About Shiloh
A Refuge for the Soul
Pastor Russell Elkins Biography
Russell Elkins started attending a Pentecostal church in 1960 at the old Pine Grove Church east of Bloomington, IN. He was baptized in the wonderful Name of Jesus Christ at Elkinsville, IN and started attending Pine Grove church pastored by Bro. Rex Cracraft. After a short while and with the coming of Lake Monroe, the Elkins family moved southwest of Bloomington. He began attending the Shiloh Pentecostal Temple pastored by Raymond Shields.
Bro. Shields had a cute, 16-year-old granddaughter Hope that Bro. Elkins began to date and married five years later. They have two children, Marty and Ryan, who, along with daughters- in-law, Amy and Ashley, have given them five precious grandchildren. Bro. and Sis. Elkins live on a farm surrounded by chickens, goats, pot-bellied pigs, and numerous cats and dogs with a scattering of deer and wild turkeys.
While working a full-time job (30 years) at Bell Telephone, Bro. Elkins taught Sunday school for 12 years, was youth leader for 5 ½ years before becoming pastor of Shiloh Temple in 1978 at the passing of Bro. Shields. Bro. Elkins has done many things in the Assemblies of the Lord Jesus Christ organization. He has been presbyter, World Missions director of Indiana, and the Indiana Assistant Superintendent. He has been a regional World Missions promotions director. On a national level he was the World Missions promotional director for twenty years, the Evangelist Department promotions director for ten years, the regional field supervisor to Europe, Africa, and the South Pacific at different intervals. Bro. Elkins has been privileged to travel to many countries to fulfill his desire to work for the Lord in World Missions. He has held the office of World Missions secretary for the last seven years.
At the local level Bro. Elkins taught Bible Study at the Bloomington Juvenile Facility for 5½ years until it closed. He has been an Associate Chaplain at Bloomington Hospital for over 10 years and is a certified chaplain with the ALJC Prisoner’s Friend Ministries.
In 1995 Shiloh Temple started construction of a new 14,528 foot sanctuary on nearly 30 acres of property at 77 W. Smithville Road, seven miles South of Bloomington, IN. After moving into the new building in 1996, we haven’t looked back but continue to look toward the future and the soon return of our lord and savior, Jesus Christ. In September 2010 Bro. Elkins will have been pastor of Shiloh Temple for 32 years. It’s been a good trip.
Shiloh Church History
A Child’s Eye View of the History of Shiloh Temple
By Sis. Hope Elkins
It was a summer evening at the old Ramp Creek Church. As the saints praised God in testimony, we kids sat by the screen covered window and smelled the corn blossoms out in Uncle Willy Keutzer’s cornfield. In the distance we could hear a mourning dove softly bidding goodbye to the day. Across the small creek or “branch” as we called it, Arkie Keutzer plowed his mother’s garden as the fireflies twinkled all around him. Bro. Theordore and Sis. Dosie Keutzer, Arkie’s parents, were there at church with us. There was such a peace in that place. In spring fragrant lavender flocks perfumed the air, in winter soft snows did not deter us from the house of God, in fall flaming reds and oranges bathed the trees down in the valley among the hills: Ramp Creek. The saints were mostly country folk who scraped out a living in the fields or quarries. A very few worked in factories. All were poor, most did not have a high school education, but all were real. There was no pretense or show. They all lived simple, humble lives. Back then poor people had little access to what we consider necessities such as medical care. When a person became sick, she suffered through it or died. You usually went to the hospital to die; not to get well. Welfare was unheard of. Poor people made do with what they had. Many had large families, and they knew how to cope with the hard realities of life. They weren’t embarrassed to let God have his way with them, they weren’t afraid to meet Satan head on and pray to victory. Church was serious business, and hell was a real place. People in the “higher” world would have dismissed them as unlearned and ignorant, but God saw them as the salt of the earth, and they have been my example through life. Those original members at Ramp Creek, the antecedents of our present Shiloh Temple congregation, taught us the time honored values of truth, honesty, kindness, love, courage and trust in God. Because of them we are who we are today.
