Johnny and Joyce Minor were part of the core group from Stony Point Presbyterian Church that planted WEPC in 1993. Ahead of the church’s twentieth anniversary celebration in September 2013, I talked with the Minors about why they became part of the church plant team and what they remember from the early days. Below are excerpts.
Jessie Harvey
The Importance of Tuna Salad
Because of Johnny’s job, the Minors moved from Roanoke to Richmond in 1984 with their two children, Blair and Rebecca. The conversation picks up with Johnny explaining how they settled on Stony Point as a church:
“The Lord intended it for Something Else”
Johnny and Joyce talk about why they moved to Richmond:
Wisdom for Middle School Parents
The Minors remember when a young Steve Shelby, who was a recent graduate of Reformed Theological Seminary in Jackson, Mississippi, joined Stony Point in 1986 as associate pastor for Christian education:
“What are you willing to sacrifice?”
Faced with the prospect of returning to Roanoke for Johnny’s job, the Minors felt conflicted about leaving Stony Point and their commitment to help plant a daughter church:
Staying in Richmond
“It was really good news that you’re a big sinner”
Joyce reflects on Steve and Marti’s leadership of the new church and the impact of Sonship, a World Harvest curriculum the Shelbys studied and passed on to the session and their families:
Worshipping at Byrd Middle School
Johnny and Joyce remember the first WEPC worship service on October 10, 1993, and some of the behind-the-scene tasks that made weekly worship possible:
The “Gray Heads” of WEPC and a Heavy Sign Out Front
The Challenges of Church Planting
Branching Out
Johnny and Joyce remember some of their earliest experiences in WEPC small groups:
A Car Trip with Jim Davis and a Calling to Serve
Joyce reflects on the first Prison Fellowship project at WEPC in the spring of 1995 and her unlikely venture into prison ministry:
The Truth about the Minors
Johnny and Joyce reflect on twenty years at WEPC: