PASTORAL LEADERSHIP THOUGHTS

Exodus 17 is one of the first times that we see Moses sharing responsibility for the children of Israel. When they complain [again] that they are thirsty, Moses – under instructions from God – takes the elders of Israel with him to the rock of Horeb. There, sharing leadership and responsibility with the elders, he struck the rock and the people drank!
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It’s a long leap from this incident to the 21st century church, but there are lessons to be gleaned from this story.

Early on in my ministry, I heard pastors talk about “my church”, and something about that sounded wrong to me. Consequently, I tried hard to refrain from using that phrase. Instead, I substituted the phrase: “the church that I serve.”

It’s not ‘my church’, it's the church of Jesus Christ! He’s the Lord and Master of the church – not me.

I have always been a cooperative leader. I want us all to cross the finish-line together! I never wanted to dictate, I wanted to lead. Staying in close communion with God was a necessity! I worked hard at that.

The burden should not be solely on one person. The church is a cooperative venture! Duly elected and appointed leaders share responsibility for her welfare.

I ended many of our Ministry Council meetings by saying, “Well, let’s pray about this until next month’s meeting and see if God can’t bring us to a consensus.” In my leadership book, it was most important that we all be on the same page!
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Yet, in so many cases I hear about, the pastor is viewed as a CEO who dictates and is unquestioned. What’s the fear - that s/he will fire all of us?

The people have been there long-term! They will still be there when this pastor moves on and a new one is called or appointed. It’s far more ‘their’ church than it is ‘his/hers’.

God was teaching Moses to spread out the leadership instead of bearing the burden and responsibility alone. In my humble opinion, a lot of pastors today need to reframe their perspective into one of cooperative leadership as opposed to a dictatorial approach!

Yes, it takes longer to build consensus!  Yes, there are 'slow-adaptors' who resist change at all costs.  Yes, it adds to our frustration.  But the dividends will be beneficial for the pastor who exercises restraint and patience.  The goals that s/he desires will ultimately be met, and will be longer lasting as a result!  

Parishoners need to be bolder in speaking out and challenging the thoughts and ideas of their pastors. Accept responsibility for your church being the church that God wants it to be! Respect your pastor, pray for your pastor, honor your pastor – but also question him/her. Let your opinion be heard considerately!

71 YEARS OF LORD'S DAYS

Sundays have changed!

When I was young, I woke up and ate my mom’s banana nut bread for breakfast; it was a Sunday morning tradition. 

Then, we went to Sunday School and morning worship.  We came home and had our biggest meal of the week; it always included mashed potatoes!  [We would eat leftovers for several days!]  Quite often my mom invited people for Sunday dinner; like Debbie, her gift was hospitality!  They would visit for a while and then we’d just be lazy in the afternoon.  My dad would read the Sunday paper in the living room while snacking on green leaves and salted, red-skin peanuts.  No television until after Sunday night church.  No outside playing.  Occasionally we’d play a game, but no cards.  Youth group was at 6:30 and then evening church followed.  It was usually 9:00 PM when we got home. 

College changed all that!  I still got up and had breakfast.  Not many came so they would fix almost anything I asked for.  It was my favorite meal of the week!  Then I taught a boys Sunday School class at Pearce Memorial Free Methodist Church (on campus).  After that I attended worship.  Afternoons were for study.  Sometimes I went back for evening church.

Married life brought more changes.  We began in Wilmore, KY, where I attended seminary.  We attended the Wilmore FMC.  Again, we went home to our big meal of the week!  Later, I became the student-pastor at the Tunnel Hill FMC in English, IN.  We drove 150 miles to get there and stayed in their trailer/parsonage for the weekend.  Then after Sunday night church, we drove back to Wilmore!  Travis was born during this season! 

Then, I was appointed to the Jeannette, PA FMC where I officially began my ministry.  Wow!  Lots of changes!  A brand new church building and about forty people!  I did my best, but struggled with the isolation after having lived in the seminary community.  We went to the farm on my Mondays to relax and get away.  We had Sunday School, morning worship and evening worship.  The church grew – more than doubled in size in two years, but I was so strongly opposed by the key leaders in the church that I asked for a move [something I’ve regretted ever since]. 