The Ramp Creek Church was originally built in 1906. According to an article in the Monroe County Family Heritage Book (p. 19), the original block building was built as a home for the Church of God. Ida Lucas, an early member who later became a member of the Oneness group, remembered the church well. People came from miles around in buggies, wagons, on foot, on horses to attend services. Roads were very bad in those times, and bridges were non-existent, but people still came. The building eventually became empty for a number of years. In 1950, Bro. and Sis. Raymond Shields and a few dedicated people came to Ramp Creek and began the Ramp Creek Church. [Picture: Members with Family and Friends Standing in Front of the Ramp Creek Church]
Bro. and Sis. Shields (Grandma and Pop) were my grandparents, and I know for a fact they lived and breathed church. Pop came from a strict denominational family and was disowned when he came to the Oneness message. They joined the church in the early 1900s when the Oneness message was sweeping through Monroe County. At that time being Pentecost was looked down upon to the point that Oneness Pentecostals were considered to be a cult. Most of the early members were poor and uneducated, and persecution was common. John Hayes, an early itinerant Oneness minister, was the victim of much persecution. People would throw rotten tomatoes at him as he preached, and they would put excrement on his saddle while he was in the church. For the most part, Pentecostals were the “across the track” religion and “good” people had nothing to do with them. My grandparents were farmers. I remember Grandma telling how she would get up at 4:30 a.m. to milk cows and feed, come in to fix breakfast for my grandpa and four daughters; then work all day in the garden and on the farm. After a full day of hard work, they would get in the Model A Ford and go to church to sing and shout to the wee hours of the morning. They were not in the ministry then, but they supported their pastor and did all they could to see the church move on. My grandma told of times when Pop would be out on the tractor in the field. Suddenly he would get off the tractor and run around it praising God; then get back on and work. Grandma would pray and meditate as she did her many chores during the day. Rarely were their minds far from God. It’s no wonder God worked in such wondrous ways in those days. [Picture: Bro. and Sis. Shields at the Beginning of Their Ministry]
When the budding church moved to Ramp Creek, there was much to do. The floors were rotting, there was no electricity, a rusty wood stove provided the heat, and there was 20 cents in the treasury. Back then air conditioning had never been heard of, so the summer services were open to the public via screens. In spite of the physical drawbacks, the spirit moved. As a child I can still remember some of those services when the power of God would take over. People danced and shouted for hours, healings were common, and when you left those services, you were changed.
I remember one service when my grandpa was slain in the spirit for probably 15 minutes. Thinking he had died, I was terrified. When he came back, he never told us the things God showed him during that trance. There were probably five to ten children who attended the Ramp Creek church. We would play in the branch until time for church, and Bro. Lloyd Blackwell, our Sunday school superintendent would always call us when it was time to come inside. After church we played hopscotch on the concrete porch and tag in the parking lot. Our Sunday school teacher, Sis. Louise Eads, always made sure we had fun activities to do such as making candles at her house during the Christmas season or having parties. Sis. Alice Crouch became our first youth leader, and I remember the many times we picked up hazel nuts and black walnuts to raise money for attending the national general conference. Sisters Alice and Louise drove to Memphis, TN, Atlanta, GA and other far off places to make sure we could be involved at the national level. In those days children were loved but were held responsible to all the adults in the church, and if we misbehaved, anyone felt free to correct us. Someone said that it takes a village to raise a child, and at Ramp Creek that philosophy was followed. We were truly like a family. [Picture: Bro. and Sis. Shields at Home]
Although we started with fewer than 15 members, the church slowly began to grow and prosper. In 1959 the US government bought the Ramp Creek property for flood control around the newly created Lake Monroe. Bro. Earl Blackwell donated land on Fairfax Road for a new church. The men went out in the woods and cut trees from Bro. Shield’s farm to build the church. There were approximately sixty members at that time. The building of the new church was a time of much hard work but much unity. Everyone worked together, and the church went up quickly. On a humorous note, the women of the church offered their services to build Sunday school rooms in the basement. Later when the Shiloh Temple (the new name for the church) basement was remodeled, the men were amazed at all the nails holding the Sunday school rooms together. That’s the way it was back then, though. We saw a task to be done, and everyone jumped in and did it. God was gracious and blessed the new church with a mighty revival. People from the Ramp Creek area began to come into the church. Whole families would be saved. One night, Sis. Dosie Keutzer’s son Charles walked into the building during the middle of the service and went straight to the altar. He and his wife Peggy were faithful members the remainder of their lives. Many of the people who came in during that revival are still in the church with families in the church. Some became ministers, evangelists and pastors. One original family, the Lloyd Blackwells, directed the Blue Mountain Children’s Home for years. How we thank God for his blessings. [Picture: Bro. and Sis. Shields in Front of the “New” Shiloh Temple]
On August 24, 1979 Bro. Raymond Shields passed away after 39 years in the ministry. Though the church grieved, God was once again merciful and provided a man to move the church forward. Exactly one month after Bro. Shields passed, Bro. Russell Elkins was installed as the new pastor. He had been working for God at Shiloh for 18 years as a Sunday school teacher and youth leader. Through the years Bro. Russell, my husband, has tried to keep the same humble, loving, hard working spirit that Bro. Shields established those many years ago. The church today remains active, supporting missions, a children’s home and other worthy projects. It is interesting that Shiloh is still a child-centered church. As in the past, children are valued, and adults make sure there are plenty of ways to keep them busy and to encourage them to be spiritual. When you look back at what was important in the beginning of our church, you can see that those same things are important today: loving, working, and praising God.