During this time, my schedule underwent a slight modification. As part of my Seminary experience I was required to begin a small group for the purpose of spiritual development. As the group could be as small as two or three people I asked two friends of mine, Rick Lancaster, Pastor, First Baptist Church, Big Stone Gap and Paul Smith from a Drug Recovery Ministry in Big Stone Gap to be part of the group. Big Stone Gap is a small town nestled down in the valley from Norton. It was primarily a coal boom town and was struggling to adjust to the loss of its major employer, Westmoreland Coal. I volunteered to meet with them at First Baptist Big Stone Gap. Both of them accepted. Rick is not a native of the area. He is married to a very nice woman and they have three children, two girls and one son. My daughter, Kathryn was friends with their oldest daughter Katie. Paul is not a native of the area either. He too is married and he and his wife deeply care for people. So once a week we would attempt to gather and using a book for small groups recommended by the Seminary we would hold small group meetings. In addition I was fortunate enough to attend a small group leadership seminar held in the Ronoake area. The small group is a model used to help individuals conduct spiritual Bible studies. These sessions frequently deepen a person's spiritual life. So once a week I would drive to Big Stone Gap for an early morning small group study. This continued on through the winter of 1996/1997. Small groups were to become a source of important spiritual growth in the church later on. I was required to file reports with the Seminary regarding the small group status and also to keep a journal. In addition to this I was working on a weight reduction program and would, while in Big Stone Gap, go to the local track and walk around it.
Summer had ended and the school year was underway. The youth having had a Back to School event in September and in keeping with a plan to have an event for them every month needed to have an event for October. So in conjunction with the Baptist Student Union at a local college I arranged for camp out with a Biblical theme involved. Some of the church was excited. This would be the first time the local college students would be involved in the church. It would not be the last time. In planning the acitivity I was asked by the College students under the leadership of Ben what I wanted to accomplish. I noted in my diary I was impressed with Ben's question. I replied, "The youth of the church are shallow in their commitment to Jesus as well as God. They lack a desire to deepen that commitment. What I would like to do is deepen their commitment." We decided to schedule the campout for a Friday night. While this would not allow those who were involved in football to come to the opening part it was reasoned they would be able to come later. Football was important in that we had several involved in it. Jason Rouse, whose sister Heather was also involed in the youth, was on Junior Varisty at one school, Matt, his friend Stephen, and Jim junior's son were involved on the Junior varisity of another school.
So the first weekend of October, we reserved a campground at a local park and with schedule in hand, a carload of youth, we drove out to the site. I had a couple of tents but that was not enough as we had three teenage women, my daughter, Heather Rouse, Todd, Jason Rouse, his friends sister, Ben, myself, two other youth, and two college students attending. Ben explained he would spend the night. I asked him to please also provide a female chaperone as none of the women of the church would spend the night out. He said, "I think one of the college women will stay." I was quite anixous about this because preception can be everything under these circumstances. He assured me everything was taken care of. When we arrived the youth, jumped out of the car and started playing. George was there with the tent he had brought. He was concerned we would not have enough for the teenagers. The tent he had brought was large and the girls claimed it for themselves quickly. The boys were a little upset but quickly settled down when it was pointed out this would allow them more room in the other tents. After the tents were set up we broke for our first set of games. Then we ate. Dark had fallen in the mountains and the temperature started to drop as well. This was not in the plans. Cold was not suppose to be here. I suggested we close up and go home as it looked like hte temperature drop was going to be quite steep. The youth shouted me down and I checked to see what their various sleeping bags were rated for. Heather had not brought a sleeping bag. Actually Heather was the most unprepared child for a campout I had seen in a while. Despite instructions to the contrary she had shown up wearing open toe sandals as well as an outfit not suited for campout in. Jason her brother was amused but agreed to watch over her. The other girls volunteered to share with her and also would place her in the middle. I accepted the situation as best I could, not wanting to punish the group for her not dressing properly. I wondered what her mother was thinking when she allowed the child to come out dressed like that. Later I discovered Corrine had reasoned that since her children where gone it would be okay to step out to a dance and bar place in the city of Kingsport called the Silver Dollar. As her pastor, I was not suppose to know this. Her activity that night lead to some problems in the home life later. We prepared a simple meal for the evening dinner. Heather, having entered that part of her teen years where there are never enough calroies to consume was disappointed by the amount. However we moved on to the next event, several more games. The college students did not arrive until toward the end of the set of games we were playing. Ben and I immediately conferred. They then took over presenting some lessons based upon the Bible. Next we decided to work off some activity that night by holding a midnight hike around the lake, without lights. This is fairly easy to do as long as you maintain a sense of where you are. By keeping the lake to our right we would be able to hike complete around it. In addition by doing so with out lights, you build a sense of togetherness among the youth. So began our team building exercise. We lined up and marched down to the lake. With a minimum of slipping and sliding we arrived at the trail. The lake looked different at night then it does during the day. To some it is more peaceful, to others it is more frightful. With the moon out we had quite a bit of light to see by. We walked rather noisely around the lake. Crossing into the public picnic area we stopped to stand on the fishing docks and look at the moon. The youth alternated between laughing and deep reflection. We continued out journey around the lake. By now the youth we quiet and wondering when it would end. I assured them we were as best I could make out about halfway through our journey. We crossed the dam area at the far end of the lake. Here it was Heather who had complained all night long needed the most help. I was pleased to note her brother who had suffered the most from her tongue was the quickest to offer help. The youth helped her through the marshy area of the dam and we continued on our way. By now the youth were very concerned and so was I as Heather's feet had gotten wet. With the temperature still dropping it was time to return to the campground. So we stuck out for the road. Arriving on the road I had become turned around and was not certain as whether to strike left or to go right. I was not even certain whther we had overshot the camping area. Ben spoke up. "I've been here before, the camping area is this way." "Are you sure?" I said, very tentatively. "Yes." In a very emphatic voice, he answered. "Ok" I replied. I shouted out, "Guys follow Ben." And off we went. After about 15 minutes it was apparent even Ben did not know where we were. Now the panic set in. We stopped. I took a look around and Ben and I had a quiet discussion. "Preacher, I'm not certain where we are.", he admitted. "Uh Oh. Let me think.", was all I could say. In the meantime I could hear Heather starting to panic and the other youth becoming upset. I looked around and noted through the woods a light up the ridge and off to our left. I pointed, "let's go this way." Ben said, "Are you sure?" I said, "Look there is a light its either a campfire or a cabin. We can find out which when we get there. Then we will ask for directions." By now the youth had lost faith in their leadership. Finally we came to an area where there were hunting cabins. I went to several but had no luck getting any one to answer the door. As we were walking down the road I vehicle approached. One of the youth flagged the vehicle down though by now several were feeling very nervous. A brief conversation with the driver and he agreed to drive us back to the campgroup. We loaded every one in the back and he drove back to the entrance of the campground. An adventure come to an end. After talking about it for a little whie everyone was tired and turned in. The next morning brought complaints from the womens tent as one of the youth took everyones blankets in the night. A complaint froom one of the men's tents that one of the youth snored to loud. And one of the BSU students had selt in their car. Ben, had slept outside on a hammock. After breakfast and morning prayer everyone went down to he lake to see if they could figure out what happen the night before. Some of the youth dispelled thir fears and others scoffed at their worries. What they would tell the church and their parents was interesting. In the meantime Todd and his sister became a regular fixture at youth events at the church.
I note in my journal the next major event in the church was the Fall Festival. This is an event made to coincide with Halloween which many people because of its occult figures and connotations connect it with events the church should not be involved it. In recognition of how much popular culture had affected the church, many churches hold a Fall Festival where children who were trick or treating earlier can come and gather more candy while enjoying an assortment of games. I note the youth had an event and it was time to balance that with an event for the younger families in the church.
