PROVIDENCE BAPTIST CHURCH
Howard Ford
Providence Baptist
Church, Hamilton, Texas holds a
very special place in my mind. Providence was not the first church where I
was the pastor but it stands out in my memory. There have been other
churches since Providence as well as the passing of forty five years, but
my mind goes back to Providence more than any of the other churches.
Perhaps the reason for the strong memories is because I probably learned
more there than at any other church.
Some of my rigid
thinking was put to the test at Providence Church. I was a little too
rigid to change at that time, but the experiences there made a strong
contribution to some change that occurred later in life. My visit with the
church in 1994 provided me an opportunity to
share some of my life experiences with the people.
When
visiting the church in 1994 they asked me to share some about myself.
Having very warm feelings toward those present, I felt the need to be
close to them as I spoke. I had totally forgotten that the men sit on one
side and the women on the other. I happened to be standing in front of the
pews on the women side and asked the men to come over and join us. I had
forgotten that asking that kind of move was a big NO, NO. As I later
realized what I had done my respect for Dewey Sellers and Robert
"Rob" Cole rose even higher because they broke a long
standing tradition, for me, and moved to the lady's side.
When I
accepted the pastorate of Providence Baptist Church on June 1,
1952, I was a student at Howard Payne College. I usually drove the 69
miles to the church on Sunday mornings but occasionally on Saturday. Since
I had no home to go to on Sunday afternoon the ladies of the church never
failed to provide me dinner and supper. There was always someone with whom
I could spend the night if needed.
The first Sunday or two
I had the customary fried chicken because ALL preachers like fried
chicken. I fell in the ranks of those who liked fried chicken but I only
like white meat. Since I only ate a piece or two, my usual amount, the
ladies assumed I did not like fried chicken. (Disappointing the women is
not a very good way to start out as a new pastor.) I had told them I liked
chicken but only the white meat. It only took one week for everyone to
know that I "did not like fried chicken."
Almost every Sunday for
months, or was it years, I had roast beef. Guess what? I did not like
roast beef. I had become very ill when in the 7th grade after eating roast
beef and it still turned my stomach. No matter what I told them about how
I did like fried chicken it never changed. Yes, I learned to like roast
beef.
The
first funeral I held was for James Madison "Jim" Cole who died
November 1, 1953. I went to the the funeral Home in Hamilton for Jim’s
funeral to support the Cole family and expecting a former pastor to
officiate. About five minutes before time for the funeral, a deacon, Dewey
Sellers, from the church came to me and informed me that the former
pastor had not arrived. He said, "You had better get ready to preach
a funeral." That scared me half-to-death. About five minutes later, I
was doing my first funeral. The panic I felt when Dewey told be to
preach the funeral strongly burned into my mind. I remember where I was
standing when he told me. From there on, the remainder of that day, I am
blank. It is the shock that I remember.
When I
became pastor I did not know a church could go through a summer without
having a Vacation Bible School. If I remember correctly they had never had
one. We had a VBS with a good attendance and some accepted Christ as a
result. In retrospect, I look back and see the many things the church,
especially Dewey and Lillian Sellers, worked hard to
accomplish just because their pastor wanted it. The more I realize their
willingness to do NEW things the more I respect them.
Rob
Cole was subject to showing his respect for me, in a tongue in cheek
way, and at an unexpected moment. Shortly after becoming their pastor I
spent a Saturday night with Rob and Opal Cole. I later
realized Rob seemed to be pressing me to go to bed.
I prepared to go to be
in their front bedroom, which was nicely prepared for their pastor. As I
laid on the bed, the springs and mattress went to the floor with me in the
middle of it. Rob, in his innocent way, wanted to know what I had
done to his bed. He had removed the slats and had tied the springs to the
rails with string. That was the first, but it was not the last, thing he
pulled on me.
In Rob's
un-theological way, he taught me some high level theology. I drove to
Dallas to see a doctor, who gave me bad news about my physical condition.
On the highway out of Dallas a driver ignored a stop sign and ran into the
side of my car. To make a bad day worst the policy of the police was to
give a ticket to both parties. When I arrived at church on Sunday morning,
Rob Cole asked me the theological question, "Preacher, was the
Lord looking off."
It was
at Providence Baptist Church where I baptized the first people.
Four people accepted Christ during the revival and at the close I baptized
those four in the Leon River. Here is a brief story that most of
the people never knew. Being from the flat an dry lands of West Texas I
never learned to swim. All of the candidates for baptism were holding
hands and I led them into the river. I was holding the hand of a boy,
about age 12, and next was his older sister. The forth and fifth in the
line was Mrs. Rice followed by her husband Frederick.. He
was about six foot four inches. When I was up to my waist in the water he
was not even up to his knees. I continued going farther into the river in
a effort to get Frederick into the water deep enough to get all six
feet, plus, of him under water. At that point my feet were not touching
the bottom and my body started changing ends. If I had not had a good hold
on the boy's hand I would have really made a scene. I pulled on his hand
and was able to get my feet back on the bottom. From that point on the
baptismal went in a manner that God could be praised.
The brush arbor provided
a setting for worship and the salvation of many of the people of the
community. It was also the setting for some enjoyable "dinners on the
ground." There were some other interesting events associated with the
arbor. At one time in the history of the church, I was told that the brush
provided a hiding place for the distribution of the distilled spirits. The
bootlegger would hide it in the brush and then the purchaser would drop by
and pick it up. I was also told that a raccoon swung down by his tail
during a revival service. I am fully aware of the time when I was
preaching under the arbor and some of the women seemed to be talking
excessively. Finally one rose to her feet and informed me there was a
copperhead behind me. He was under the makeshift floor for the piano. I
was stepping about 8 inches from the snake but the platform was so low he
could not
coil. My first
inclination was to pick up the pulpit and move forward away from the
snake, which I did. I very quickly discovered the congregation was not
listening to me and I was not very comfortable not being able to see the
snake. We stopped the
service, removed the piano and platform and Dewey Sellers became
very biblical and put the snake under his heel.
I give God the praise
and glory for having given me the opportunity to be the pastor of the
people at the Providence Missionary Baptist Church. I always felt
the driving desire to reach the people for God. I thank God that it was my
privilege to
be
there when a number of souls were born again."
