Archive Entry #2: June 17, 1987

Posted on July 11, 2014.

In my life I have experienced a connection of any consequence to five churches:

  • Broadway Christian Church, Council Bluffs, Iowa - the church my grandfather planted and in which I was raised
  • Lewis Church of Christ, Lewis, Iowa - where my family migrated after we moved out of Council Bluffs in 1974
  • First Christian Church of Iowa City - the congregation that was my spiritual home while I was a student at the University of Iowa, and that prepared me to receive my call to ministry which arrived during a Sunday morning discussion on stress in the spring of 1982
  • First Christian Church of East Moline - of course
  • And Drennon Christian Church, located on a curvy state highway in rural Henry Country, (north central) Kentucky - the church I served throughout my seminary years

 

I have always felt grateful to God for the faith to which the Broadway congregation introduced me, the refuge the Lewis church was, especially for my dad, and the ministry leadership opportunities the Iowa City congregation offered, opportunities that readied me to hear God’s call that unexpected March 1982 morning by which time I had decided to withdraw from graduate school because I knew I was on the wrong career path. But of the churches that came into my life before FCCEM, Drennon Christian Church was the one I have always most prized and for which I have most vociferously praised God.

As part of its MDiv degree progam, Lexington Theological Seminary required students to engage in some form of hands-on, practical ministry in a local church or other setting for at least a year or two - something they called "field work."

The seminary relied on dozens of congregations, large and small, to provide opportunities for its students. Large churches tended to be outlets for youth or other associate ministries, while small membership churches often welcomed seminary students as their pastor. After I was accepted into the degree program, the seminary proposed Drennon Christian Church as my field work assignment.

When I first heard about it - especially its small size and isolated location - I didn’t want to go there. In fact, I interviewed with a Presbyterian Church in Indiana, which would have meant switching seminaries, so intent was I to avoid serving in the Kentucky hills. But God had other plans. The Presbyterian Church opportunity didn’t work out, and I had to call back to Lexington Seminary to see whether the Drennon Church was still available. Thank God, it was.

For the first 10-15 years of my FCCEM ministry, I made annual summer treks to Henry County to see the people who had loved me unconditionally, supported me unreservedly, and wished the best for me continuously. I am a pastor today because that rural Kentucky congregation welcomed into their family a fish out of his native Iowa water, endured my Midwestern quirks and preferences, and never stopped believing there was someone worth loving in my inexperienced and often immature form.

I would NEVER have believed it possible when I arrived for my first Sunday there in September 1982, but Drennon Christian Church proved to be one of the most life-changing and life-giving blessings of my life... ever.

I have written about the Drennon congregation a couple of times in And from Bill... columns. The first one came about two years into my FCCEM tenure. Through this first column I wanted to thank those folks, but not in a conventional way. Here is how I honored God’s blessings to me through the people of Drennon Christian Church in June 1987:

 

 



 

 

COMING NEXT: A November 1990 reminder that I have always been a hugger. Find it HERE.