The small, yet growing, congregation...
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The small, yet growing, congregation decided to build a Christian Education wing to get space for the burgeoning church school. The people decided to have no building drive. Instead, they chose to include the cost of the building as a part of the yearly budget (or mission, as some prefer to call it). Because of the people's labor, the congregation built the wing for about half of the going cost of that day. To distinguish the building as a worship/study center, the governing body decided to erect a tall steel cross which towered over the buildings, and which could be seen everywhere in the community. One of the workers worked for Bethlehem Steel, so the cross-tower cost only $2,000. One of the church officers, a trustee, complained, "The money could be used for the mission of Christ." He gave only a pittance to the local mission, and nothing to the world mission. -- Keller