By this time the church had received several new members with children in their families. This included Kim Clisso. Kim is Cindie's sister. Kim was separated from her husband at the time Buddy Clisso. The official story was Buddy was too wrapped up in his hobbies to pay attention to the children and Kim. Cindie would tell me the truth a couple of years later. Kim had gone to the Kentucky-Virginia Opry, a entertainment place in downtown Norton. She had met a gentleman there, one of the entertainers. He and she had started a relationship. She was seeing him on the side and Cindie would cover for her with her mother. This relationship continued for several months. The man then broke it off. This coincides with my notes in my journal related to Kim and Buddy. Because it was about this time Kim began a reapproachment with Buddy. The reason from the family was Buddy had begged Kim for another chance. Cindie told me Kim decided that for the sake of the children and because she had other ways to get around Buddy she had better go back before her family suspected something. Cindie was to tell me of several of Kim's affairs during the years she has been married to Buddy. After I had resigned as pastor, several more people in the community would come forward and tell me of a few of Kim's sexual encounters with other men while married to Buddy. At least two of them I received first hand reports from the men involved. Did I seek this information? No it is a small community. Once, in response to a question from me, Cindie informed me that Kevin Bates knew of several of Kim's escapades and that is why she never said' "nuthin" nor reported him for living in the housing authority apartments. She was, to quote Cindie, "Afraid he might tell what he knew." to him. However at the time I was completely clueless as to Kim's behavior and would remain so until the middle of 1998. I visited with Kim in her trailer she had near her mother. The place was spotless and she had two children. The oldest is a boy, Nathan and the youngest a daughter, Stephanie. I spoke with Kim and encouraged her to attend church. I also spoke with Nathan and Stephanie about their relationship to God. Kim was very interested in activities at the church for her children. I would return to visit Kim one more time at her trailer and then only because I wished to see if I could reach the two children. Later, Kim would be asked to become a Sunday School teacher in the church.
Kim joined with several long time members, Denise Riner and Donna Miller to advocate an activity for around Halloween. Denise had four children, one from a previous marriage and three from her current marriage. Donna Miller attended with her husband and they had one child. Donna had a sister with several children and though I visited her she did not attend Park Avenue, however her children would come to one or two events. Glenda's children would attend this first children's event. Then there was the piano player's young daughter who would attend. Kathy Gardner's son would come with Kim and Kim's other sister, Cindie Roberson would bring her three children. Cindie did not stay. Ernie Ward's youngest son would come. Ernie is the city manager for Norton. These coupled with a few others from the community and my three children attended the first Fall festival. Donna Miller, a nurse at a local hospital would organize the whole thing with a little assistance from me. It was very successful and everyone seemed to enjoy themselves thoroughly. Donna tends toward perfectionism. She was very nervous during the planning stages of the event. Her husband David tends to be in my opinion the more phlegmatic of the two. Both of them are strong individuals and it was a pleasure to know them. During the set up for the Fall Festival, Donna complained about the maintenance of the downstairs area. I reviewed it with her and we cleaned up a little bit. I also discussed it with the maintenance person who turned out to be related to Ernie. Because of my discussion with Donna I would pay more attention to the maintenance of the church. As you can see the church had added several members with children. The youth, typically in a church the age from 12 to 17, had also grown in size and number. We had several activities and I would encourage Donna to continue to plan activities for children. This was not to happen because Donna was attending school as well as working.