While at McClellandtown, PA FMC, Troy and Tracie were born.  It was a coal-patch town.  Attendance was about 60 when I got there.  During our four years, the church grew – again doubling in size.  But key leaders opposed the building of a new church on property they already owned on a major route a mile away.  The official board did vote to go ahead, but with a slight majority vote.  Shortly after, I was moved to East Liverpool [Oakland FMC] where we stayed for thirteen years.  Travis started and finished school there.  The church nearly tripled in size, but I didn’t have the knowledge or skill to help it grow larger. 

I was exhausted after this appointment due to the stress of a divided congregation, so left the Pittsburgh Conference and took a church in Spencerville, MD [FMC].  A small, country church saddled between a mega-church and a fast-growing post-modern church.  In spite of this, we saw significant growth and nearly doubled in size until a family crisis necessitated our moving back to Pennsylvania.  I was unemployed for over four months and we were essentially homeless.

Then by God’s grace, we landed a job running a licensed home for severely behaviorally challenged children in Akron, OH.  We began attending the Cornerstone Church!  I was immediately hired part-time.  Shortly after, I was made the Lead Associate Pastor.  The church exploded with growth, with three packed services – largely due to Brenda Young’s leadership and preaching/teaching!  It was a great joy to be a part of this!

Then, I was asked to lead the New Middletown, FMC, and Debbie accepted the assignment since it would put us close to her family 😂.  Although I had the hardest beginning to a ministry that I’d ever experienced – within six months peace had been restored and twenty new members were received!  The growth continued until we ultimately started seeing over two hundred in worship and went to two services!  After nine years, we felt the call to missions and decided to go to China!

Our three years in China deserve a book of their own.  Sundays were very different, but a pure delight!  We worshipped with our team in the mornings.  Then, after dinner, we went to an international church with [60-80] from many nations [where I was sometimes asked to preach]!  At 2:00 PM we attended a Chinese/English service led by college-age young people and held in another official Chinese church!  IT WAS AMAZING!  I had many opportunities to preach here, as well [through an interpreter, of course]!

Then, home, where we felt truly lost for a long time due to culture-shock!  I accepted a commuting/part-time pastoring role at the Kittanning FMC.  Travis died!  Then, Deb’s dad died.  We were devastated!  After two years and some significant growth, I knew I wasn’t cut out to be a commuting pastor.  I retired.

Life since then has been an ongoing adjustment!  I miss leading the church, even though I realize that I don’t have the energy to do that anymore.  However, I do still have the passion!  Debbie was ordained this morning as an elder at the Bethel Evangelical Presbyterian Church.  She’s quite a leader there now: elder/session, leads the library, on the Vision Team.  I’m a regular attender and, so far, the pastor has used me to preach on occasions.  I’ve also taught Sunday School some.  I’m a retired pastor in process!  😊

I’ll be 71 this month, so it’s been a seven-decade journey!  I have a new ministry that’s very lyfting!  I’m learning to be content with it!  God still has a lot of work to do in me and hopefully through me.  To God be the glory! 

TRANSITIONING A CHURCH

The Apostle Paul stood between two groups as a type of mediator.  This is wonderfully illustrated in Ephesians 2 [especially noticeable if read in The Message].  Here he tries to bring together Gentiles and circumcised Jews [water and oil]!  This delicate work takes wisdom and a deep, unquestioned commitment to both groups!  No bias can be shown or his work will be nullified.  The Jews and the Gentiles need to know that Paul is totally for them!  Paul performs this task masterfully!  Just observe his tact:

^14-15 The Messiah has made things up between us so that we’re now together on this, both non-Jewish outsiders and Jewish insiders. He tore down the wall we used to keep each other at a distance. He repealed the law code that had become so clogged with fine print and footnotes that it hindered more than it helped. Then he started over. Instead of continuing with two groups of people separated by centuries of animosity and suspicion, he created a new kind of human being, a fresh start for everybody.

16-18 Christ brought us together through his death on the cross. The Cross got us to embrace, and that was the end of the hostility. Christ came and preached peace to you outsiders and peace to us insiders. He treated us as equals, and so made us equals. Through him we both share the same Spirit and have equal access to the Father.

Paul - like Christ - has a deep longing for these long-separated groups to be unified in the love of Christ and the fulfillment of His mission! 

