As the church grew during this era, various ministries were growing too. But the church wasn’t building up ministries just to check a box or simply to keep people busy. These ministries really made a difference in people’s lives at the time and have become part of fond memories for many.
Women’s Ministry
Carley Wecks and Janis Burdett were both instrumental in growing what became a women’s and mothers’ ministry for the church. It began informally, from Carley helping Janis one-on-one, and expanded from there. Janis shares her experience:
The church, my church family, just got me through all those stages of life….It reminded me of when I made that transition to be a stay-at-home mom, because I was very focused. I wanted to be a juvenile probation officer all my life, and I got that job out of college. It was my dream job. I loved it. I was gonna save the world. I wanted to take care of troubled kids.
And then my daughter was born, and I just overwhelmingly felt like I needed to quit my job and be a full-time mom. I just felt led, so I did that. But that first year, being a new mom … she cried a lot. I was stressed, I felt isolated.
And during that time, the pastor's wife—it was Carley Wecks … she reached out to me and took me under her wing, and just taught me how to be a stay-at-home mom. She taught me how to budget. She taught me how to cook, how to do cheap meals, and how to live on one income.
And then she talked me into doing a ladies’ Bible study. And she said, “Janis, if you'll host it in your home, I'll come in and lead, because I know there are other women who are stay-at-home moms, isolated and struggling,” and she named a couple that had come to her depressed and stuff. So we did that.
And it was probably the turning point for my life, because every week I would get my house ready. I put my daughter down for a nap. She was less than a year old. And then I would call Carley. She would come to my house, and we would pray together, and we would pray over all the ladies in that Bible study. And we’d talk about the lesson on Tuesday morning. She came, and we had those talks, and we had probably eight to ten other young moms who were isolated and lonely. And just from that core group, those friends, I really saw that need.
And that probably led later on into the start of the Mother's Day Out [a childcare program for mothers of small children], because I did that. But women are so vulnerable during that time when they're starting out and having kids.
And my mom [Helen Bartel] was a nurse, and she was still working at that time, so even though she was close, she wasn't available to me during the day, when I'm depressed and isolated and I've got a screaming baby. So Carley was that. That was John Wecks’s wife. She was just that.
And…there were about two years that we did that. And then they moved on. But that just kind of got me just settled into, “Okay, yeah, I'm a stay-at-home mom….That career is put aside, but I've got help. But there were plenty of things to do at this church, to help other people and to have a meaning or a purpose in life. So I'll always be grateful for that.
Carley helped in a powerful way to demonstrate that a ministry doesn’t have to be a formal group or an official church program. It begins with just noticing others’ needs in the church and using one’s spiritual gifts to help meet those needs. And the Lord can do great and impactful things with that kind of simple generosity and faithfulness.
Youth Ministry
The church youth group had a few different leaders over the years. During this time, they were pastored by Randy Perkins and then by Raymond van Pletsen.
Terri shares, “All of our leaders came typically from Dallas Theological Seminary, and it was kind of like a part-time job for them while they were in seminary. So we had a youth director named Randy Perkins. He was there for only a short time, and then Raymond van Pletsen came.” (Tad Cooper’s time leading the youth came later, as he didn’t come on staff until late 1983.)
Randy was also the Young Life director at Granbury High School. The youth group met only on Sunday mornings during the time when Randy and his wife Cindy led it. Later, during Raymond’s era, the youth group began meeting outside of just Sunday morning church, on Sunday evenings as well.
Mike shares details of those youth group meetings. They met typically at Harrold and Kay Henson’s house and sometimes at the Hollister home. The regular youth group members included:
- Mike English (son of Linda English)
- David and Keith Henson (the Hensons’ sons)
- Don and Chris Hollister
- Gerald and Vicki Hyde
- Mike and Terri Swain
- Lee Wentz (son of Chuck and Martha Wentz)
Mike recalls, “In the youth group when I was in high school, we would meet at the Hensons’ house, and it was probably more fun for me than for Terri, because I think she was the only girl there.” With the exception of Vicki Hyde, that seems to be true based on Mike’s list of attendees. “And the Hensons had a basketball goal out back and a pool table in the garage and a ping pong table in the garage. So we were always having fun….and those years were led by Raymond. So we had the fun mixed in, and then, with the truth that Raymond spoke into our lives, that was, that was good times. And there was always something to eat.”
But those years contained some bittersweet memories too, particularly concerning Gerald Hyde. “I don't think they [Gerald and Vicki] were ever involved in the church itself—just the youth group in the evening,” Mike says. “Gerald accepted Christ at our youth group. Raymond van Pletsen led him to Christ. And then he later passed away in a jeep accident, my freshman year of college. So I knew he was with the Lord, you know. Just sad. It was very tragic.”
Despite being sorely outnumbered by the boys, Terri also has fond memories of those youth group years:
I loved it. I loved the small church. I thought it was good. Obviously, I was a typical teenager too, so I didn't want to do what my parents were telling me to do. We had strict parents, very strict. But ... what changed a lot was having Raymond van Pletsen. When he became our youth leader, I felt like that made such a difference for me….He brought the Bible to life for me as a teenager….
[As] an adult, it's different. You sort of relate to Scripture and everything in a mature way. But when you're a teenager, it's like, “none of that relates to me,” it feels like. But if a person's able to communicate with you as a teenager—how that affects your life, how your life is changed by that!
[You have] your anxiety, your inferiority, your insecurities, all those things that you deal with as teenagers, but I felt like he [Raymond] was able to make that [Scripture] come alive, and so that made a difference for me. But overall, all the people there were so sweet always to us, and so we had an appreciation for them, even as teenagers somewhat.
As this author has also experienced personally, a good youth pastor can either make or break the spiritual life and wellbeing of an insecure, struggling teen. God used Raymond to do great work in these years and to plant strong spiritual seeds in many young hearts—seeds that have continued to grow and flourish for years to come.
More for Missions
As described already, missions was a major focus of Believers Bible Church from the beginning. John Wecks also instituted a program called More for Missions. He describes:
[It was] something that I started after Garry left….I noticed that a lot of the people, the leaders of the church, were giving more money to the missionaries we support. In other words, more money to the Prathers, more money to CISTY, more money to the Stewarts, more money. So, whatever missionaries the church supported, I began to notice in conversations that the people, which is the church, were giving much more than the church budget amount.
So, to make it short, I came up with a plan for those people to give through the church, so that the whole church could be blessed by the amount of support we, as people, are giving to these missionaries. And I called it More for Missions. It was quite an administrative task to get it all done, but it flew, thanks to, Earl Swain. Well, Cecil Bartel, yes, but Earl, he really pushed it for a long time.
It's not anything wrong, people giving individually, and I'm sure that they still did and didn't do everything through the church. But I just wanted the church to be encouraged—encouragement to one another about the true level of support for the church's missionaries.