The next major event recorded in my diary was a trip to the Biltmore house in Ashville, North Carolina. My family and I were invited by the President of the WMU, Women's Missionary Union, to go with several others to the Biltmore house. I remember the discussion this occasioned at our house the day we were invited. I had told Eleanor, we might attend. On the way home I mentioned to Phyllis the invitation. She brought up the cost of attending as well as asking for the date and time of the event. As I unlocked the door, she said, "We can't afford to go. Remember you don't earn as much money as you did before." She was right. The drop in income from my previous job had been severe. I was earning 33% of my previous salary and benefits. That night it was with some heaviness of heart I informed Eleanor, we could not go as we did not have the funds. At which point Eleanor said, "Don't worry about the money." I was delighted and so informed Phyllis. The trip was a mixture of our church plus several associated individuals or friends of the members. So on a Saturday morning, my family and I arrived at the Holiday Inn parking lot to board the bus to the Biltmore. On the bus were some members of the WMU, the music leader with her family, a deacon and his wife, and several people who lived in the area. In all about 40 some odd people boards the bus for Ashville, North Carolina. After a brief prayer by me, the bus driver pulled out of the parking lot and we were on our way. The drive through Virginia, Tennessee and into North Carolina was about 4 hours in length. I wish I had slept part of the way but I talked with Phyllis, then with Eleanor, and listened several members of the WMU. All in all, the trip was very enjoyable. The day was beautiful. The sun was out but it was still a bit cold when we pulled into the bus lot at Biltmore. The leaves had turned and fallen and there was a line outside waiting to get inside the house proper. We grabbed out tickets and headed for the line. The line was through a row of outdoor heaters which helped to relive the cold but not completely. George and his wife were there and we talked for a little while. I was trying to communicate the need for a healthy church. George on his end was attempting to communicate some of the problems he saw in the church. One of problems he was concerned about was behavior during the Lord's Supper. In the Baptist church this is supposedly a solemn moment and one that should have much reflection. We use juice in place of wine because of another injunction regarding not tempting a brother into sin. In the Baptist Church covenant is a reference to members should abstain from the use and sale of alcoholic beverages. The church covenant is supposedly a promise between members regarding public and private behavior. Also there tends to be an interpretation that Jesus didn't really drink wine then but rather unfermented juice. After having discussions with several Jewish friends I tend to believe he drank wine. His complaint was the children were eating the bread and drinking the juice. Additionally rather than a solemn moment it was a bit noise. I assured him that we would have the Lord's Supper but first we needed to bring the church around to a better understanding of it and its reason. He also complained about the behavior of several adults during that time. Once again I assured him the behavior would change if handled properly. George was very concerned about the Holiness of God. I would initially be reminded about a character who defended God's Holiness. Later on, as George continued to emphasis the Holiness of God to the exclusion of His mercy, I would become very concerned. George would continue this emphasis until it almost destroyed much of the work of the church. It is my hope that, like another Christian, George will realize the Holiness of God is very wrapped up in the grace of God. In fact it is His mercy that makes God approachable by us and yet it is His Holiness that helps us keep a respectful attitude toward God. George was a very dedicated church leader. He taught the adult Sunday School class. In this capacity he was very good, often spending hours in prayer and study. He always sought to understand what the scriptures said. Returning to the line at Biltmore, we had about a 45 minute wait. The children were a little discouraged at first but soon settled down to play small games. Phyllis and I listened to George for a while. Then I moved on. I listened in turn to many individuals from the bus and then spent a delightful time listening to Eleanor. One of the things I liked about Eleanor was her personality. She is a take charge person but with a delightful personality. She and I discussed a subject near and dear to my heart and that was mission work. As president of WMU, one of her major responsibilities as to foster a mission attitude in the church. Coming soon would be the annual Foreign Missions Christmas offering, Lottie Moon. The previous year the offering goal had been $600. She and I discussed missions and other events and she informed me the WMU had set a goal of $ 750. I thought this was a wonderful goal for a church our size. The tour of Biltmore begun, my wife, the children and I explored the various parts of the mansion. We toured the various rooms, descended the impressive staircase and went through the basement area with the store rooms, the exercise areas, and the various work areas to keep the modern castle running. Finally exiting Biltmore we wandered over to the gift shop area. In the gift shop area was the wine shop, a small produce area, and a large area with various knick knacks. As I passed through the wine tasting area headed toward the outside there sat three of the leaders of the church, sipping wine. This in spite of the church covenant. I wondered about this and was a little astonished. My dairy records the question, "Do they think so little of their position of responsibility within the church that they could not even keep their word to the church?" Over the next several weeks I would hold discussions with the these leaders only to discover they were completely unaware of the responsibility they had toward the church to set an example. My only thought at the time was, "I hope George doesn't see this." You see the Christian is not made overnight but grows toward Christ-likeness through life experiences and by becoming convinced through the agency of God that the life must change in this area. So it was my hope they would become convinced in this area of the need to change their life style.
