It's been ten years

The last service at East Lake United Methodist Church on June 27th.  Betty Madewell (on the second row in the photo below) was present at that closing service and told me she had been christened at the first service in this building on Easter Sunday, April 8, 1928, when the sermon by the Rev. Jack Anderson was entitled "A House Not Made with Hands."  River Setliffe noticed that Mildred Setliffe had been ten years old when she attended that first service in this building.  River, who is Mildred's great-granddaughter, was then ten years old herself, when she came to the church's last service.  She's almost hidden between her father and her brother, far to the left in the first row, in the picture below).

This photo, taken by John Shearer, shows some of the worshipers inside East Lake United Methodist Church before the service started).

First pew (left to right):  Jimmy Setliffe, River Setliffe, Sam Setliffe, Jim Setliffe, Carol Setliffe, and Charles Moses.
Second pew:  Henry Mason, Charlotte Mason, Jane Helton, Betty Madewell, Ed Madewell, and Ken Smith.
Third pew:  John Paul Williams and Martha Morgan Gardin.
Fourth pew:  (I can't tell who they are).
Fifth pew:  couple visiting from First-Centenary UMC and June Rollins Tant.

Those who contributed to the service that day:

• The Rev. John Paul Williams sang "My Tribute"
• Laura and Richard Young, John Coniglio, and Nell Williams were the musicians who played and sang for us.
• River and Sam Setliffe were the acolytes who lit the candles.
• Jim and Jimmy Setliffe were the ushers.
• The Rev. Bonnie Setliffe Jacobs preached the church's final sermon, using the same scripture that the Rev. Jack Anderson had chosen for the FIRST sermon after that building was constructed.  (The point I wanted to make was that we who comprise the church take the spirit of love with us, wherever we go.  It isn't about buildings, but about love.)
• John Shearer wrote about the closing service for Chattanoogan.com.

Nobody could have guessed that exactly ten years later (on June 27, 2020, a Saturday) I would be attending Virtual Annual Conference at noon in St. Louis (1:00 pm Eastern Time).  The church is indeed not the building, but the people, however we gather together.