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We are pleased to introduce this inaugural edition of “Dedicated Disciples.”  Dedicated Disciples is a ministry of the Elders of First Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) in Wheeling, WV that seeks to shine a light on one of the lives of exemplary faithfulness found within our congregation. 

It is the hope of our Elders that we can:

1) heap honor upon the faithful, and

2) inspire others into the same lasting faithfulness.

 

Our first honoree is Ms. Geneva Cole.

 

Geneva has become a staple here at FCC Wheeling.  It’s a rare Sunday that you don’t find her at our organ bench.  Her reputation as a gifted musician and faithful Disciple is known throughout the church community in Wheeling and around our region.   I guess that’s what happens when you’re blessed to live a full and fruitful 88 years! 

 

Geneva has been the Organist of her beloved congregation for an amazing 53 years and counting!  To honor the occasion of her 50th anniversary, the congregation rededicated the organ with a plaque that reads, in part: “Life is full of high notes and low notes.  God makes the harmony.  Mrs. G plays the melody.”  Her faithful music ministry has served the church in countless worship services, funerals, baptisms, weddings and community functions.  This longevity in ministry is an inspiration all of itself!  Yet, don’t be fooled to think her faithfulness is limited to just the keyboard.

 

Geneva has never known a time when she wasn’t involved in the life of First Christian Church.  Her faithfulness is generational; her parents and her grandfather Marsh were pillars in the church.  Her mother began bringing her to Sunday School when she was just a baby.  Geneva found herself in the waters of baptism at age 12—Easter Sunday, 1948.  As baptisms always are, this was a new beginning in her life in the church.  “I was loved, taught, and encouraged all the way through…there was no other life than my life in the church,” Geneva shared as she reflected on her young and formative years.  She credits her time at Christian Youth Fellowship Conference at Bethany College as definite formative moments of her faith during those important teenage years.  Even before those years of CYF Conference, her faith was formed in Sunday School, and she remembers fondly being excused from public school on Wednesday’s for weekday Bible School. 

 

Her service to God through music began in the Girls Choir and Teenage Choir.  It was at age 14 when her father told her, “We need an alto in the Chancel Choir, and it’s going to be you.”  When she’s not at the keyboard, you’ll still find her singing in the alto section.

 

Church being such a huge part of her life, it only makes sense that she would find the love of her life in church.  She was 14 years old when she first took an interest in John Cole.  He was a handsome 16-year-old, with just one problem—he had a girlfriend.  “Well, I took care of that,” Geneva quips!  They’ve loved each other ever since then.  “I was so blessed,” she shares as she considers her life’s partner, “to be married to someone with such deep faith.  He was so faithful that he made sure we were in church every Sunday…even, to our daughters’ protest, while we were on vacation!”  She misses him greatly but smiles with lasting affection and gratitude every time she talks about her beloved John.

 

Geneva and John must have an affinity for “J’s”, for they named their children Julie, Jayne, Joyce, and Jill.   She’s proud to say that every one of her girls are still active in church, raising good families, and living faithful lives.  It’s a blessing for the whole congregation to see her interact with great joy among her children, grandchildren, and now great-grandchildren.  In her pastor’s assessment—the world needs more faithful families like Geneva’s.  In Geneva’s assessment—she depended greatly upon the church to help her rear her kids in the church.  Ask her daughter’s about playing hide-and-seek in the church while their mother practiced her music!  It brings Geneva great joy to know that her children have good memories of growing up in the church. 

 

Geneva spent some time reflecting on what she loves about the church, and especially the Disciples Church.  One major aspect of the church is ‘Christian Unity, not Uniformity.’  “Church was a place where people accepted me, helped me, and supported me.  I knew I could differ with someone and still be dear friends.”  She loves how we teach a faith that is as much ‘head’ as it is ‘heart,’ valuing a faith that is always learning.  Her love for learning shows, as she is an excellent student of every Bible Study the church offers.  She knows the gift of learning isn’t limited to the Bible Study, as you can find her at almost every ‘Library Lunch with Books’.  She says she is grateful for all the ‘Dedicated Disciples’ that she has been blessed to know over the years, especially those that taught her, and still teach her, about life and faith.  When asked who those great teachers of the faith are, she admits that she could never name them all.  Some of those names she was able to share:  her parents and grandparents, Gladys Stone, Luella Michenfelder, Delphine Ross, Hubert and Harriet Barnett, Bonnie Thurston, Patsy Kinder, Phylis Miles, and “all those who teach and encourage me.”

 

Geneva is a humble and wise Disciple.  When she was notified of this honor, she said “Oh gosh, not me!”  While she is honored to be thought of in this way, she countered by saying, “Don’t emulate me.  I know none of us are perfect, but I am way too far from it.  I’m no saint.  I am just living this faith I inherited.  I’m blessed, not perfect.”  When asked if she had any wisdom to share with the church on this occasion, she said “no” and instead shares this: “I’m always working on my ability to trust God.  I have a bad habit of putting things in God’s hands, then taking it right back!  So I guess this is the wisdom I seek—Accept what is.  Let go of what was.  Have faith in what will be.”

 

We are truly blessed to share this life with such a Dedicated Disciple in Ms. Geneva Cole.