Two men awarded the God and Service Award
Stewart Henderson (left) and Denny Lowe (second from left) were awarded the God and Service Award on Sunday, April 23 at the Presbyterian Church in Coshocton. Also pictured are Jim Gill and Pastor Jon Carlisle.
COSHOCTON – Denny Lowe and Stewart Henderson were surprised last Sunday, April 23 when they were both recognized with the God and Service Award during the Coshocton Presbyterian Church’s regular worship service.
“These are behind the scenes people who get the work done,” said Rev. Jon Carlisle, pastor at the Presbyterian Church. “They see a job before anyone else sees it and when it’s done, unless you look really close, you don’t even realize it was a problem. They take Jesus’ word to be a servant to all seriously. They don’t put themselves up on a pedestal. They stay behind the scenes.”
The God and Service Award was designed to express appreciation for outstanding leadership and significant contributions by an adult to the spiritual, social, and physical lives of young people.
Lowe has been a member of the church since 1978 and for more than 10 years has taught a variety of Pathfinder Adult Classes. He was ordained as an elder in 1987, served on the Christian Education Committee and helped with the Thursday Afternoon Special. He served on the Congressional Nominating Committee and the Personal Committee. He was a mentor for a youth in the Youth Conformation Class. In 2013, he was ordained as a deacon and served as moderator. He has also teamed up with Henderson and Jim Gill for the highway cleanup. They see opportunities to repair, update or increase the safety of carpentry, electrical, plumbing, and other issues, not only saving the church and scout camp thousands of dollars, but also getting the job done to high standards. Lowe also takes on individual projects like refinishing the exterior doors of the church, which required many hours. He is a father and grandfather of three.
“We enjoy getting together here at the church or down at the Boy Scout camp to help out the youth,” said Lowe. “I think that Jim Gill, our leader, also needs to be mentioned. He’s had this award for a long time and he keeps us all together and organized. We would be remiss if we didn’t mention Jim.”
Henderson joined the church in 1966 and has served as an elder, as clerk of session, and as trustee including serving as moderator. He chaired the 1978 Building Capital Improvement drive for $.5 mil. He served on the committee on ministry of the Muskingum Valley Presbytery and currently serves on the investments committee at the Presbyterian Church. He also taught conformation classes for a number of years and worked on a disaster assistance mission trip to Ottawa, OH. He has taught the adult Bethel class for 23 years, rotating each month with other teachers. Throughout his years with the church, he has been an encourager and support of five different pastors and serves every year as a liturgist for worship and as an usher in the balcony. He is a husband and a father to two adult children.
“I don’t think either of us did this because we thought there was an award at the end of the rainbow,” said Henderson.
The congregation was able to greet and congratulate the two after services.
“They are able to do things that everyone benefits from,” said Carlisle. “They also love the children and we are very grateful for them.”
Category: Faith
