean baseboards,” Kaye smiles; “…baseboards aren’t really my thing.” Nevertheless, she felt the love of Christ and was drawn to these women, such as Mary Glen Grant, Bonnie Whitaker, and Donna Oliphint. “They taught the Word, accepted you where you were, loved on you, and set an example,” Kaye recalls.

One example in particular stood out to her. Sonya Martin was going through the process of adopting two orphans. It was a difficult process with many ups and downs, but she and husband John were motivated by the love of God to reach out to children in need. “As I followed along with their journey of faith, my husband also started noticing a change in me,” says Kaye. “I became more and more concerned with how I could live like Jesus, too.”

Sonya’s example of love for orphans motivated Kaye to find a way to get involved, as well. Both Toni (now in college) and Jack (in seventh grade) have been involved in the Frazer’s Student Ministry and Youth Worship Arts choir, and Kaye has traveled on many YWA summer tours. In the summer of 2012, she had the opportunity to travel with Toni on a mission trip to Ethiopia under the leadership of then student minister Brian Word. It was approximately a 10-day trip. “You hear people ask, can you really make a difference in such a short time?” Kaye says; “but the difference it makes is in you.” In Korah, Ethiopia they saw a city built on a dump, where refugees survive by picking through the trash. Kaye says, “what I learned was, you can have nothing, or you can have everything, but if you don’t have Jesus, you’re both in the same boat.”

The group visited two children’s homes that cared for boys and girls who were HIV+. Using her skills as a PhysEd teacher, Kaye helped to lead

games while the students sang songs and shared stories. Then they went out to a leprosarium where Kaye was able to share her testimony with those suffering from leprosy and other conditions. “Afterward, we had planned to wash their feet [as Christ did as a model for his disciples], but there was not enough water,” Kaye remembers. Then a huge rain came up, and filled the buckets.” As Kaye washed a woman’s feet, expecting to be a blessing to her, instead the blessing came back the other way. “She put her hands on my shoulders and prayed for me; it was an awesome, humbling experience,” she says.

Back in the U.S., Kaye and her husband Drew have gotten involved in The Rock Sunday School class, and a small group led by Becky and Jeff Sweeney that they both look forward to every week. Kaye admits that she is still working on the disciplines of daily Bible reading that she has seen in others.

“Last year I got the Chronological One-Year Bible, but I failed miserably!” she says. However, she has gotten another study Bible for this year. And, she finds time to worship and pray through Christian music on the radio, and through her time alone running. “Me and Jesus have conversations,” she says.

As a teacher in the public school system, Kaye says, “sometimes they get so crazy in P.E. after having to sit still in all their other classes, and I lose my cool, so at the end of the day I don’t feel like I have shown the love of Christ.” Many of her students come from difficult family situations. Yet she tries to “love them even when they are unlovable, because that’s how Jesus loved me.”

The first image that comes to Kaye’s mind to describe Jesus is “He’s the one who eats with sinners, and I’m so glad because that’s me. Trying to be the perfect person will wear you out. I screw

BELOW: Kaye on a mission trip to Africa with Frazer’s Student Ministry. P HOTO CONTRIBUTED.

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up more than I should be allowed to by law, but thankfully He’s all about grace.” Her relationship with Christ has transformed her identity through a daily walk. “Following Jesus is something you decide to do everyday,” she says. “You can’t pack Jesus up in a box for when you need Him. There’s the person I was, and the person I am now, and Jesus is the difference.”

To others who might be seeking to discover what it means to follow Jesus, Kaye says, “You don’t have to have it all together. Don’t wait until you think you are somebody whom God would love and accept. He will take you just like you are and do something with you. It may not be what you want or what you expect, but it will turn out to be something better, and you won’t want to go back

to the old you.”

These days, Kaye is running frequently with a group of fellow distance racers from Frazer, preparing for the inaugural Montgomery Marathon which will be in March of this year. “It’s another great way to find fellowship with other believers,” she notes. Kaye remembers that during her previous experience at the Soldier’s Marathon, she developed a “mantra,” a repeated phrase runners sometimes use to get through the most difficult part of the course when their bodies are ready to give out.

Kaye recalls, “The last six miles felt like 60, but I kept saying over and over to myself, ‘I am strong, I am loved, I am free.’”

