A few years ago, a decision was being discussed whether to close the doors or give the small struggling church one more chance. A retired pastor who lived in a nearby community stepped in and loved the people and led them in a central focus to become a viable place to worship and serve the community of Hoffman. The faithful few who had stayed and continued to seek Gods will, worked and prayed and supported one another and signs of life continued to grow stronger. When family health issues caused the pastor to have to resign, the brother called another newly retired Pastor to come fill in as interim until a permanent pastor could be found. Well, we fell in love with the congregation, the community and the calling from God to stay, lead and grow turned the interim into the senior pastor.
A few years ago, a decision was being discussed whether to close the doors or give the small struggling church one more chance. A retired pastor who lived in a nearby community stepped in and loved the people and led them in a central focus to become a viable place to worship and serve the community of Hoffman. The faithful few who had stayed and continued to seek Gods will, worked and prayed and supported one another and signs of life continued to grow stronger. When family health issues caused the pastor to have to resign, the brother called another newly retired Pastor to come fill in as interim until a permanent pastor could be found. Well, we fell in love with the congregation, the community and the calling from God to stay, lead and grow turned the interim into the senior pastor.
Bob Fowler had grown up in the Henryetta area and had been away for the past 40 years working and serving in other places. At Hoffman Baptist Church, he and his wife Colleen believed in the Church, the People and Gods plan for all of them. They found that after several years of turmoil, the Church building was in much need of repair. The most pressing problem was the roof which had sustained damage during the Father’s Day storm of 2023.
Extensive damage and having no money to fix it could have doomed them to failure. With lots of prayer and consulting on estimates, the congregation of 15 put the problem in Gods hands and started raising the $20,000 needed. How in the world could a small congregation of common folks ever be successful? It is because we serve an uncommon God.
We began under Bro. Fowler’s leadership to pray and work, have bake sales and yard sales. After sharing the dilemma with a pastor friend, Randall Christy, the idea came up to have a gospel concert. He offered for his group Southern Sunlight to perform and they would take up a love offering! So now, less than two years down the road, our little congregation, which is slowly growing, has raised $16,000 towards our goal of $20,000. We have had concerts, yard sales and pie auctions. While continuing to serve our community and faithfully giving God the glory. Our next concert is next week, Friday night, April 4. We will have an $8-a-plate spaghetti dinner from 5-6:30 p.m. with our Raise the Roof #4 Concert, featuring Tuffy Wiggly from Paoli and The Amundson Family Blue Grass. We invite you to join us for good food, great fellowship and experience a wonderful night of praise and worship as we continue to meet our goal and serve God and our Community. If you cannot attend, donations may be sent to Hoffman Baptist Church. P.O. Box 1003, Henryetta, OK 74437. Text 405-606-5621 for more information or directions.
