Papa Dan's Pastoral Days

VOICE OF CHRISTIAN YOUTH - DETROIT It was Saturday, March 16th,1946 that I experienced the most exciting night of my life, at least to that point in my life.  In the weeks preceding that night, every Christian program on Detroit area radio stations was promoting the largest Voice Of Christian Youth Rally that Detroit had ever witnessed.  Detroit's VCY had begun a few years earlier and was a bi-weekly inter-church youth rally with exciting music and speakers.  It was a forerunner of Youth For Christ and became a part of the YFC organization when it was formed in 1946.  The song leader that night was Stratton Shufelt, soloist Connie Templeton, wife of Charles Templeton, Toronto Youth For Christ director and the speaker was Billy Graham. As I mentioned previously (May 11, 2017 blog) Mom and Dad had listened to Billy Graham on WCFL Chicago  Sunday nights.  Billy was the pastor of The Village Church in Western Springs, Illinois and he started a l...

MY EARLY SUMMER VACATIONS In my previous post, I talked about the spiritual input while attending McKeough School .  I was also exposed to additional Biblical teaching in the summer vacations. I don't know how old I was when I started attending Daily Vacation Bible Schools.   It seemed like most churches in Chatham had a summer DVBS.  They were not one week schools, but all of them were two weeks in length.  I remember attending DVBS at Victoria Avenue United Church, St. Andrews United Church, Park Street United Church, William Street Baptist Church, Evangel (PAOC) Tabernacle and The Alliance Tabernacle.   I attended more than one in the same summer. I didn't learn much at Evangel Tabernacle because a young girl, I think we were each about 8 or 9, followed me everywhere those first two or three days saying she loved me.  I wasn't ready for that kind of stuff.  I think Wednesday was my last day and I told my mother that I didn't want to go ...

McKEOUGH SCHOOL - MY ELEMENTARY SCHOOL McKeough School As I continue with my spiritual journey I go back to my early years and my school years in Chatham and the spiritual input that I received at this stage of  life.  In my elementary school years at McKeough School, each morning began with the singing of the national anthem (God Save The King- in those years), and the Lord's Prayer. Once a week for one half hour we would have religious education.  There were two classrooms for each grade from grade one to grade eight.  The two grades alike, i.e. two grade threes, two grade sevens, etc, would combine sitting two to a seat and a Chatham pastor would be assigned to each grade.  The pastor who taught the grade four class was Rev. Leonard Trapp from the Christian Reformed Church .  I am forever grateful for having him for that school year.  I don't remember any particular Bible story which he told us, but I do remember that he made us ea...

THE SALVATION ARMY I mentioned previously that as far back as I can remember, my parents attended The Salvation Army.   There was an abundance of music and special music in The Salvation Army .  It was the expected thing that every boy would learn to play a brass instrument and the girls would learn to sing.  There was a girls singing group called The Singing Company .  There was also a boys band.  The boys band didn't have any fancy name like the girls singing group.  We were simply called the boys band.     The Chatham Salvation Army   When I was nine years old, my Dad put a trumpet in my hands and said, "On Saturday you are going to Mr. Midgley's to learn how to play the trumpet."  I don't remember whether I had a choice or had expressed an interest, I simply remember my Dad's words of instruction.  That was February 1941.  At a Mother's Day program three months later, presented by the Sunday School, ...

MY CONVERSION Dan - 5 years old Soon after they were married, Mom & Dad had some association with the William Street Baptist Church .  Since Mom had been attending the Baptist church prior to their marriage and since the Baptist pastor performed their marriage, they attended that church for a brief time. I was placed on the Cradle Roll of the Baptist Church as well as The Salvation Army.   However, Dad, being raised in The Salvation Army wanted to go back there.  So my recollection of church attendance is The Salvation Army.   I received a birthday card from both churches on my second birthday.  I still have them.  They are filed away in Papa's Papers, several three ring binders, where I have been placing keepsakes.  Maybe, if and when I finish this blog and I have the energy, I may try to put Papa's Papers into a document and, if interested, I could email them to you.  That's not going to happen for a few months, maybe a year or m...

THE BEGINNING My Dad was raised in The Salvation Army .  My mother's parents were not regular church attenders.  Dad knew about God, but would be the first to say that he was the black sheep of his family.  He played cornet in The Salvation Army band and regularly attended the Sunday services.  Hence Mom was attracted to Dad because she thought he was a religious man. Mom told me that the first time she heard that God existed was when she was about ten years of age.  There was a terrible lightening and thunder storm, one hot summer evening, and a woman in the neighborhood exclaimed, "Maybe God is coming back!" Those words from a neighbor put a thought in Mom's mind that if there was a God, she wanted to know more.  So in her teen years, she and one of her sisters started attending William Street Baptist Church, in Chatham .   She did not immediately become a Christian, but told me that she dates her salvation, the time when she personally...