Episode description

When Dad arrived in Ashland, Ohio, in August 1981, the Church of Christ that met at 323 Steele Avenue comprised about 150 members. Almost 20 years later, the congregation’s membership swelled to almost 350. The building was bursting at the seams, people could not find a place to park on Sunday mornings, and there was not one more inch of space left in which to grow. So, in the mid-1990s, the elders of the Steele Avenue Church of Christ began a long campaign to raise funds, purchase property, and build a new campus on West Main Street in Ashland. The congregation was enthusiastic in its support for this goal. But as hard work and hope pointed to a brighter future than anyone once imagined for the congregation, Dad’s world was growing darker and darker with each passing year. As the congregation gave more and more money and plans moved closer and closer to putting shovels in the ground, Dad was putting himself under greater and greater pressure to meet impossibly high expectations. The church was getting ready to build, but Dad was tearing himself down. What was happening? And why?

If you want me to ask Dad a specific question in a future episode, please email it to me at bt@btirwin.com.

Don’t forget to check out Dad’s new book, We Are God’s Masterpiece, at amazon.com.

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