Westminster Presbyterian Church Centennial Books

As an outreach to the community, Westminster started the Mothers of Preschoolers or MOPS. Young mothers now had a welcome time to connect with other women who were raising young children. Outreach continued to be a strong theme in Westminster. Joy Gulick helped start MOPS and was the very first Mentor Mom.

My walk with God is a continual adventure. I never know what He ’ s going to call me to do next. But that ’ s okay. He has called me to do some things that stretched me and took me out of my comfort zone, but those are the most exciting times because then I know that He is the One doing the work! My time is no longer my time; it ’ s His time. When I put Him first, “ all these things are added unto me. ”

Broken Wall, a performing choir of our young people, had a strong music ministry for many years. Not long after the Gulick ’ s

arrival, a Monday night College and Career Bible Study met in the living room of their Oakhurst home. Assistant Pastor, Rich Vroon, led this weekly study. Interestingly, when the Gulicks left, a number of members of the Bible study ended up getting married. At their going away party at the church, the Bible study

Maryanne Davidson

group sang a specific song to Joy, who was known for her match - making skills. The song, from “ Fiddler on the Roof ” was “ Matchmaker, Matchmaker, Make Me a Match. ” During this time, there was also a thriving youth ministry under Brian Checchio.

Megan Hammond Carr reflects that, Brian Checchio played a pivotal part in her walk as a teenager but most importantly as a young Christian. She will always cherish her youth group days at Westminster. She says that “ Brian always met us where we were and never expected us to be perfect teenagers. Brian always led with love, sprinkled in tons of fun, and gave much needed encouragement to Bluefield ’ s youth. ”

I have always been blessed to hear about the world missions effort put forth by our church … and have always looked forward to visits our fellowship received from missionaries we support in the field. It has fascinated me to hear about people from other cultures … Seeing God move powerfully in people ’ s lives really makes mission work worthwhile.

For a number of years, the city ’ s Rec Center was the location for Westminster ’ s Winter Youth Conference, with massive inflatables, a guest speaker, tons of free food, hundreds of area youth looked forward to this annual event each year.

Our younger church kids longed for the day when they too would be old enough to be a part of our church ’ s legendary WYC. God did powerful things through those weekends.

Joe Davidson

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