On a massively different level, as a pastor I too have stood between these two kinds of groups.

·         New, excited, passionate believers and mature, established, lukewarm believers.

·         Pentecostal believers who long to see gifts exercised and traditional believers who are suspect of anything new and extreme.

These groups need one another more than they realize!  Each group has strengths that the other group needs! Yet often the communication lines are clogged or broken! 

One of the great challenges for me through the years was trying to preach to a growing congregation [which, by the way, is a pleasant challenge!].   How do you meet the needs of those who don’t know the Word yet and need to be taught the basics and encouraged in their new-found faith;  as opposed to preaching to those who’ve been walking in ‘the way’ for years and are looking for ‘meat’ and not just ‘milk’? 

When you focus on the needs of the new believers, the old believers already know this and lose interest.

When you focus on the mature believers, the new believers are lost and don’t understand the concepts.

[Of course, this is only an issue in churches where THERE ARE new believers!]

As with Paul, both groups need to know that you love them and are committed to them.  As the leader of both groups, you cannot show bias.   However, you also cannot allow yourself to be pushed around or manipulated by either group!  You must stand strong in the faith, committed to the Word, and accepting and caring for all involved!  It is a gargantuan task that requires an intimate walk with God! 

RECOMMENDATIONS:

1.      IF YOU’RE PART OF A GROWING CHURCH, pray for your pastor as she/he tries to bring unity to the body and give everyone a sense of common direction!

2.      Be deliberate about getting to know new believers/attenders and helping them to – as quickly as possible – assimilate into the ‘body’!  [After four years of attending our current church, I’m still struggling with names and a sense of ‘belonging’.]  Long-term attenders (members?) are known, revered and have a voice.  New attenders (members?) are often unknown, ignored and have no voice.  We must ALL work to change that! 

3.      Develop a church wide attitude that looks at new people as God-sent to add to the beauty of the body and to equip the body for even greater service in the future!  New people are not a threat to established leaders, they are an asset to those currently leading and may represent the potential for new ministries and new directions for the church! 

ZACHARIAH AND ELIZABETH

An elderly woman - with a loving husband [he happens to be a priest] - who has never been able to become pregnant, suddenly, at an advanced age becomes pregnant and delivers a son!  Try to imagine the joy that Zachariah and Elizabeth experienced.  After all these years of being ‘the barren one’, she births a son in her old age! 

How many times did they cradle him between them in their bed and just marvel at his perfection?  Surely they must have giggled themselves to sleep on more than one occasion. 

Zachariah had prayed and prayed that this would happen.  Remarkably, he continued to pray about it even when Elizabeth was well past the years of bearing a child.  How’s that for faith? 

Then, one day when he was fulfilling his priestly responsibilities, an angel appeared to him in the sanctuary with a message:  “Don’t fear, Zachariah.  Your prayer has been heard.  Elizabeth, your wife, will bear a son by you.  You are to name him John.  You’re going to leap like a gazelle for joy, and not only you – many will delight in his birth.  He’ll achieve great stature with God.”   [Luke 1:13-15a TM]

The angel continued:  “He’ll drink neither wine nor beer.  He’ll be filled with the Holy Spirit from the moment he leaves his mother’s womb.  He will turn many sons and daughters of Israel back to their God.  He will herald God’s arrival in the style and strength of Elijah, soften the hearts of parents to children, and kindle devout understanding among hardened skeptics – he’ll get the people ready for God.”   [Luke 1:15-17 TM]

If you read this whole story, you’ll find that Zachariah – this priest, this man of prayer – doubted the report of the angel! 

Why pray if we don’t BELIEVE God can answer our prayer?  There are consequences that come as a result of doubting God!

Zachariah was unable to speak from that moment until after the baby was born and he – by writing – confirmed that the baby should be named ‘John’. 

In that moment, the Holy Spirit entered Zachariah and he prophesied and gave glory to God. 

“A deep, reverential fear settled over the neighborhood, and in all that Judean hill country people talked about nothing else.  Everyone who heard about it took it to heart, wondering, ‘What will become of this child?  Clearly, God has his hand in this.’”  [Luke 1:65-66  TM]

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Wouldn’t you love to live your life in such a way that your faith-filled actions stirred the whole community?  Imagine everyone in your community talking about you and your family and your faith-stand before the Lord!  Everyone around you marveling at the goodness of God in your life! 

