Back in 1912, Ford Motor Company had a production manager named William Knudsen. He was considered one of the best in his field. Knudsen became convinced that the Model T (which had been in production for 4 years now) had to be updated. The only problem was Henry Ford loved his creation so much it was well known that he opposed changing anything about the car.

According to Robert Lacy (in his best selling biography, Ford: The Man and the Machine)Knudsen decided to convince Ford by building an updated and impressive model to show what could be done with a few changes in color and design. When Ford returned from his European vacation, he went to a Highland Park Michigan garage to see the new design created by Knudsen.

Eyewitness accounts revealed how Ford responded. One person shared this about the revised car, “It was a four-door job, with the top down, painted gleaming red and built on a new, low slung version of the Model T.”One eyewitness tells how, "Ford had his hands in his pockets as he walked around that car 3 or 4 times. Finally, he got to the left hand side of the car, where he took his hands out, got hold of the door and ripped the door right off! How the man did it, I don’t know! He jumped in the car and bang goes the other door. Bang goes the windshield. He jumped over the back seat and started pounding on the top. He ripped it with the heel of his shoe. He wrecked the car as much as he could."

Knudsen left for General Motors. Henry Ford nursed along the Model T, but design changes in competitor’s models made it more old-fashioned than he would admit. Competitive necessity finally backed him into making the Model A, but his heart was never in it. Henry Ford was one of the most creative men of his age. But… Henry Ford resisted the obvious need for change.

Most people don’t like change in their lives any more than he did. One man once observed that the only people who DO like change are "wet babies" … and even they aren’t too excited about it. Churches are notorious for a resistance to change as well. You’ll find church boards saying things like, “we’ve never done it that way before.” Churches balk at even the slightest change in their routine. Even when they are fairly sure the change would be something pleasing to God they still resist.

Well my Church Family, change is coming to Beulah. Please don’t be like Henry Ford and resist. Be the one that says, “Thank you Lord for the opportunities you have blessed us with!”

Due to the growth in our Sunday Morning Worship Celebration we are adding a second service to the morning schedule. This Early Service will begin at 8:10 am and give you an opportunity to Worship prior to Sunday School. You can see the last page of this newsletter for a detailed schedule.

We are also going to make some changes in our Sunday School as well. With our increased enrollment of sixty people, we need additional Sunday School space and teachers. In our Special Called Business Meeting asking the Church Family to authorize the purchase of soundboards to divide the Fellowship Hall into additional rooms for classes. With these new rooms we can make the needed changes to our class structure. Watch the bulletin for more details concerning the Sunday School classes.

I invest a good deal of my study time in reading about church growth. I try to find out all I can about how to help our church grow for Christ. One thing I have discovered: Churches that are willing to change are churches that are moving ahead for the Kingdom of God

Until Next Time… David