The complains about maintenance increased as more people joined the church. Some complained about cobwebs in the corners of the windows and others of dust in the bathrooms. I decided to observe the maintenance person as she went about her job. First I asked her when she performed the work. She explained she tried to perform it before Sunday morning. We then discussed the increase in people attending as well as the increase in events. I said, "With the increase in people and activities within the church I think the church needs to be cleaned a little more often than once a week." She explained that with her schedule and some of the medical difficults it would be tough to do this. "Well do you have any suggestions? I would be glad to help out where I can." "I don't know," she said, "let me talk to my family and see if we can do something." I remembered from my days as a resturant manager how cleaniness was a constant issue. With the staff turn over in a resturant, you no sooner had the staff trained when off they would go to another job. I had solved this problem, much like many resturants had, by creating a checklist of areas and items needing cleaning. "How about if we create a checklist of things to be cleaned and items needing cleaning. Would this help should something happen and one of your family needs to fill in for you?" "Yes, it would." She said. "Great I'll see if I can get this to you sometime within the next week or so." On that note the meeting ended. In fact it would be two weeks before I could get this to her. Later on she suggested the church cleaning be moved to later in the week.
Around about the same time I discussed once again the idea of job descriptions with the deacons. I suggested that through job descriptions we would have the ability to measure performance and, "I would feel better if I had a job description other than the one in the church. It would help define the expectations in such a way as to help me understand the direction the church wants to go in." "Well pastor, the church constitution covers your position pretty well. I don't think it is necessary for you. But if you want to do so for some of the other things like committee chairmen that might work." Said one of the deacons. Reasoning half a loaf is better than none, I began the poccess of writing job descriptions for the position of maintenance worker and the committee chairmen. In the meantime my daughter, Kathryn representing the Youth said, "Daddy we need a lock - in." A church lock in is an event where the Youth combine Bible Study with a large diet of activities sometimes frequently lasting all night. It is chaperoned by adults and all activity takes place on the church grounds. I explained to her that first we had Thanksgiving and then Christmas. "How about the week after Christmas when you are all out of school?" My daughter said, "Thats great I think even Matt and Stephen can attend then." So their first lock - in was scheduled.
During this time I was also taking TKD lessons from a man in Appalachia. He was thinking of moving to Norton to be nearer to his home as he had transportation problems. Several in the class were teenagers and I had a good relationship with them. This was to play in to the increase of people attending youth related events. It was also to have an impact upon several of the youths participation in those events. I began to plan the Youth Lock - In. An old hand at this having previously been a Youth pastor at one church and worked with youth at several churches it was easy to plan. The youth lock-in event is an interesting hybrid of purposes. I think in part this is because of the mix of teenagers involved. On one hand you have teens who are active in the church. You also have those teens who have been marginized, Then you have the teens who have been to your church maybe once or twice in their life but are willing to give it a try. Next you may have a group of teens who have never darkened a church door in their life. So what is the purpose of a youth lock-in. It has a two fold purpose, entertainment with Bible Study overlaid and outreach to the youth currently not involved in church. The youth group at the church was very small when I came. It involved three families. One was the Wards, their child with his buddy Stephen was involved. The second was the Price family. They had two involved however neither one really wanted to be there. My daughter upon observing her Sunday School calls said, "Daddy there are no girls. We will have to fix that." Their Sunday School teacher was Ernie Ward, City Manager, Deacon, father of Matt, brother of the maintenance person and a quietly intense and competitive person. Ernie was to play a very pivot point in the events later and while he was to some degree manipulated by the people around him, a man that astute is manipulated only because he allows it. However, as much as I love Cindie I still have to remember she can be very believable when she lies..