Oh, c’mon, Hal, how is that going to happen?

“O ye of little faith.”  [Luke 12:28]

POSSIBLE SCENARIOS:

·         Cancer visits your home, but you persevere and continue to give glory to God instead of blaming Him!

·         You’re unable to get pregnant.  After tests and other attempts, you adopt children and raise a family to God’s glory!

·         You lose your spouse too early in life, but determine to go forward with joy rather than live in grief!

·         Your child wanders off the path and into a lifestyle that causes you pain.  But you persevere in prayer and keep loving that child! 

·         Downsizing causes you to lose your job!  You struggle, but call on God’s people to pray and you hold on with determination to see how God is going to resolve this crisis. 

·         Poor financial management finally becomes a crisis.  You call out to God, learn biblical principles and begin to practice generosity and discipline.

·         Depression keeps knocking at your door, but you develop a network of friends to pray for and with you as you place your trust in God! 

·         Loneliness nearly overwhelms you!  You begin to volunteer at the church and the local rescue mission and discover that there are people who are far lonelier than you!

You can write your own scenario!  It’s not the depth of the crisis you face, but the way you face the crisis that matters!   Zachariah screwed up at first, but then got back on track.  You can too!  Put your trust in God!  Look around!  Listen carefully!  Pray and then act!  God has a way for you.  AND PEOPLE WILL MARVEL WHEN THEY SEE HOW HE WORKS IN YOUR LIFE!

STRUGGLING TO FIT IN

I have often said, “I’ve been attending Free Methodist churches since before I was born!”  I graduated from a Free Methodist college. 

Then, things changed a bit.  I attended a United Methodist seminary for three years.  Next, after having begun my pastoral ministry in the Free Methodist Church, I earned a Master of Divinity degree from a liberal, Presbyterian seminary!  It was a challenging eight years of study as a commuter.  Although the foundations of my faith were repeatedly challenged, I came out strong. 

During these educational years – that didn’t end until my fortieth year – I also acquired a basic unit of Clinical Pastoral Education at the Pittsburgh Highland Drive Veteran’s Administration Psychiatric Hospital [that’s a mouthful!].  900 hours of supervised chaplain work, verbatims, and small group process!   [And to think:  I paid for this privilege!]

I also participated in a Domus Deo program through the Roman Catholic Church in Pittsburgh.  It was a very beneficial, self-reflection, meditation program that also included a fair amount of small group engagement!

During these early ministry years, I SERIOUSLY considered joining the military chaplaincy!  On three occasions, I inquired and prepared to make the leap into that form of ministry!  I still think it would have been a good fit for me and a place for effective ministry.

Then – having been in ministry for fourteen years, I sensed some gifting in the area of counseling and decided to get a counseling degree.  I acquired that degree after two years of full-time study - while continuing to pastor a growing church - at the Franciscan University of Steubenville, which is a charismatic Catholic community!  I worshipped in that community for two years and made many close and valuable friendships.  Some of the most powerful worship experiences of my life took place on that campus. 

One last reflection:  Over all my years in ministry I participated in the local ministerial associations.  Their corporate services usually focused on Good Friday and Thanksgiving.  I enjoyed working with pastors from many diverse denominations during those years.

WHY AM I TELLING YOU THIS?

Because, if you’ve followed me, I’m a bit of a mongrel.  J  I’ve deliberately exposed myself to a diverse field of experiences, leaders and environments. 

And today, I find myself in our fourth year of attending an evangelical Presbyterian church.  Debbie has joined and will soon be ordained as an elder in that church!  Notice:  She’s more deeply involved in leadership here than she ever was in the churches I served  [Of course, she also worked and primarily raised our three kids.]  ;-)

Sorry, if you were looking for something short, you can feel free to bail out now….

Having led Free Methodist churches for nearly forty-three years, I find myself missing certain aspects of ministry that had become very much a part of who I am. 

WHAT ARE THEY, HAL?

1.    I miss altar calls.

I wouldn’t expect everyone to understand this, but I miss what might officially be referred to as a ‘Call to Discipleship’. 

