I grew up during the 1950's and 1960's in a very spiritually oriented home. I was the youngest of four children who were spaced over fifteen years. I never really knew my oldest sister and brother very well. My parents were very devoted to the Lord and this took its form through faithfulness to their church.
Our church was a large church by 1960 standards. A layman [Joe Douglas] was devoted to visitation and outreach and almost single-handedly grew the Sunday School to a record-high 614 one Easter Sunday around 1968! The church operated three old school buses and brought [mostly] children in from neighboring towns.
Another layman [Morrison Baker] was a charming and talented man who led the song service consistently throughout my growing-up years. [The 'song-service' was the time of worship preceeding the giving of the message by the 'preacher'.] We always had a pianist and organist to accompany our singing and they were equally capable at their assignment. Consequently, this congregation loved to sing as an expression of their worship!
Although we did not sing through the hymnal, at one time or another we sang nearly every hymn! I recall these times of singing with great favor - even those of us who were part of the youth group sang enthusiastically. We loved the occasional Sunday evening when 'Brother Baker' would open it up for us to call out favorites. We automatically hollered out number 106, which was "Wonderful Grace of Jesus" [written by Haldor Lillenas]. Our church was blessed to have people capable of singing all four parts enthusiastically, so - to our ears - we sounded like a grand choir!
Something happened frequently during those 'song services'. It's difficult to describe, but at some point I would sense that there was something more going on than just singing a song together. In my childhood and youthful zeal, this experience simply caused me to want to sing louder and more enthusiastically! I had little language to express what I was experiencing, other than to say that the service was really blessed that night.
As a theologically trained pastor reflecting back, I can now observe that these were genuine experiences of the presence of God through His Holy Spirit! These experiences were fairly frequent, very powerful and usually came in the midst of our act of worship!
These were simple, ordinary people who sincerely loved God and were trying to live their lives to His glory! They had excellent leadership that fostered a great passion to see the Kingdom of God grow and expand!
I am deeply grateful for these experiences of God's presence! I hold these memories as precious! They elicited in me a desire to continue to be in environments where God would draw close and we could sense His nearness! That desire became a drive in me as I grew into the role of being a pastor! I desperately wanted the churches that I led to be places where people would frequently experience the presence of God!
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