I arrived as pastor of the Oakland Church in June,1982. I was thirty. Most of those leading the church at the time were from my parent’s generation. My Pastor’s Cabinet had people on it like Paul Ward, Alma Kelly, Pete Muschweck, Jim Heldreth, Russ Dray, Martha Anderson, and perhaps one or two others [they were all contemporaries with my parents and thought of me as the ornery kid from Family Camp].
In spite of significant opposition, the church began to grow. I was leading a growing church, travelling to Pittsburgh three or four times a week to attend classes toward my Master of Divinity degree, helping to launch a pregnancy Center, and all-the-while, trying to be a great husband and father. By October,1984, I was exhausted and overwhelmed.
One Wednesday, I called an emergency Pastor’s Cabinet meeting and resigned. I had no plan, no job lined up, no resources stashed away – I was simply and severely ‘burned out’!
Needless to say, the Cabinet members were shocked by my announcement. After delivering my message to them, I simply got up and moved toward the door. As I did so, Alma Kelly called my name in her principal’s voice: “Harold!”
I did what any respectful person would do – I turned to face her. She had tears in her eyes. She trembled as she spoke. She reviewed the fact that I had been working in an environment that was immersed in evil forces. That struck me; I had never seriously considered that circumstance. Less than ten years earlier this church had been rocked with a moral scandal that had damaged lives as well as the church’s reputation. She pointed out that the very study where I worked daily had been the place of horrible violations.
Then – and I’ll never forget it – she said, “We don’t accept your resignation! We’re placing you on an indeterminate leave of absence with full pay.” And then she assured me that they would be praying for me to get rested and return to my ministry.
And with that, I opened the door and left.
Now, let me state for the facts that Alma didn’t have the authority to make that decision! However, no one – to my knowledge – ever questioned her decision.
I don’t know all of the details that followed for the obvious reasons, but I know that Alma largely led the church for the next several months. She arranged ‘fill-in’ preachers and may have even preached herself. She took authority and to the best of my knowledge, no one questioned her during that period.
Every Sunday after that, Peter Muschweck – the Oakland treasurer – stopped by our home on Sunday afternoons and dropped off my paycheck. We received cards and bouquets of flowers from people in the congregation.
During the ensuing weeks, I sought the counsel of several older pastors. I also saw a professional counselor. I did NOT leave God! I still read the scriptures and still prayed. I rested – as Alma had instructed.
Toward the end of November, I announced to Debbie that I was going to go on a backpacking trip in the Laurel mountains. After several days on this seventy-mile trail, I was walking a logging road and had a series of thoughts that passed through my mind in a matter of minutes. I considered asking God for a ‘fleece’ [sign] to assure me that He did indeed want me in the ministry.
My first question to myself was, “What would be a good fleece?” My imagination took off. I thought, “What if – when I return home – I was to go to the Oakland Church and whoever was the preacher would preach a message on the most common scripture in the Bible?” Then, I thought, “What would that scripture be?” The answer was obvious, it would be John 3:16. And with that, this little mental excursion – that had lasted mere seconds – ended and was forgotten.
During the next several days, however, I resolved through prayer and physical exertion that God did want me in the ministry – that He had indeed called me. I longed to be with my family for Thanksgiving. But I had miles to go with mountains in between to get to my car. I hiked hard and into the night to make it. Stopped on the way home to call Debbie and tell her that I would be getting home very late. Then, I added, “On Sunday, we’re going to church at Oakland.” That surely surprised her!
We had a simple Thanksgiving and on Sunday we arrived intentionally a little late for church. You could hear gasps as we walked down the aisle and took a seat down front.
Alma was leading the service. Elwood Daugherty was the guest preacher; he was the assistant to the superintendent of the Pittsburgh Conference. It was the first Sunday of Advent. After some singing, Alma invited him to read his scripture lesson. He invited us to turn to John 3. I grabbed my Bible and opened to his lesson.
As he began to read, the memory of my mental excursion became vivid to me. I wondered how far he would read; he finished at John 3:17.
I was on pins and needles and couldn’t wait to hear him preach! But there was an offering and more singing. Every nerve in my body was alert and on edge! I had the highest level of anticipation!
Finally, he stepped up and said, “God has spoken to me very clearly this week. He wants me to bring a message this morning that is based solely on one verse: John 3:16.”
I hope you know that I can’t help you understand what I experienced. The love of God for me was made so clear that morning by Elwood’s words.
Before the end of that year, I returned to my role as pastor and – in spite of chronic opposition – Oakland became a church of over two hundred with scores of people coming to faith in Christ!
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