First Baptist Church of Rushford NY, a Light in the Heart of Allegany County

In the dozens of moves I have made over the years I have had the opportunity to visit or attend well over a hundred churches. Most I visit I expect to be the cream of the crop or I would not have chosen to visit them in the first place. In each area I usually find one outstanding church and that is where I end up attending or joining. I wrote about one worthy church I recently was a member of in a previous article but now I will write about an unaffiliated Baptist church in the heart of Allegany county NY in a small village in Western NY called Rushford.

At the time of this writing we live in this area but I don't think we will be living here long, so by the time you read this we may or may not attend Rushford Baptist. When we first moved here we did a search of churches around the area. The churches we visited were all pretty typical but most were small and rigid. The larger ones were further than we wanted to drive. We about exhausted our list when someone told us that First Baptist Church of Rushford NY might have what we were looking for.

Rushford NY is a quaint village in a beautiful valley in Allegany county that descends to Rushford Lake and then down to the Genessee valley in Southwestern New York State. The mid-sized lake is a very popular place for boating and water activities and the lake shores are lined with summer homes. The landscape is hilly and forested with long spectacular vistas. The hills and valleys are especially spectacular in the fall as the maples turn bright red and orange against the green background of the many pine and spruce in the area. The Rushford NY area might remind one of a Vermont post card.

The church we visited is in the heart of the village of Rushford. It is located a few miles upland from Rushford Lake. The people in the village are not seasonal like those that live around the lake. Rushford Baptist Church is in the heart of town it is a nice but rather typical church from the outside. The church is a mid-sized well kept Baptist Church like you might see in many rural small towns across the US. It has a clock tower that still chimes the hour.

When we first attended this church, the first thing we noticed is that the church was almost full of people of all ages. Most of the other churches we visited in this area were half empty and the people where mostly white haired, which is a indication that their best days have probably come and gone.

First Baptist of Rushford has an average Sunday morning attendance at the time of this writing of about 125 people. The Sunday schools at the church are not like the usual Baptist church Sunday schools that I have visited. The teachers do not preach from quarterly magazines. I noticed that it seemed to me that everyone in the Sunday school classes actually was well aquatinted with the Bible and that they all could discuss biblical topics. There was also the freedom to give one's own opinions on the topic and reasonable rabbit trails were allowed.

The church worship service is fairly typical but the piano player and organist are exceptionally talented for a church this size. The worship singing is a mix of modern choruses and old hymns of the faith. At Rushford Baptist they have the words on Powerpoint projected on a screen for those who would rather not use the small print in the hymnals. The mix of hymns and choruses projected on a screen is unusual around here and appeals to all ages. Most churches in this area just stick to old hymns sung out of old hymnals each Sunday.

One part of the service was very unique: they always give a time of praise and testimony in the service where anyone can tell the church what God is doing in their lives.

There was one big negative when we first attended: they had not had a permanent pastor for almost two years. Nevertheless, the church seemed to be functioning just fine. After a number of visits I discovered why that was. This church had the most qualified and biblically literate deacons that I have ever encountered in any church. The church was really doing quite well without a pastor because they already had many great leaders who were filling the gap.

One thing that really gave me a high opinion of this church was that about half of their annual budget was going to support missionaries. There are not many churches in the world that do that.

Since I teach dispensational premillennial theology on my website it is important that I attend a premillennial church. That is usually the first thing I ask a pastor when I visit a church and half the time I get a lame response. If a pastor cannot express his eschatology, it is for one of three reasons. He does not want the church to know his eschatology, he does not care to teach his church eschatology, or he has no eschatology because he never took the time to study about end time Bible Prophecy. At Rushford Baptist they have what they believe right in their church constitution. It says that they believe in the premillennial return of Jesus Christ and in a pretribulation rapture of the church.

First Baptist Church of Rushford has Sunday night, midweek services, a woman's group and a home care group. It also has a youth program. Between my wife and I, we have attended several different Sunday school classes and the home care group and in each case the regulars knew their Bibles. With a few exceptions I don't see this Bible literacy in most churches across the country.

Rushford Baptist did hire a permanent pastor for the church a few months before I wrote this article. His name is Reverend Gary Markman Jr. Again the deacons and members surprised me by hiring a fellow that is fairly young but obviously quite capable of thinking for himself. Rev. Markman at this writing is teaching several weekly series that give in-depth insights to the Bible that many Baptists probably never have had the opportunity to learn before. I find Pastor Gary's in-depth teaching on biblical topics to be refreshing. He is not afraid to slaughter some sacred cows or expand the thinking of his congregation. Rev. Markman's Bible studies actually keep me awake (usually) which is quite a task for any teacher these days. Rev. Markman also allows quite a bit of audience participation so we get some very unique views from knowledgeable thinking people of the Church in his studies. He really could only do this with a congregation that is well acquainted with the Bible.

Rev. Markman has recently completed his Masters in Church Studies and he is now continuing his education toward a PhD. He is married and has two young children. Gary has his own ideas about how to make Rushford Baptist one of the most outstanding churches in the area and he has already made some positive changes. Pastor Markman and the church board are now working on an action plan for Church growth and evangelism to the community.

One of Rev. Markman's goals is more attendees. Significant increases of members in a stable population area like Allegany county NY is pretty tough to do, at least without watering down the gospel and going seeker friendly. No fear of Rushford Baptist doing that. Rev. Markman can achieve his goals if he finds those in the area who gave up on attending church and/or never learned about Christ. I know there is a large segment of Christians that live around here that do not attend anywhere because they are fed up with only having the choice of attending stiff legalistic, or liberal churches. I think Rev. Markman's leadership may give many not attending church a new reason to be part of this fellowship of believers.

Pastor Markman has influenced the church to get into the digital age. He has set up a website called First Baptist Church of Rushford. He is now converting his latest sermons into mp3 files for the Internet world and he has started a Blog. Give the church website a visit but understand that it will take time to get more information on this new website.

If you are in the Allegany county NY area and are looking for a church, you might give First Baptist Church of Rushford a visit. Rushford NY is just off of Hwy. 243 about 5 miles west of Caneadea. If you're still lost, the church is about 5 miles west of where Hwy. 243 joins State Route 19. This beautiful area is about 20 miles south of Letchworth State Park and 20 miles north of the Cuba Cheese Shoppe on Interstate 86. If you need more directions or information you will find it on the church website.

I think you will find the people attending the First Baptist Church of Rushford NY to be very friendly and loving, and you will find that the service honors God in prayer, worship and in its teaching.

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