(I wrote this for the celebration service for my brother, Steve Henry Gillespie, 11/7/2015. I’m in no mood to edit this and would think it’d lose something if I did, so here you go…)

Good afternoon. I think everyone here knows it, but on the off chance you don’t by now, I’m Jonathan Gillespie, Steve’s brother. The angel just up here was my wife.

I wanted to say something before I began. I’ve been in a number of churches in my life, from the small Church of Christ of my youth and several informal Bible study groups of my adolescence on through the prison ministry I was a part of and my current church, Church of the Apostles in Atlanta, GA. The Church of the Apostles is in many ways 180 degrees from the church of my youth. For one thing, it’s so large I’m pretty sure planes that lost their instruments on an approach to Hartsfield-Jackson could use the building as a visual reference.

I bring this up because in every good congregation I have seen that great Biblical promise borne out: that wherever two or more of us are gathered He is among us. That’s certainly been the case over these past, difficult days following my brother’s passing. I can say with complete certainty that my parents are part of a church that exemplifies Christian love and fellowship. I wanted to express on my family’s behalf our deep gratitude for all of you and all you’ve done.
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