Strong, loved, free. That’s who Kaye has become as she runs her race with Jesus Christ.

BELOW: Kaye has found a community of support among runners at Frazer. From left: Jon and Diane Klaaren, Kathy Bond, Julie and Harold Oakes, Kaye Porter, Suzanne and Keith Williams. OPPOSITE: Kaye washes feet at a

leprosarium in Ethiopia. PHOTOS CONTRIBUTED.

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PIKE ROAD

A

s of January, 2015, Frazer is out of debt.

Thanks to the provision of God through the faithfulness of the Frazer family, our $17 million expansion that included an updated Children’s wing, Atrium, and Wesley Hall, was paid off in 10 years, despite an economic recession. Frazer has always invested heavily in missions and outreach, but the repayment of the debt allows even more resources to be focused on new opportunities to share the gospel and reach people for Christ.

One such opportunity is the development of an extension campus in the Pike Road community.

After researching options, our pastors presented a vision for this campus to the Frazer Board of Stewards who voted unanimously to adopt it.

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In October of 2014, a contract was signed with the Pike Road School system, allowing Frazer to meet for worship on Sunday mornings in the new Pike Road school building shown here under construction and set to open in the fall of 2015. This exciting location will allow the Frazer campus to be right at the heart of this rapidly growing community.

Consultations and planning groups will be under way throughout this year, with the expectation of launching the campus in early 2016. We praise God for His faithful provision in the past and look forward prayerfully to continued growth in places like Pike Road and beyond.

PHOTO BY ELEVATED PERCEPTIONS.

HOW TO BECOME A

Follower of Jesus 1. REPENT | To repent means to turn around, to change your thinking and your direction and go the other way.1 The Bible teaches that every person has a Sin Nature—a deeply ingrained inner tendency to go our own way instead of following God’s way.2 When we follow our sin nature, we violate our conscience and break God’s commands by not loving Him and not loving our neighbor as ourself.3 The results are broken relationships, lack of peace, loss of purpose, anger, worry, fear, frustration, and hopelessness. The ultimate consequence of sin is death.4 you can pray a prayer of repentance like this: “God, I admit that I am a sinner and I deserve to die. I have broken your commands. I have not loved you as I ought to, and not loved my neighbor as myself.

I repent of my sins. I turn from going my own way to go your way and obey you as Lord.”

2. BELIEVE | The “gospel” (good news) of Jesus Christ is that we do not have to earn a relationship with God and pay for our sins by doing good deeds or religious rituals.5 Instead, God Himself took the initiative to come to us, being born as a man, suffering on the cross and dying in our place on the cross. He won the victory over sin and death by rising from the grave.6 God promises a new spiritual birth to those who believe in Jesus, trusting Him by faith.7 This new birth makes the believer a child of God, and begins a process of inner transformation8 that fills us with His joy, peace, and love, and the hope of eternal life.9 you can pray a prayer of belief like this: “God, I thank you that Your Son Jesus died and rose again the third day. I trust in him alone to save me from my sins and give me your abundant, new, spirit-filled life to transform me now, and to give me the hope of resurrection and eternal life.”

3. COMMIT | The decision to follow Jesus begins with repentance and belief, but it is lived out by a daily commitment to live according to the pattern of life and teaching Jesus showed us.10 Some of the ways you can follow Jesus daily include: • become a member of a local church. The church is the Body of Christ,11 the living expression of Jesus on earth. Joining a church means more than signing up for a human institution. It means you are committed to building authentic relationships with other believers for worship, growth, fellowship, and service together.

• read and prayerfully reflect on the bible. God has revealed himself to us through the scriptures.12 The Holy Spirit uses the words of the Bible to give us understanding of who Jesus is and how we can live like Him as we study it on our own and in community with other believers.13 • serve others in humility. We enter into the experience of Jesus’ death and resurrection by “dying” to ourselves and our selfish desires so we can discover the joy of giving and living for others.14

1 Mark 1:15 2 Rom. 3:23 3 Mark 12:29-31 4 Rom. 6:23 5 Tit. 3:4-7 6 I Cor. 15:3-6 7 John 1:12-13 8 2 Cor. 5:17 9 John 3:16 10 Luke 9:23 11 Eph. 5:29-30 12 Heb. 4:12 13 John 14:25-26 14 Mark 10:43-45

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