Ansley Union Church recently celebrated its 100th anniversary,
but that is not what sets the church apart from other congregations in Louisiana.
Ansley is just what its name implies – a union church.
Ansley Union Church recently celebrated its 100th anniversary,
but that is not what sets the church apart from other congregations in Louisiana.
Ansley is just what its name implies – a union church.
The congregation is a union of Baptist and Methodist members
who meet as one congregation but maintain separate memberships. The Baptist
and Methodist pastor rotate and preach two weeks out of each month to the same
congregation.
Located in the town of Ansley about 15 miles south of Ruston,
the church “still operates pretty much in the same manner as in the beginning,”
member Shirley Walsworth says.
“We all still worship together every Sunday,” she
adds. “There has never been any confusion or disagreement between the two
denominations. For new members, it takes a while to determine who is Baptist
and who is Methodist.”
And that is what makes the congregation a “strong union,”
Baptist pastor Larry Hatcher explains.
“Its very true,” adds Hatcher, who has served
as pastor for two years. “Whenever theres an illness or death in
the church, both pastors are there.”
Besides employing a Baptist and Methodist pastor, the church
that averages 30 on Sundays also has Baptist deacons and Methodist elders.
Methodist pastor Les Webb says the Baptist deacons have a close
relationship with the Methodist elders.
“There are different things Methodists and Baptists do
service-wise but mostly its a combination of services,” he says.
The church also has no business meetings. Hatcher says most
business is held via calls and letters. One other noticeable difference is that
the Sunday School literature is from an independent source.
R.E. Crow has been a Methodist elder at the church since the
1950s. He points out that, at one time, the church held two weeks of revival
headed by a Baptist pastor and then two weeks by a Methodist pastor.
The longest tenure of a Methodist pastor is 27 years, and the
longest stint of a Baptist pastor is 10 years. Crow adds that the average tenure
for a Baptist or Methodist pastor is six to eight years. Most are bivocational.
John Lamkin has been a member since 1946 and a deacon since
1985. He compares the church to when “it was like going to your grandmas
house for dinner, and no one is criticizing each other.
“Thats what Ansleys like,” Lamkin says.
“We dont know whos who (Baptist or Methodist) as far as were
concerned.”
There is such a strong unity and closeness in the church that
many of those who move to other parts of the country and even out of the United
States return annually for homecoming. For this years centennial celebration,
more than 300 former members returned from such places as New York, California
and Nova Scotia.
Hatcher says this speaks volumes of the community spirit and
the churchs spirit. He says it was that spirit that has kept the church
together since it was founded by the Davis family.
In fact, Hatcher says the Davis family was the main reason
for the towns founding, as they operated a saw mill that provided work
for townspeople in Ansley.
Many in the Davis family were both Baptists and Methodists,
so the clan said they would build just one church for both denominations to
use. From 1907 to the early 1930s, Sunday School rooms were added.
Since then, the Davis family has handed over the land and property
the church occupies to the Ansley congregations.
Walsworth says Sunday School meetings initially were held in
the filing room of the Ansley sawmill.
The Sunday School, which was organized before the town was
completed, was actually independent from the two churches that merged together
one day. Officers and teachers of the Sunday School were elected by popular
vote by all in attendance. This Sunday School later became part of the union
church.
The congregation worshiped together in the same building until
1982, when a new church building was constructed from donors who “held
a place in their heart for Ansley,” Walsworth says.
“Methodists and Baptists working side by side built our
new church and, when finished, nothing was owed except praises to God,”
she adds. The old building is still used for homecoming.
With so few union churches in operation today, many at Ansley
are thankful to have such a close-knit family, even after 100 years of operation.
Ansley member Elizabeth Caraway explains: “We dont like to think
of ourselves as separate groups … but as one big happy Christian family, full
of love for Christ and one another.
Transfer of funds highlights Louisiana Foundation meeting
The recent Louisiana Baptist Foundation board of trustees meeting was highlighted
by a report of a smooth transfer of its equity funds assets to Salomon
Smith Barney.
During the report of the Investment Committee, Consultant Lee
Smith from Salomon Smith Barney said the transfer of the foundations equity
fund assets from SEI Investments to his firm went smoothly. Morris added he
is looking forward to working with Foundation Executive Director Wayne Taylor
on creating a policy statement for the equity fund and possibly adding hedge
and international funds to the portfolio.
“The main change to the investment policies is to add
wording regarding the role of the consultant we hired and selecting the appropriate
benchmark,” said Taylor in an interview following the board meeting. “One
key to investment is diversification. Having more areas to invest in should
smooth the ups and downs of the markets.
“When one area of the market is not doing well, some other
area probably is,” Taylor explained of the action. “We will begin
to look into whether to add other asset classes to invest in like international
or hedge funds to add diversification.”
Three motions also were presented and approved during the Investment
Committees report. In these:
Board President Bill McManemin proposed a change
in the benchmark for the equity fund to 35 percent S & P 500, 40 percent
Russell 1000 and 25 percent Russell 2500. A benchmark is an unmanaged group
of stocks or bonds that one measures the companys managers performance
against.
Board member Elbert Via proposed that the Foundation
reallocate 2 percent from bonds to stocks from May to December.
Board memberTerry Shirley proposed approval of
the buys and sells as presented in the board book. “Primarily, the buys
and sells we make are to raise cash for distribution to beneficiaries of some
revocable trusts,” Taylor said. “These were actually to change the
investment allocation of some revocable trusts.”
The Operating Committee brought one motion for approval. The
motion was to approve capital budget expenditures, in addition to replacing
kitchen and bathroom floors at the Foundation office.
Taylor added that auditors Payne Moore & Herrington will
have the foundations audit ready for the boards July meeting.
During the planned giving report, Taylor said Foundation staff member Jerry
Love and he are seeking opportunities to visit with each trustees home
church. Taylor and Love made several presentations on the foundations
short-term fund, plus gifts of appreciated assets and estate planning that they
said they hope will help others think about how to contribute.