Southside Baptist Church, Athens, AL

After nearly two and a half years of preaching from a music-stand, Pastor Joey was moved to tears as the Ordained Men of Southside presented the church with a gorgeous, new, handmade pulpit painted an elegant black.  Just prior to the beginning of the AM service Sunday, January 25th, Doyle Graham officially presented the new pulpit to the church which was a surprise to both Pastor Joey and Pastor Justin.  The Pulpit was presented "with this one caveat: that our two Pastors continue to faithfully preach the Word and the Gospel of Jesus Christ," Doyle Graham said as a part of the presentation.

Before Pastor Joey began his sermon, he expressed both his and Pastor Justin's gratitude for the new pulpit.  He said while holding back tears, "It's a good thing you didn't wait until just before the preaching to present it, because it took me the whole singing portion of the service just to get my emotions under control."  He then committed to uphold his end of the caveat as he publicly renewed a covenant to preach the Word of God alone and to faithfully proclaim the gospel from "this sacred desk," as he called it.

Its placement on the recently added, lower platform-extension makes the pulpit the prominent piece of furniture in the room.  This prominence effectively signals the centrality of the preaching of the Word in the ministries of Southside, and it is an indication of the great value the members of Southside place on the faithful proclamation of the Scriptures.

May the Holy Spirit empower the Word as it's proclaimed from this sacred desk over the lifetime of its use and effectually call sinners to repentance toward God and to faith in our Lord Jesus Christ.