Argyle-Apple Grove congregation votes to rebuild

                                                                                       (This article appeared in the Pec-Leader)

  

       On Sunday, February 2nd, at the annual meeting, Argyle-Apple Grove voted to rebuild at the site of the former Apple Grove church that was destroyed the previous year by a tornado. “It has been a long journey of grieving, prayer, discernment, and listening,” says Pastor Dan Bohlman. 
      The decision was eight months in the making due to many issues to work through. “From a purely utilitarian point of view, we didn’t have to rebuild the church,” stated Pastor Dan. “Argyle and Apple Grove merged in 2020 and so we have a worship setting. But in our listening posts and congregational meetings we came to quickly find that this was not going to be a decision based simply on practicality. There is a deep sense of connection with the old church, the church location, and the cemetery. That had to be listened to and taken into serious consideration.” It was these considerations that ultimately led the congregation vote to rebuild.
   “Through this entire process, what I am most proud of,” says Pastor Dan, “is how our members were willing to listen to one another. A number of people in the congregation didn’t feel that rebuilding was necessarily the way to go, but through the course of our conversations, and for the sake of the unity of our church and parish, they rose above personal opinions and kept the focus of the church and work of Jesus in the community as the priority.”
       The church will most likely be rebuilt on the same footing of the old church, but on a small scale as they have to work within the parameters of the insurance pay out. A building committee will be formed to begin the process of working with architects and contractors to develop a building plan. Pastor Dan guesses that this entire process could take the better part of 2025.
      The cemetery association has also been hard at work. More than one-hundred tombstones were knocked over during the tornado. These have all been returned to their footings and cleaned up at no cost to the families. The only remaining project for the cemetery is to put up new fencing around the cemetery, which will be done this spring.
      The congregation wants to extend its deepest thanks and gratitude for everyone in the community both near and far that through prayer and financial offerings have helped the congregation through this difficult time.

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