Great Soul-Winning Churches - Elmer Towns

$600,000 in three days. They had previously decided to sell $300,000 in the fall and another
$300,000 in this spring, but the response to the bonds brought revival to the church. Members
participated by buying bonds and then selling to their friends. The people were enthusiastic, and
phone calls poured into the church. Asked why they had such a reception, the pastor indicated,
“Our people knew we were ready to expand; we had had chairs down the aisle for three years,
both morning and evening.”
The new building can be expanded to house attendance of 2,000, with chairs, including
80 in the choir. It is equipped with lighting and wires for TV and will have a large printing
facility and offices. Pennell wanted a building where the rich were not embarrassed by a “cheap
structure” nor the poor made uneasy by liturgical elegance. He simply wanted a building to be
called the house of God.
The Food and Clothing Ministry of Temple Baptist Church is one of the most unique in
America, offering not just welfare, but charity in the name of Jesus. The people must attend
church in order to receive help, or at least promise they will come to church after they receive
clothes or food. The buses stop next to the clothes room, where children can be fitted for shoes,
coats or dresses. The name and article of clothing is recorded. In the last two years 1,020 people
have been helped in this way through articles supplied by the charity of the people; the church
has spent only $31.00 on this ministry. Pennell says to the folks, “When you go to the store, pick
up a little extra food.” Dry cleaners in the area give them unclaimed merchandise, and
individuals bring money to buy new shoes for children.
Many who ride the buses are poor, and all the children get off the bus and go into
Fellowship Hall, where they are given chocolate milk and doughnuts before Sunday School.
Two years ago the 173 adults moved into the pastor’s auditorium Bible class to give
space for growth. Now the class has doubled under Pennell’s teaching. However, the pastor
realizes need for small-group teaching; when the new auditorium is completed, there will be six
adult classes, three for men and three for women, plus the auditorium Bible class.
When Dr. R. G. Lee preached in Temple church, the choir sang his favorite, “What a
Lovely Name.” He reached over and whispered to Choir Director Vernon McCray, “Can you
sing another verse?” The choir is outstanding for a middle-sized church, and Lee confided to
young Pennell, “I’d like for that choir to sing at my wife’s funeral.”
One of the church’s greatest victories was when Sunday School enrollment first went
over 500, because a mental barrier was broken. Many didn’t think the church could do it; others
didn’t want it to grow that large. The pastor’s wife cried. Breaking the 500 barrier showed the
church no longer had a small country atmosphere.
A second victory involved renting the city auditorium for church two years ago. Many
people said it was foolish to get the large city auditorium, but the Sunday School filled a building
with over 1,000 in attendance. It became evident to the city that the church was growing, and the
congregation was not pessimistic. From then on there has been a positive attitude from the
business community toward Preacher Bill and the growing Temple Baptist Church.