Dear Editor:
Last Sunday one of the members of Palma Ceia United Methodist Church in Tampa, FL, where I serve on the pastoral staff, handed me an envelope. Inside I found “Turner’s Tidbits” from the September 14th issue announcing the Tucker County United Methodist Fall 2016 “Old Country Church” Gathering. I was immediately taken back to 1963 -1967 when I served as pastor of the Philippi Evangelical United Brethren Church. Although I do not remember the particulars of the occasions, I recall visiting both Irons Chapel and Union Chapel. I am elated to know that “in the hills and hollows of Tucker” these small churches are still proclaiming the Good News of the Gospel of Jesus and I am happy that Paul Nestor, the church member who gave me the article, still subscribes to The Parsons Advocate.
Even though I left Philippi and West Virginia in 1967 to enter the US Army as a chaplain, served over twenty-seven years, and have pastored in Tampa for twenty-two years, my West Virginia roots (Mason County) run deep and my appreciation for the small church ministry remains strong. The article which stoked fond memories.
A “forever” West Virginian,
Bernard Lieving, Jr.