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The trowel that was good enough to come home

(this article appeared in Dimension in June 1991 regarding the history of the trowel that is proudly on display in our foyer)

 

On Sunday, 22 April 1991, the congregation of the Phalaborwa Methodist Church celebrated the dedication of its leaders as well as the 21st anniversary of the laying of the foundation stone by the Rev. Dudley Goodenough on 25 April, 1970 (50 years ago this year).

 

During the service, the Woman's Auxiliary branch president, Mrs. Anne Grobler presented Rev. James Ramage with the trowel that had been used to lay the foundation stone. It had been presented to the representatives of the Phalaborwa Society at the (then recent) District W.A. meetings held in (then Pietersburg) by Mrs. Jenny Sprong who was the W.A. president of the then South Eastern Transvaal and Swaziland District, and wife of the Methodist minister in Brackenhurst, Alberton.

Mrs. Sprong had told the Phalaborwa representatives that a building contractor in Alberton had recently taken over another company who had operated in the Northern Transvaal area. On sifting through a pile of building material from this company, he came across a trowel that seemed to have been chrome plated. On closer inspection, after cleaning off the cement, he came across the following inscription:

 

"With this trowel, the foundation stone of the Phalaborwa Methodist Church was laid by Rev. D K Goodenough, 25 April 1970."

 

He had taken it to the Brackenhurst Methodist Church and merely dropped it off after telling its story, and left without leaving his details or the details of the company he'd taken over.

 

Rev. Ramage commented during the service that where the trowel had been remained a mystery, but that it seemed that the Lord was trying to say something to the Phalaborwa Methodists. Rev. Ramage referred to 1 Peter 2:4 and said, "I believe that this is a Godincidence that the trowel happened to find its way back to us at this particular time. It would seem that God is saying that it's time to build - build up the people of God and also complete the hall and other building projects. Time will tell."

 

The article mentioned at the end that the trowel would be displayed in the foyer along with this article. While the trowel was placed on display, this article was not and I am so glad I found it along with some photographs.

 

It's again a Godincidence that I found this article and that our slogan is "Building a people of power".

 

May we keep building.

Whats new?

We are having on-site worship services at our normal time, 8:00 a.m., and we still stream our services live on our Facebook page. We are adding songs of praise to our worship services, which is a blessing to us. Our wonderful worship team is leading us with a few praise and worship songs every week.

 

Sunday School is opening in the new year, and we are excited for the new direction that the Sunday School is taking in 2022.