On the second Sunday in February 2021, The Little Church with The Big Heart, turns 41. Currently, with over three thousand members and a ministry that reaches internationally, the term “little church” doesn’t seem to fit. But everything starts small. Everything starts as a seed. And forty-one years ago, The FBBC of 2021 was just a seed.
Perhaps only God and Pastor Reid could envision how that seed would ultimately grow and reproduce. “Never let the shoe tell the foot how big it can be,” was one of Pastor Reid’s frequent sayings. I suppose that was his way of preparing us for the harvest to be reaped from the field of evangelism and ministry.
The second Sunday in February is now a celebration turned family reunion. Pastor Reid and many of the faces are missing from the table, but the message that brought us together, keeps us together.
23 But we preach Christ crucified, unto the Jews a stumbling block, and unto the Greeks foolishness;
24 But unto them which are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God, and the wisdom of God.
25 Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men; and the weakness of God is stronger than men. I Cor 1:23-25, KJV
Christ crucified and raised from the dead was the message then and still is today. The same gospel message proclaimed by Pastor Reid and later sustained by Pastor Dunbar, is now being carried forward by Pastor Tolan Morgan. The size of our campus, like the size of our ministry and membership has grown tremendously since 1980. And even during this time of pandemic, the power in the message coming forth has been strong enough to keep us together and consistently add believers to the family. Although separated, we are united in Christ and sustained by Him.
The Apostle Paul said this:
11 I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. 12 I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. 13 I can do all this through him who gives me strength. Phil 4:11-13 NIV
Forty-one years of preaching and teaching prepared us for the events of 2020 and also for what is to come in 2021.
The little church with the big heart is now forty-one years old and has a footprint that reaches internationally. Perhaps the term, “little church,” does fit after all. It keeps us humble and makes us mindful that there is always room for one more member.
“Never let the shoe tell the foot how big it can be,” Pastor Willie L. Reid, Sr.
Written by Henry Hopson, Jr.