Rev. Matthews To Preach'At Church's Anniversa

The Rev. Ollie Matthews,first pastor of Beverly HillsBaptist Church, will preach atthe 11 a.m. service Sundaywhen the church celebrates its20th anniversary.Matthews, 85, will return to

Asheville from Tampa, Fla., for1 the service., Another former pastor, the'Rev. Bill Snyder, will teach the(adults and youth Sunday School,lesson at 10 a.m. in theJ sanctuary.I The Rev. Perry Crouch, who.was. pastor of First Baptist

IChurch of Asheville when theBeverly Hills church began as amission, also will take part in~the service.: Crouch is now executivesecretary of the North CarolinaBaptist Convention.After the morning service,

there will be a picnic lunch or.the church grounds.A cantata, "Hallelujah," will

be presented at the evening;worship service by the Mer-rimon Avenue Baptist Churchchoir beginning at 6 p.m.

Members, former membersand friends are invited. TheRev. Hatcher Elliott is pastor.

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286.1 5688P71 A HISTORY OF BEVERLY HILLS BAPTIST CHURCH 1954-1974

By: Mrs. Doris Plemmons

was held in

at a cost of

ore people

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Ollie G. MatthewsMay, 1951 - June, 1956

Ollie G. Matthews was born on the 18th day of December, 1888. He re-ceived his formal education at William Jewel College, Liberty, Mo., andat Southwestern Theological Seminary, Fort Worth, Texas. He marriedMiss Antoinette Craig in 1912. They had three sons: Craig (now a Coun-selor for the US Government in San Antonio, Texas), James, a medical doc-tor (now supervisor of chest work for the state of Virginia), and Kenneth(now an engineer in radar, San Antonio, Texas) . "All three sons are activedeacons, teachers, and supporters of their pastors and churches," writes theirfather.

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Mr. Matthews began his mirustry when he was 21 years of age, andhe has pastored churches in Missouri, Ohio, Texas, Arizona and North Car-olina. As a reserve chaplain in the V. S. Army he served during World WarII at the Brook General Hospital in Fort Sam Houston, Texas.

Ollie G. Matthews was already nearing the age of retirement when hecame to work with the Beverly Hills group as a mission pastor in May of1951. Dr. James Matthews, for several years a practicing physician at theOteen Veterans' Hospital, and a member of the First Baptist Church, wasserving on the Missions Committee of the church in 1950. It was through himthat Dr. Crouch, the pastor, learned of his father, the Reverend Mr. OllieG. Matthews, and his availability for the work of Mission pastor at RevellMission and the Beverly Hills Mission. Mr. Matthews was at this time pas-tor in Mesa, Arizona.

-Mr. Matthews led in a marvelous way through the foundation years,

challenging and encouraging the people, and giving sacrificially of his owntime, efforts, and personality. From the beginning he saw to it that thechurch was a thorough Southern Baptist Church, with a budget supportingall mission causes. He continually encouraged the people. Typical is a notein the bulletin for Sept. 21, 1952:

"I want to express my appreciation to all our workers for the fine way you have beencarrying on the work. Everyone seems to be trying to be loyal and is doing his or her part.And this is the way to build a great work. My heart thrills as I go through the differ-ent departments and see the fine work done. I am sure that no church in this sectionhas a better group of teachers than we have."

Mr. Matthews had stayed with the Beverly Hills Church from thesmall beginning of nine people meeting in homes, through the excitingyears of becoming a church. Then he stayed on two more years to givestrong spiritual guidance, and to make sure they could stand alone. Nowhe is ready for them to call a younger man while he continues in missionwork elsewhere. He announced his retirement the first of January, 1956,and left the church in the hands of an interim pastor, the Reverend Mr. J.N. Binford, about the first of July.

The pulpit committee to find a pastor following Mr. Matthew's re-tirement was made up of the following men and women:

Buford Thompson, chrn., Worth Frink, Mack Gudger, Glenn Stroud,E. Y. Walker, Mrs. V. L. McCurry, and Mrs. Roy Thompson.

For awhile Mr. Matthews continued to do mission work with theRevell Mission in Asheville, and to do some interim work in and aroundAsheville; then he and Mrs. Matthews went to live in the sunny clime of

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Florida

ing in his

knew him:

RE'"'tion tothe

v\be led

when hein May ofian at the

Church, wasthrough him

Mr. Ollie

in missionanuary, }956,

d Mr. J.

Florida where he served for several years in interim pastorate work. Mrs.Matthews passed away in August of 1969. At age 85Y2 Mr. Matthews is liv-ing in his retirement home in Tampa, Florida.

No one can present a better character profile of a man than those whohave been closely associated with him. Following are some impressions ofthe man, Ollie G. Matthews, by some of those who worked with him andknew him:

Reverend Matthews' wonderful faith in God was an inspira-tion to us. He had such an optimistic outlook on the Mission fromthe beginning and was willing to put forth every effort to con-tinue the work. He also had the ability to lead the group in work-ing for the Lord in a very cooperative manner. He gave us thefeeling that if we had work to do for jhe Lord that we would begiven strength. time. and money to complete this work.

Our study of the Bible was another outstanding phase of hisministry that has been so meaningful to us.

We feel it was a great privilege to be able to work with and tobe led and taught by such a spiritual, determined. man.

-Mr. and Mrs. V. L. McCurry

It was the summer of 1952 that the Reverend Mr. Ollie G.Matthews, a real man of God, came into the life of our family.He and Mrs. Matthews came by our home to invite us to SundaySchool at the new Beverly Hills Baptist Mission, then meeting inthe newly acquired log building at 777 Tunnel Road. That was thebeginning of a great experience for us. We remember him as a greatteacher, preacher, leader, and motivator of people. I think ourLord sent Mr. Matthews to our family, because he came at a timewhen we needed him most. We had just moved to this communityand felt that we should be a part of it. From this time on, we sawMr. Matthews lead the Mission, financed and supported by FirstBaptist Church, to a self-supporting, fully organized church. Godhas blessed our family and many. many others through Mr. andMrs. Matthews.

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From Worth and Hazel Frink

Ollie G. Matthews led in BUILDING the foundation - and inlaying the first bricks!

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