GOSPEL ASSEMBLY CHURCH
The Church I grew up in!
Originally St. Paul's Episcopal Church the church was built in Stone Gothic design and sits on the Southwest Corner of 4th and Magnolia at Central Park in Louisville, Ky.
Bro. James Sowders
Bro. James Sowders was the son of the movement's founder William Sowders. Bro. James was my minister and was he a wonderful and blessed man. Anyone who says differently is someone who never knew him. He was no store-front uneducated holy roller. Bro. James Sowders was more educated and had seen much more of the world than his father. His vision was one of an educated enlighted and informed people. Bro. James encouraged his congragation to read other texts than the Bible and to learn about everything they could. He was a lifetime learner and wanted his followers to know more than the generation before them. He surrounded himself with college educated men as his advisors and he was fair in his dealing with his people, encouraging them the make informed and spiritual decisions for themselves. His goal was to help his flock to grow and become spiritually independent to the point of being able to think for and help themselves. He was a rare man of his time who believed in independent thought. I loved him dearly!
The Church at 4th & Magnolia
The stunning gothic building was the place where my family worshipped for the entirety of my childhood. I loved this old building at 4th & Magnolia. It was a magical place to anyone who lived in a place of near poverty with little to celebrate and even less beauty the place where we worshipped was the one place of wonder in my life. I had spent most of my life living in the shotgun houses in areas along the Ohio River, making us "river rats" until I was nearly a teenager when we finally moved to the suburbs. So the many hours I spent sitting on wooden pews looking at all the gold railing, red velvet, and mahogany wood was the ultimate in glamour to a little river rat. I always know God would live in a place like this! Or so a small girl in a large gothic buildiong thinks. I remember hearing that the bell tower was "haunted". What that meant to this day I am not sure. What is considered haunted or just spiritual or spirits in an old church? I'm sure lots of things have happened in a church of that size and age. But my rational mind says this was just childhood boys tales to scare the girls. And that it did. But we had always hoped there were angels walking around up in that old bell tower. None of us could ever prove it as none of us were ever brave enough to venture that far up that I'm aware up.
St. James Court in Louisville KY.
St. James Court sits sits next to my old church in Louisville, Ky. It is named and modeled after the original in London, England. It has ben remodeled and now sits as shining and as beautiful as the day it was built. The St. James Court of my mind is the one from the 60s & 70s when the court was in decline and decay. In the center of the court is The Fountain. More on this later. But the decadence and decay mingled to create a spooky and facinating place in the mind of a young girl. The homes were the old mansions of Louisville's elete and across the street they had Central Park to enjoy the summers in around 1900. By the 1960s the mansions were divided into apartments and drunks monopolized the park. Still when I stood in the center of the court all the abuse of urban decay would fade away and I could see and feel the elegance of days gone by.
The View From 4th & Magnolia
The view of the church from the corner of 4th & Magnolia is breath taking. The building is magnificent to say the least and with Central Park sitting across the sreet at the opposite corner of 4th & Magnolia before urban renewal plans tore down many of the old grand hotels and homes to make room for parking lots and shopping the view was lovely. The City view of this area around 1900 was as grand as any town in the country. Venturing further down Magnolia from St. James Court sits Belgravia Court, again so named for the original in London, England. 4th Street ran from the river completely through the city and was once one of the toniest parts of town.
The Fountain
The Fountain the sits in the center of St. James Court in Louisville, Ky is an exact copy of one of the fountains at Varsaille, the Palace in France. The fountain I remember and love is dry and the wrought iron is falling apart. But this was the first fountain I was ever saw close up. I remember just being so fascinated by the scroll iron work and the "fanciness" of it all. Odd thing is, years later, when I went to Varsaille I saw the original I was not so nearly as impressed as I was by the dry old rusted fountain of my youth.
I'll Fly Away
One of my most prized possessions is my baptism. I was baptized by Bro. James Sowders in this church. This is such a source of pride for me. I feel blessed to have been baptized by such a wonderful man of God. He was a gift to this world. At the time I sat under him listening to him I thought I was just a kid not learning much but now I know I learned much and now wish I could go back and do it again and hear again what I missed the first time around. But I know I'll se him again in a better place and I'll hear the great man preach once more!