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Anyways back to our timeline of events unfolding. I finished two job descriptions before Christmas. It was fairly easy to do as I had templates for them available from the Sunday School Board. I went back into my old Church Administration magazines. I thought I had remembered them containing this information and sure enough there it was. So I submitted the job description for the maintainance person to her, Ernie's sister, for review and comment. In the meantime I provided to the deacons a copy of my purposed job description. I also suggested to various people in the church that it might benefit the church in the future if they would write down their various tasks. My reasoning for this was if new leadership was to be trained to assume responsibility in the future it would help them avoid pitfalls and mistakes and reduce friction when new people assumed old tasks. One of the problems growing churches face is leadership to maintain support levels. The leadership of the church is mostly comprised of volunteers. In a small church such as ours, the leadership other than the pastor is all volunteer. Many of them holding multiple positions, sometimes unwillingly. One of the excitements of the old leadership about the increase in people attending was the feeling that, finally, they would not have to do everything. Several of the individuals involved in leadership positions wrote down what they felt they were suppose to do. So various job descriptions were under development.
In meantime a new couple, Wayne and Renee Hubbard, joined the church. Actually the husband was a son of one of the most faithful of members. His mother sung in the choir and while a very softspoken person, was much like myself underneath, a person of iron will and determination. Wayne was married to a woman who brought a son to the marriage, Jonathan. Jonathan was a very troubled individual. When involved in religion it was the darker side. I visited Wayne and his wife and they agreed to get involved with the youth. So it was the first youth lock in had its complement of chaperones, the Hubbards, Kathy Gardner, Jim Price, jr., a few college students, and myself. The planning continued.
In the meantime the next major event in the life of the church was Thanksgiving and its meal. Each Thanksgiving the church provided a fellowship meal for the church. The week before Thanksgiving a young woman showed up in church with two boys who were very active. It turns out that George had several children, two boys and a girl. This was his daughter with her two sons. In addition her husband had also come for the service. She was nervous and he was stand offish. I spoke to both welcomed them to the church. George was very pleased to see them there. His daughter was very thin with brown hair, and dark skin. Her two boys were a handful. One was all over the place and I remember thinking what wild ones but then children are children. George proceeded to provide her story for me. She had been a regular church attender while in a another town. They had moved back to the area and her husband was looking for a job. Sherrie, that was his daugther's name, was taking carry of her children. Ronald, her husband thought he might find a job nearby. This was the offical story Sherrie gave George but Cindie later advised me that Sherrie had a history of drug abuse. She was taking some type of drug prescribed by her and would sometimes by the drug from one of her neighbors. Cindie said she was addicted to the drug. I asked why was the drug prescribed and Cindie said, the psychiatrist the women on welfare were required to go to regularly gave it out. I said, "It sounds as if they are just keeping these women tranked." "Maybe.", was her reply. Cindie herself was on a tranquilizer. Cindie told of her drug addiction in the spring of 1998, according to my notes.
Christmas comes and goes.
With the advent of Thanksgiving, Christmas and mission education preparation shifted into high gear. I received a mail out from the Virginia Baptist Board regarding a Youth Mission opportunity during the summer. I called them and asked for additional information. This information was then presented to the youth. The number of youth regularly attending had increased from 4 to 12 by this time and the church was looking at re-locating them down stairs into a larger Sunday School area. The Christmas decorations came up and the WMU began their mission emphasis during each service. I loved missions and mission work with all my heart. There were few things more precious in the life of a church but missions is the heartbeat of a church. Missions is about meeting peoples needs. It is about reaching out and touching lives not to touch but to change them forever. While there are many things the church does, its primary purpose is not to provide a place for people to play but a place to heal and be healed for the grand purpose of touching peoples lives and changing them through missions. I was pleased to encourage the WMU in its efforts and encourage people to engage in missions. So it was while the choir prepared its annual offering for Christmas, the church prepared its annual Christmas offering for missions. In the background the pot continued to simmer, the youth with their activity, the maintenance of the church, the life of each individual player, George wanting to reach the community, Eleanor with missions on her mind, Glenda, the choir director pushing to the Christmas pageantry, Kathy with her accusations, Corrine with her double standards, and my family with very little of their father's time.
