Whose Shoulders Are You Standing On?
By Pastor Ellis White
At 4pm on a Sunday afternoon, November 17, 1963, a small group gathered for the very first service of Chapel Hill Church. They opened with a hymn: “The Church’s One Foundation.”
This Sunday, we’re opening our service with the same hymn.
I keep thinking about that. Nobody in that room could have pictured the building we worship in now, or the families who would walk through its doors, or the person reading this email. They built anyway. They prayed for people they would never meet—and that includes us.
I think that’s what the writer of Hebrews has in mind:
“Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us” (Hebrews 12:1, NIV).
A cloud of witnesses. Not spectators in the stands, but people who ran their leg of the race and handed on the baton. We aren’t starting from scratch. We’re running the next stretch of a race that began long before us.
This Sunday is Legacy Sunday. Many of you will remember it as St Andrew’s Sunday, the last Sunday of October when we have always paused to remember where we come from. New name, same heart. And in case you’re wondering, yes, we will still have bagpipes!
We’ll take time in the service to remember the members of Chapel Hill who have gone before us, their names appearing on the screen one by one. Whether you sat beside them for decades or never had the chance to meet them, I think it will be a moving moment.
And we’ll look ahead, too. In The Heart of Revival, we’ve reached Isaiah 54, where God tells a discouraged people:
“Enlarge the place of your tent, stretch your tent curtains wide, do not hold back; lengthen your cords, strengthen your stakes” (Isaiah 54:2, NIV).
Notice when that command comes: before anyone new has arrived. God asks his people to make room first, by faith.
What does that look like for a church like ours, in a region like ours? I’ll share a story from our own history that I think will surprise you. And I’ll share the new mission statement your Session has been praying over for months, which I’m eager to put in front of the whole church for the first time. There are also a couple of people I’m excited for you to meet.
Between now and Sunday, here’s something small you can do. Think of one person whose faith shaped yours—a grandparent, a Sunday school teacher, a friend who once invited you along. Say thank you. If they’re already with the Lord, give thanks for them there. That’s what standing on someone’s shoulders feels like from the inside.
Then, if you can, bring someone with you on Sunday. One day, someone will be standing on our shoulders, too.
Pastor Ellis
PS: If you’d like to think through the legacy you’ll leave behind, there will be an opportunity to hear about legacy estate planning after the service in the Gathering Place over a complimentary lunch.