January 20, 1999

A lesson from David
___FORT WORTH--Three and a half years ago, Ben Terry became pastor of a church that was established in 1882. It averaged a new pastor every 3.1 years.
___When Terry's pastorate started, the church had 25 active adults--median age 60--and eight young people. "My first Sunday there were 15 in Sunday school. We had a debt of $28,000 and a $50,000 budget," he recalled.
___After a change in worship style and program, there are 200 active adults--median age 39--and 50 young people.
___Terry traced the steps of how he had led First Baptist Church of Hutto--a small farming community northeast of Austin--to transition by using the story of David returning the Ark of the Covenant to Jerusalem.
___The lesson from David, he said, is "you have to have key leaders aboard. Don't keep on butting heads with them. Don't ever talk about change from the pulpit until you have the key leaders on board."
___"God told (David) he had to use the Levites," Terry said. He had the desire to move the Ark, and now God gave him the method.

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