Ozark View Chapel began in August 1968 with Reverend Gordon Easley and his family holding church services in the Turner Community Building.
Brother and Sister Easley and five of their children–Ray, Paul, Esther, David, and Rachel–witnessed the chapel’s modest beginning. The family joked about the central heat and air conditioning of the “retired” one-room school house: the heat was centrally located around the wood-burning stove while cool air breezed through the broken window panes and cracks in the door casings! Yellow jacket wasps attended services regularly, especially in the fall of the year.
With the passage of time, residents in the community demonstrated interest in attending the newly-founded church. The consistent faithfulness of these early members played a significant role in helping Ozark View become established in Turner Community.
Sensing the inadequacy of the Turner Community Building, the congregation prayed for its own building. In the fall of 1979, Mr. and Mrs. Norman Prater of Perkinsville, Indiana, donated a parcel of land on which a building could be erected. In August 1983, a simple ground-breaking ceremony was held, allowing the congregation to give public testimony to faith that God would provide the necessary finances for a new building.
Construction of the building began in the summer of 1984. Pastor Easley and the congregation planned to build as money was available. When funds were lacking, construction activities stopped. The pastor served as chief builder and supervisor. A host of community people and family members assisted with various parts of the building process.
By summer’s end, the new building was under roof with insulation board enclosing the exterior walls.
Near mid-1985, the congregation began worshipping in the new, though unfinished, facility. The old-fashioned central heat/air of the community building was cheerfully traded for the modern heat pump! And the wasps stopped attending!
After eight short years, the construction was finished. The building stands as a modern testimony to the promises of God and to the faithfulness of his people. Ozark View Chapel was dedicated debt-free in 1992. The chapel is a gift from God to the Turner Community. Let us give ourselves to Him in eternal gratitude for His goodness.
–Written by Ray Easley, June 1992