In December of 1947 the Church Committee heard there were buildings available as Army surplus from the war.  Looking into it they found they buy an entire building for nine hundred dollars, so they sent in an application and a $90.00 deposit check.   It took the church several months of a special building fund offering on Sunday morning to raise the balance of the nine hundred dollars.    

In April of 1948 a dozen men from the church gathered and traveled to Camp Blanding which after the war was an Army surplus center.  Arriving at Camp Blanding the disassembled the building and put it on trucks.  Not this was not as hard as they expected for the building was designed by the Army to be disassembled and transported just this way.  It took several days and several trips for some of the pieces were large and they only had their pickup trucks and hay trailers.  Getting the pieces back in Flemington, the men put in blocks for a foundation and reconstructed the building.  With a new coat of white paint and new pews made by one of men from the church, it was ready for use.

It was customary for the church to have a revival every few years and the Church Committee decided it was time and it would be in August of 1948.  A revival’s intention being to inspire active members and to gain new church converts and was held over several nights.  Sometimes the pastor of the church would conduct the revival but more often they would invite a visiting pastor to lead it.  Word got around that they were looking for a preacher and one of the members of the Committee said there was a new family in Ocklawaha named Junior and the father was said to be a Baptist minister.  William Dixon on the committee said he would go to talk to Mr. Junior about coming for an interview with the committee.

The next week Fred Junior went to Flemington and interviewed with the Church Committee.  He was well liked, and the Committee voted unanimously to invite Rev. Junior to preach at the revival.  Fred, wanting to impress the church, prepared several powerful sermons over the next week then August he preached a week of nightly sermons at the revival. The first night there were quite a few amens from the congregation as Fred preached and, as was the custom stood at the exit door to great the people as the exited.  As Fred greeted and shook the hands of the people, he got quite a few positive comments.

As word spread about the new preacher at the revival, the following nights the congregation grew as more people came to hear his preaching.  On the final night, Fred planed a grand finale, preaching a strong message, pounding the pulpit with his fist, waving the Bible in the air, and getting red in the face, reaching the climax then all of sudden stopped, pausing a moment…. and then said in a quiet voice, “Let us pray.”  After a moving prayer Fred asked for the congregation to sing the song “When we all get to heaven” and if there was anyone so moved to accept the Lord as their savior to come forward.  Four souls came forward that evening, more than the church had ever seen on one night.

The church members, and, more importantly, the committee were impressed with Rev. Junior recording in the church notes that Rev. Junior brought “very inspiring messages.”   The following week they asked Rev. Junior if he would be their regular paster and he accepted.

Updated: 12-10-2021

1948