The Sunday before Christmas, my diary records this, "A little upset in the church. I forgot to thank the choir for their presentation. Since I thought I had I checked with Phyl and she said I didn't. Many choir members have their feelings hurt. I wish I had remembered and now there is nothing I can do to make up for what I am certain many of the choir will feel is a slight. Other than that the church was packed with guests. Many new faces." No I did not intend to slight anyone. I failed to thank the choir and it was my fault. They did very well, I can remember thinking that for a small church the choir was doing very well and how wonderful it was to be their pastor. The person most upset was the pianist. She took great offense to my forgetfulness. She was normally a very pleasant person with two daughters, one from a previous marriage and the second, Samantha from her current. While being very good for that size church, she had become locked into one specific type of music during the musical interludes in a service. I kept hoping she would realize this. Unfortunately for the church services she never would. To balance my faux paux Eleanor was happy to announce that we again exceeded the International Mission offering. Instead of the $750 goal we had reached $830. So Christmas was balanced with my failure and the church's success. It was during this time I made the acquaintance of a lady who was homebound. Her name is Kathleen Shanks. During my short tenure at Park Avenue, she never attended a service. Yet she accomplished much. The church had a new steeple thanks in part to her generosity. She was constantly on the telephone re- assuring people in the community. You have to see her to understand how amazing this is. She is effectively physically unable to attend the church. Several times a month several of the members of the church would visit with her. George would hold Bible Study with her. Kathleen was the sister of the eldest Deacon's wife. It was amusing to see the two different personalities. When I first came to the church, my predecessor and I talked. He indicated that Kathleen had lost her husband recently and would I please stop in and talk with her. I was unable to fulfill this request until earlier December. When I did it was to discover some one who was delightful. We talked about my philosophy of the church. She brought up the history of the church. I listened and learned. I heard stories of greatness gained and lost. I heard of the hopes of the church and the family fights and discouragement that had helped stifle many of the early members dreams. Kathleen would make three major contributions to the church, one, involving money and the other two involving people. As we sat discussing the church I brought up the idea of reaching out into the community through something called Friends Day. This idea was from a mailing I had received and prayed over. I was looking for a way to involve the members in the function of reaching into the community. This seemed to be a perfect way of doing so as reaching others begins with our circle of friends. God brings a person into our lives so we might in some way add to their life. Kathleen evolved into a personal friend. She never let my failings get in the way of being a friend and yet she never let me slide. Of all the cuts I was to receive later hers were the kindest and yet the deepest. One of the good things about such friends is you cannot fool them. Do not misunderstand, she did not let me off the hook because I was her friend. Instead she made me confront my mistakes and recognize my failures.
The first contribution she made to the church was to tell me the story of the steeple. According to the information I received, it was suppose to be a temporary but it had never been replaced. Its temporary nature had lasted 40 years. The steeple was one of the items on the women's list to repair or replace. Around Christmas, Kathleen handed me two checks. In one of my visits she had asked me what was the going cost of a new steeple. It so happened that day I had received a mailout with several offers of church steeples in it so i was able to give her a range for the cost. "I think the range is about $1800 uninstalled to well over $10,000." A little aggravated with me for using so broad a range, Kathleen asked, "What about for a church our size?" "Oh I guess anywhere between that $1800 and about $6000. But now the $6000 is a fancy with all kinds of frills." It was the next visit when she presented me with the two checks. The first one was for the International Mission offering and the second for a new steeple. As she handed me the second check she said, "Preacher, I know this won't buy a new steeple but I thought I might put 10% toward the cost of a new steeple." I looked at the check, it was for $300. I thought, "Wild, I wasn't really even thinking about this as there is so much else to do." After I left that day I took the two checks to Eleanor and told her what happen. Then I said, "What do I do?" Eleanor smiled and said, "Preacher it looks like God might want us to have a new steeple." I said, "I guess we can establish a steeple fund and if people want to contribute toward it they can." With that I placed the second check in an envelope with instructions to the church treasurer that it was designated money for a new steeple and to please establish a steeple fund.
