Page 45 - a-columbia-county-boys-recollections-and-memories-of-columbia-county-florida-(2012)-lenvil-h-dicks

A Columbia County Boy's Recollections and Memories of Columbia County Florida (2012) Lenvil H. Dicks

PINE GROVE BAPTIST CHURCH

Back in the mid 1930’s tip until the early 40’s, my daddy was Pastor of a rural Baptist Church in Levy
County, near Bronson, named Pine Grove Baptist Church.

Prior to becoming Pastor of that Church, he had been called upon to go down there and conduct a one
week revival, which he did, apparently with great success. When the first week’s revival was over, the
people of the church prevailed upon him to extend it for another week, and he agreed to do so.

Back in the 1930’s, most country churches could hardly afford to pay a preacher to come and do a one
week revival, much less two weeks, but they realized what a good work was being done, and at the end
of the two week revival the Reverend John Dicks baptized over 70 people who had professed Christ
during the two week revival.

The church then called him as their Pastor, but they could only afford to pay him for preaching one
weekend a month, and they had services on Saturday nights, Sunday morning and Sunday nights, after
which my dad would drive back to Lake City where we lived, in his old 1931 or 1932 (I don’t remember
which) Chevrolet.

After a couple of years, the church grew so prosperous that they employed him to be a Pastor that would
have services every weekend, and not just once a month. He stayed on as the Pastor of Pine Grove
Baptist Church for 11 years, which in those days was an awful long time for a country church to stay
with the same Pastor.

Today Pine Grove Baptist Church is one of the largest country Baptist Churches in North Florida, and
some of the young men from my daddy’s congregation went on to be quite successful. Jim Quincy,
who’s a little younger than I was, went on to get a Law Degree from the University of Florida, and
ended up as a Private Attorney for Senator and Governor Bob Graham. Another boy that was in that
congregation was Earl Faircloth, who became the Secretary of State for the State of Florida. Another
young man named Donald Adams, ended up being Chief Executive Officer of either Florida Power and
Light Corporation, or Florida Power Corporation, I cannot remember which. Anyway he went to the top
in the business field.

Incidentally, Donald Adams was my age, and on my occasional visits with my daddy to Pine Grove
Church services, we would eat Sunday lunch with the Adam’s family. On one such Sunday, Donald
asked me did I know how to ride a bicycle. Well of course, I had never been on a bicycle, and barely
knew what one was, but that afternoon 1 learned to ride his bicycle and sand beds which my memory
recalls being about one foot thick, and I would never attempt to ride a bicycle in such sand that was in
the roads in those days. But, anyway, I got to where I could keep the bicycle from falling over, and
manage to learn to ride a bicycle, although until after I had been discharged from the army, I never did
own my own bicycle. I always wanted one, but somehow it never came about.

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