Influential pastors return for anniversary in Illmo

~ Leading the flock: Husband and wife team set up ministry in 1970s, return to celebrate with congregation

As Father's Arms Fellowship celebrates its 16th anniversary this month, the congregation will also celebrate the return of two pastors who left their mark on the Scott City church community 40 years ago.

Ardle Page and his wife Diane ministered to the congregation of Eisleben Lutheran Church in the Scott City area of Illmo between 1969 and 1973. During their time there, the couple led an outreach program, The Lighthouse Ministry, which developed a youth prayer team called The God Squad. Since leaving Missouri, the Pages have lived in Oregon, where they have continued to be involved in ministry.

According to the Rev. Ken Strong of Father's Arms Fellowship, the Pages were instrumental in bringing to the area a charismatic method of ministry, where churches use the laying of hands, anointing with oil, speaking in tongues and receiving the Holy Spirit as part of their worship.

"Many youth as well as adults were reached with power of the Holy Spirit in those meetings," Strong said.

Strong's wife Nancy said she has seen a stir of excitement among people she knows throughout the community who know about the return of the Pages.

"I think people are feeling like this will be a restoration of what he was teaching," she said.

Denise Luttrell of Scott City was a member of the Pages' congregation.

Luttrell said if she hadn't gotten the advice of Page when she was a teenager, she wouldn't have known how to reach out to people in love.

"I came from a broken home and his influence helped me understand my mom and dad. Dad and I didn't get along.

Page told Luttrell to find common ground and build from there.

"Dad loved music and played a guitar. I taught myself how to play and I used the music to keep our relationship intact," she said.

Another message she learned from Page, she said, was to be humble, tell people what God has done in your life and not tell them what they are doing wrong.

"This man showed a congregation how to show the love of Christ not how to talk it," Luttrell said.

"They were very influential in the [19]70s, helping bring a charismatic renewal to Scott City, and their work touched several denominations including Baptist, Methodist and Lutheran," Ken Strong said.

Strong said he also sees the Pages' visit fostering a camaraderie again between the groups, and he sees their upcoming sermons at his church to serve as kind of a reunion for all the people they worked with in The Lighthouse Ministry and in home prayer meetings.

Strong said without the influence of the Pages, Father's Arms Fellowship may not have come into existence, since the church's formation would not have been possible without a charismatic renewal in the area.

Father's Arms Fellowship was begun by the Strongs in 1994. According to Nancy Strong, her husband had a vision of a message from God to begin their ministry.

"He saw Jesus standing over Scott City with his arms outstretched, and knew God was telling him he was to begin a church there," she said.

The church is non-denominational and affiliated with Rhema Bible College in Tulsa, Okla., where Strong received his education in ministry.

Nancy Strong said the congregation is made up of people from all walks of life, and the reason the presence of the Pages has been so evident is because several members came from other churches or groups where he had a large influence.

"We felt like we were called to host this," she said.

The Pages will give four sermons at Father's Arms Fellowship during their visit beginning with a Sunday service at 10 a.m. Aug. 22, followed by an evening service at 6 p.m. Two more sermons will be given at 6 p.m. Aug. 23 and 24.