The youth lock in was a qualified success. I say qualified as the chaperones showed up but were late. Only the college students and myself stayed the night with the Youth. Kathy led a portion of the program and did an excellant job, confirming my opinion of her abilities. However she was very uncomforable at time. I did not understand why. Once again it would be later her sister would provide insight into her behavior. Kathy had started a relationship with a man and was sleeping with him. In addition, though she had excepted my apology she continued to believe in the fantasy of my making a pass at her. She had gone so far as to continuing to spread it in the community. Though she could gain no acceptance of it, this did not stop her. Meanwhile one chaperone, Jim jr. Didn't show up because as he later said, "Something came up and he had to attend to that." The Hubbards also didn't show. I was later to hear from them they were too tired. From the teenagers' perspective it was a good activity. They invited their friends and all had a good time. I was to injure my toe when playing a game, one of them stomped on it running and peeled the the nail quick from the toe. The youth cleaned up from the event and went home Saturday morning tired but happy.
Christmas had come and gone when suddenly our maintenance person showed up at my door. I was preparing for the last Sunday sermon prior to attending Seminary in St. Paul Minnesota. "Preacher, can we talk." "Sure, come in and sit down", I said. "I can't do this work anymore and so I am going to have to give the church my two weeks." "Can you tell me about it?" "No." She said. "Is it something I have done or not done.", I asked. "No its nothing like that." "Well okay," I told her. With that she got up and left. I called George the chairman of the deacons and told him about it. I was to find out later he called her and checked to see if I had been to harsh on her or had offended her in some way. Her brother as well checked on this. The deacons and I met that Sunday and discussed what to do. I explained I had looked in the church constitution and suggested we refer the matter to the personnel committee and allow them to find a replacement for her. This was acceptable to all. I notified the personnel committee the church was in need of a new maintenance person and would they please find some one. During this time Darlene Christian, approached me and suggested her daughter. I referred Darlene to the personnel committee. I was approached by several in the community and they asked about the job. I suggested that if they were interested they would put in their resume or applciation with the personnel committee. I want to stress that I had no hand in chosing who was selected. Instead I left to attend Seminary in St. Paul.
I was gone for a week. The study was interesting and the classes were filled with helpful and applicable knowledge. In addition my suggested reading list grew. We discussed our various churches and some of what was occuring in them. I talked about my church, its people, the growth. One of the people listing said, "You are really in love with your people." I responded, "Thats what being a pastor is all about. It is loving God tremendously and from His love, loving His people." I cannot stress enough how much I cared for each and everyone of the people participating in the church. I was in love with them. They were wonderful, each and everyone of them. I knew much about all of them. Yet for all their faults, mine included, I loved them. I could I would do nothing to harm them. On my return, there was much to do. I had to finish my course work, the parsonage had to come down, and we had to hire a new person for maintenance
Why did the parsonage have to come down. With the expansion in members we needed the space badly for parking. Since I already owned my own home in the valley, it made sense to use the parsonage for the expanded space. Well, during an initial walk through I had noticed the ridge of the roof bowing. So I discussed this with the Building and Grounds committee and they arranged for a man to come and review what it would take to fix the roof as well as bring the house up to current fire and building code. The man arrived and I gave him my key to the house. After about an hour he came over to the church and said, "Pastor, to just fix the roof will take a lot of money. That is an old roof and while much of the wood is sound it will still need to be replaced." "And?", I asked. "Well now you'll need to replace all the wiring and fix the furnace and plumbing. I looked at the plumbing and let me show you something." So off we went to the parsonage house. We trooped down to the basement area and he begins pointing outt he fire and building code problems. I asked, "Bottom line, hom much are we talking about." "Well pastor, I'll cut you some but it should take about $35,000." "$35,000 for what?", I cried. "Well you got to replace the roof and thats about $10,000 cause you got to remove the old roof and the boards and the braces and then you got to replace those. You also have to re-roof and re-shingle. While you are up there you go wiring and insulation that needs to be replaced. Then the re-wiring, is going to mean removing most of the walls and re-wiring. Then there is the sewage system." Since the repairs cost so much I took it to the Building and Grounds Committee. So it was the Winter was fast ending with two issues to be resolved, the parsonage and the new maintenance committee. Two families in the church would benefit from their resolution, the Gardners and the Hubbards. But that is the next chapter.