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Y! MyWeb'This is history,' says pastor of church celebrating 95 years
Wednesday, September 03, 2008
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Rev. Virgie F. Riley, pastor of the Eleventh Avenue First Church of God, poses outside the church Tuesday, Sept. 2, in Middletown. Riley has been a member of the church since she was 3 years old, and the church will be celebrating its 95th anniversary with an event at 4 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 7, at the church, 831 11th Ave., Middletown. 
Virgie F. Riley and her brother, Anthony J. Riley, shown in this family photo before heading to church, have been members of Eleventh Avenue First Church of God since they were 3 and 5, respectively. The Rev. Virgie Riley was named pastor of her childhood church in 2005, succeeding the Rev. Carlace A. Tipton.
Columnist Rick McCrabbMIDDLETOWN — Virgie F. Riley had finished her junior year at Bay Ridge Christian College in Kendleton, Texas, when her mother called and said she was needed back home.
One of Riley's cousins had a baby, and Riley had to care for the baby while the teenage mother returned to high school.
Riley, 22 at the time, put down her books — but not her Bible — and returned to Middletown. Her first calling — the one from God — was derailed by the one from her mother.
In 1999, nearly 30 years later, Riley finally graduated from Miami University, and earned her ministry degree from Mid-America Christian University, an online college, in 2002.
Riley, a 1967 Middletown High School graduate, put her life on hold to care for others, and after talking to her for a few minutes, you understand why she isn't bitter about her degree derailment.
"God has a plan for you," said Riley, a 59-year-old divorcee. "You just don't always know it. The older you get, the more you see the path He's leading you."
She was ordained and named pastor at Eleventh Avenue First Church of God in 2005 after the Rev. Carlace A. Tipton — who served the church for 41 years — died after a short illness.
On Sunday, Sept. 7, the small church across the street from Rosa Parks Elementary School will mark its 95th anniversary. When asked about the church's milestone, she said: "This is history."
For her, the Christian celebration is more like a homecoming.
Riley has been a member of the church since she was 3, and though she moved to Texas for three years, she never left the church.
"Sunday is the Lord's day," she said while sitting in her small office in the basement of the church. "I guess I'm 'old school' that way."
She called preaching a "humbling experience" since pastors are responsible for relaying God's words.
"This is the place God has me be," she said. Even if it came years after it was first expected.
That baby Riley helped raise is Yvonne Redding, a 37-year-old reading instructor in St. Louis. Redding said she'll attend Sunday's anniversary as a way to pay tribute to her second cousin she considers an aunt.
"She has a heart to give," Redding said. "She always has made personal sacrifices. She's been a constant source of encouragement in my life."
95th anniversary celebration
When: 4 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 7
Where: Eleventh Avenue First Church of God, 831 11th Ave., Middletown
Special guest: Bishop Rudolph Pringle
Call: (513) 423-5275.
