September 11, 2000
Cuero church remembers impact of revival 75 years ago
___By Ferrell Foster
___Texas Baptist Communications
___CUERO--Some memories still are vivid, others have faded; but the revival of 1925 in Cuero changed 51 lives for eternity, and the impact has been felt through the years.
___First Baptist Church remembered that revival with a special service and a potluck Aug. 27. Pastor Glenn Robertson also highlighted new stirrings among the church's youth todayand looked forward to an upcoming spring revival and the effect it could have on future generations.
PAM ATER, one of 51 people baptized during a 1925 revival at Cuero First Baptist Church, goes through a reception line greeting former ministers of the church.
___Pam Ater was a child in 1925, when the two-week revival took place. All the kids sat together, she recalled. "We were all talking together and writing."
___But somehow, she heard the preacher's message, and when the invitation came, the 9-year-old gave her life to Christ.
___Ater, whose maiden name was Buchel, is now 83. Seventy-five years ago, she was one of 51 people baptized during the revival.
___The printed bulletin for the "Generation to Generation" service listed the names of all of those baptized in the revival. The families of those 51 stood as Raymond Reese, a layman in the church, read each name.
___Four of the 51 are still alive today. Myrtle Parks Shanks could not attend; but Ater and twins Raliegh "Coot" Coppedge and Ralph "Dick" Coppedge were there for two services and the potluck.
___"I remember the enthusiasm" of the revival, Coot Coppedge said. His brother added that it was "real exciting for an 8-year-old," with a "big crowd and good music."
___An advertisement in the Cuero Record had trumpeted the revival with an engraving of "Mr. Virgil Reynolds and His Marimba" prior to the meetings. "Mr. Reynolds and wife will assist in the meeting," the ad read. "Both are excellent musicians. ... You are sure to enjoy the splendid singing. Your cares and troubles will take wings and fly away. If you hear aright and heed these messages in song, joy and peace and hope will take the place of vexing cares and life will have a new and larger meaning."
___Throughout the next two weeks, the newspaper reported the revival's results. The stories indicate that both Reynolds and the church's pastor, A.H. Clark, preached.
___"The Baptist church is being crowded every evening," the paper reported early in the meetings. The next day it said, "One of the outstanding features of the services ... is the stirring music." Then a few days later it reported that 27 young people "came forward and united with the church." Another story noted that a preacher from another denomination abandoned his former faith to join First Baptist.
___The Coppedge twins, now 83, don't remember much about the two weeks of meetings except that they attended every night and that they were baptized together, locking their arms to go under as one.
___Ater remembered floor panels near the platform being lifted to reveal the baptistry underneath. And she recalled what she wore for her baptism--a pink crepe d chin, with a crocheted neck, that her aunt had made.
___She, too, was baptized with someone else because of the large numbers coming to faith during the revival. The preacher held Ater and another girl side-by-side against his arm and immersed them in one motion, she said.
___The Coppedges and Ater came from committed Christian homes, and memories of times at church form a patchwork of their past. For the Coppedges, it's lying on their mother's quilts at the back of the building. For Ater, it's playing "Devil in the Ditch" outside.
___The Coppedges have been members of First Baptist since the 1925 revival. Ater has been a member except for 1938-51, when she lived elsewhere.
___First Baptist outgrew the building it occupied in 1925 and now is in a third auditorium, Ater said. The church now has 421 resident members.
FORMER MEMBERS joined the current congregation of First Baptist Church in Cuero to remember a revival that was a turning point for the church 75 years ago.
___The church has produced at least two international missionaries, and a third missionary is the grandchild of members.
___"God has done some wonderful things" at First Baptist, Robertson told the congregation. "We must not merely look to the past. We must look to ourselves ... and ask, 'What will we be willing to do today?'
___"I call you as the people of God, ... pray that the Lord will again send a great revival," the pastor said.
___Already, Robertson said, "God's been moving among our young people." The church has baptized 14 youth recently. Ten teens have indicated God is calling them to either missions or ministry. "What generations will be affected by their lives as they give their lives to the Lord wholeheartedly?"
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