Rigney Ministries

Last week, we were in revival with New Palestine Baptist Church, one of the oldest churches in our area. It’s a beautiful old church, and I just loved walking around the grounds and enjoying the remnants of handiwork done by congregations from days gone by. Over the years, there have been a number of improvements to the buildings, but the congregation has been careful to leave the good craftsmanship of men from yesteryear when it was possible.

This is a new steeple … it was added after Hurricane Katrina destroyed the original steeple which housed an old fashioned church bell. The new steeple doesn’t have a bell, but it does have a modern broadcast system, which plays chimes every hour. I was at a graveside ceremony at New Palestine recently, and I heard the chimes playing a beautiful chorus at the noon hour. It was such a sweet addition to the ceremony.

This is the old fashioned church bell which used to live in the original steeple. From what I understand, Hurricane Katrina destroyed that steeple and tossed the bell into the ditch several blocks down the street. I took this picture when we were in revival there in the fall of 2007, before the bell was mounted and put on display at the entrance of the church office. I noticed the initials C.J.O. inscribed on the side of it. Wouldn’t you love to know the story behind those initials?

Update 10/8/09: Brother Harlen Henegar, a friend from Central Baptist Church in McNeill, MS, answered my question about the initials:

“I thought you would want to know that the initials CJO cast into the bell from Palestine Church are the trademark for The Judd Company.  The high end antique market continues to carry many of their door stops, novelty banks, and other small statuary.  They were well known for their high quality castings in iron, bronze, and architectural work for buildings (mostly exported to Europe).”

I love the simple, yet beautiful, stained glass windows in this sanctuary. The colors were arranged in a pattern of red, blue, yellow, blue, red.

A close up of one of the beautiful stained glass windows.

In the typical fashion of the 1800’s, there was a balcony in the back. I don’t know if it was the case for this particular church, but balconies of that day were generally designated sections for blacks, and they were often referred to as the ‘Buzzard’s Roost’.

As I mentioned in another post, I just LOVE the mossy old oaks in the parking lot of New Palestine. They add a certain charm to the place. And the cemetery of this old church is huge, for our area. It’s interesting to look at the older headstones and wonder about the people who once walked these grounds and raised their families in this area. What would they think of our world today? I’m sure they would marvel at the advances in our technology, but I think they would be disappointed by the decay of personal responsibility and the lack of respect for God, His Word, and His sanctuary. Come to think of it … I’m disappointed about those things too!

On His Exciting Journey,