Little Church in the Vale Remembered

Debsue and I attended today the 75th anniversary of Little Church in the Vale (LCITV).  LCITV was the first church I attended as a member after I accepted Christ my senior year of college in 1981.  LCITV was also special because Dean Brdlik was the pastor and his wife Jane introduced me to Debsue.  We attended LCITV as a couple from 1985 to 1994.   

When I first went there as a single male, I was the only one under 30 and I don’t think I ever ate a Sunday meal at home by myself for at least a year.  They embraced me and made me feel so welcome.  I was discipled by the mature men in the church such as Dean, but also Bill Banfield, Bill and Bob Bennett, and others.  Dean was a much more detailed pastor back then and my first year there, we spent a whole year in Romans 1. 

Bill and Bob Bennett have both passed away into the presence of the Lord, but Bill Banfield was there and while a little older and a little more frail, still led singing with the typical Banfield gusto.  Mary Beth Bennett, Bill’s wife also passed away into the presence of the Lord just yesterday. 

While it has been 16 years since we had last been at LCITV, it was so neat to see those that we were so close to.  Our leaving LCITV in 1994 wasn’t the best of situations especially since I was then an elder at the time.  However, time and the bond of Christ healed whatever wounds might have been there.  We hugged as our hearts were knit together.  As we age and our friends move on ahead of us into the presence of the King, I am so glad that we will all be reunited with Christ for all eterninty.