A Brief History of First United Methodist Church
Niceville, Florida (Part 3)

Our Church History From 1983 to 2002

In 1983, Reverend Ed Chandler came to our church. He said that, when he first came here, worship service attendance was holding, but Sunday School attendance was down. One of the first things he did was start a 12-week class called the “Pastor’s Class,” and began by teaching Methodist Beliefs. Then, using the Bible as curriculum, he began a Sunday School class. Today, he still teaches a Sunday School class, and he still uses the Bible as curriculum.

In an interview, he said it was important “to cast a vision of what God wants, what the world needs.” He said, “To have a church growing, you must first strengthen the spiritual life of the people.” Furthermore, he said our church is not a church of social gospel, but it is one which speaks to people's needs, a unique church, an evangelical church.

Secondly, Pastor Chandler voiced the importance of Small Group Ministry and how that developed in our church. When Walt Herbert came onboard as an associate minister, he initiated Small Group Bible Study which, at that time, took place in individual members’ homes all over the Niceville, Valparaiso, and Bluewater Bay areas. Pastor Chandler said that the history of this church cannot be written faithfully without bringing up one thing which changed the complexion of this church drastically, the members’ getting together for a meal together. In those days, they had a “potluck” about once a month, which was not totally successful because it was always the same group who came. However, the SPR Committee discussed this, and the decision was made to hire Lorre Howell, and the once-a-week meal was implemented. This mushroomed, and is still growing today. It is important because families can come to eat, get the children to classes or nursery, and attend the Wednesday Small Group classes which are now held, primarily, in the church. He says this has been a “prime mover” in the spiritual life for our members. Because of the Wednesday evening activities and the larger number of members attending, the obvious need for a larger and better nursery was pressing. This brought about a new building project. In 1989, this building project took place which was the Nursery and Music Suite over the current Nursery, sometimes referred to as the Educational Building.

Thirdly, he stated how vital it is to have a strong preaching and teaching ministry. Early in his ministry here, he felt that his burden was to preach so that attendees (whether members or nonmembers) were grounded and anchored so that they would be an asset to any church. His feeling was they wanted to hear a message delivered in such a way as to convince them he truly believed in what he was preaching and teaching. Pastor Chandler taught scripture; Small Group Ministry also helped people grow spiritually. As a result of Small Group Ministry, teaching leaders emerged. Today, much of the teaching has been turned over to the laity.

In1991, expansion of the sanctuary too place, and the balcony was added.

In 1995, the Construction of the Chandler Building was completed. The cost to build the Chandler Center was just under $500,000. For a project of this size, we were able to borrow the money from the bank and pay off the loan in about 18 months. Because all previous building projects cost even less than the Chandler Center, we used the same concept to finance the project - namely, borrow the money from the bank and pay it off in less than two years.

In 1998, the renovation of the old Educational building occurred, which is where the Friendship Hall is now. This was completed in March/April of 1998, just before Reverend Chandler retired. This church was blessed to have Reverend Chandler as its senior pastor from 1983-1998. He retired as pastor of our church in the summer of 1998; however, he just put on a different hat and became a Counselor.

In 1998, Reverend Rurel Ausley, Jr. came to our church. One person interviewed has said that he is a minister who applies life application principles in preaching. Furthermore, he is one who aggressively moves forward with wisdom in looking toward the future of our church. His ministry has been one of marching forward as our church grows. We can look at the significant events which have occurred during his pastor-ship.

One example of a significant event is the implementation of the Contemporary Worship service at 9:40 A.M. on March 12, 2000 which has brought about an increase in attendance as this service consistently has the largest average attendance for Sunday church services. At that time, there was an 8:30 Church Service, a 9:40 Sunday School, and an ll:00 Church Service. The 8:30 service was moved to 8:15, and a second Sunday School was added at 11:00.

Other significant events have occurred. For example, the acquisition of major properties our church has made during Pastor Ausley’s ministry can be viewed as part of his looking to the future of our First United Methodist Church. One important land acquisition was the Porter property because of the current proposed expansion.

A most recent event is the completion of the new Bargain Box facility the first week in October of the year 2002.

Another example is the current Youth Center. The building was already there when the land was purchased. This larger meeting place has been a boon for the youth of our church.

Growth is evident in the comparison of membership and attendance (Keep in mind that even though we Average Attendance have membership additions, we also lose members)

Membership	Average Attendance
1983-added 124 new members, total membership --1272	For 2 services -- 520
1988-added 135 new members, total membership --1409
1992-added 107 new members, total membership --1628	For 2 services -- 898
1993-added 118 new members, total membership --1726
1997-added 105 new members, total membership --2014	For 2 services -- 1025
1998-added 118 new members, total membership --2025
2002-added 149 new members, total membership --2414	For 3 services -- 1431

 

Lyle E. Scholar in The Very Large Church raises the question “What is the definition of a very large Protestant congregation? How big does a congregation have to be to qualify as a ‘megachurch’?” He continues “if the term‘ megachurch’ is restricted to the largest one percent of the congregations, then ... 625 average attendance makes it a megachurch in the United Methodist Church.” In the “Beacon Express,” Wednesday, October 8, 2002, Pastor Ausley said, “With an average Sunday attendance of 1435, First United Methodist is in the top 1 percent of U.S. churches.” Thus, First United Methodist Church, our church here in Niceville, is now considered a megachurch, and as such we must continue to move forward.

Of course, the most significant event in our church since Pastor Ausley arrived was the Stewardship Campaign, "So None Shall Thirst." This could not have moved forward without the foresight Pastor Ausley had of growth and, of course, the prior acquisition of land. What an awesome project our church is undertaking with Pastor Ausley as its senior minister.