Typically, at the end of the message, a pastor would ‘open the altar for prayer’ and invite people to come in response to the challenge they’ve just received. 

Some Sundays, no one would respond [or the ‘call’ might not even be given].  Other Sundays, a few might respond;  and then a few others might come forward to pray with those who had responded.  Many times, services ended quietly with people still praying around the altar. 

Praying for and with one another was a warm expression of caring and engagement. 

2.   I miss altar prayer

I know, this sounds repetitive, but the altar was a special place for prayer as I was growing up and leading churches. 

Sometimes people would pray at the altar before worship even began.  I’ve seen people come to the altar while we were singing hymns or during pastoral prayer times. 

It was a place to seek God, unburden oneself, and openly indicate a desire to be closer to the Lord – a place to deal with the problems and stresses of life! 

As indicated earlier, others would often move forward to pray with those who responded in such a way!  It was a beautiful thing!  I miss it!

3.    I miss lay involvement

Being part of the Wesleyan movement, there has always been an emphasis on lay involvement. 

During my leadership years, I tried to limit my leadership to the time when I was giving the message.  As many other parts of the service as possible were turned over to trustworthy, gifted and trained individuals.  Many voices were heard during the flow of worship! 

4.    I miss a free-style of worship

Much could be said here – I’ll TRY to be brief!

One of the characteristics of my ministry was a desire to keep people engaged and interested in what was happening in worship.  Over the years, I found this was best accomplished by diversity, creativity and [to a certain extent] unpredictability. 

I know – that sounds strange.

Methods I utilized included:

·         Frequently changing the order of worship

·         Using many people in various ways during worship

·         Writing engaging dramas that brought the message to life [this, of course, gave certain people an opportunity to be involved who were drawn to this kind of ministry!] 

·         Incorporating humor into worship.  This was occasionally done via the dramas, video clips, stories, testimonies, and PowerPoint pictures.

·         Creating engaging congregational readings – often based on modern versions of the Bible!  [These go best when led by competent, trained lay leaders.]

In essence, variety!  Keeping people engaged, focused and interested!

5.    I miss going to the altar to receive Holy Communion.

In theme with what’s already been said, I have always preferred providing Holy Communion in such a way that people had the opportunity to come forward, kneel and pray at the altar – if they so desired.

Because of the sacred nature of this experience, we always provided two or three people [male and female] in our foyer for anyone who desired special prayer during the Communion time. [With people moving to and from the altar, it was easy for someone to discreetly slip out for prayer.  Occasionally, decisions for Christ were made as a result!  

The focus of the whole day was confession and restoration by the power of the risen Christ!

6.    I miss the anointing with oil for healing!

Providing for the open exercise of the exhortations given by the brother of our Lord in his New Testament letter:  James 5:14-18. 

Is anyone among you sick? Then he must call for the elders of the church and they are to pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord; and the prayer of faith will restore the one who is sick, and the Lord will raise him up, and if he has committed sins, they will be forgiven him. Therefore, confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another so that you may be healed. A prayer of a righteous person, when it is brought about, can accomplish much. Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, and he prayed earnestly that it would not rain, and it did not rain on the earth for three years and six months. Then he prayed again, and the sky poured rain and the earth produced its fruit.

The practice of this grace can be time-consuming and awkward in public worship.  However, it can also be enormously caring, emotionally and physically healing, and a physical expression of love! 

In a world filled with such addiction, brokenness and pain – how can we ignore such clear instructions? 

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Every tradition has its own ways of doing things.  I’m trying to adjust to a new tradition after a lifetime of experience in a somewhat different one.  I’m less elastic than I may have been when I was younger.  I openly confess to missing these aspects of worship that I had become comfortable and familiar with. 

At the same time, I am embracing new people and growing through my engagement with them.  I hope they’ll be patient with me as I try to find my way in a new system that challenges me every Sunday yet also frequently leaves me with lingering longings for the worship experiences I’ve just described! 

Blessings on the Church! 

TEACH ME TO PRAY, LORD!

I learned my first lessons in prayer from my mother.  She would kneel with me at my bedside every night and help me recite my bedtime prayer:

Now I lay me down to sleep, I pray the Lord my soul to keep.

God, bless Mommy and Daddy,

Grandma, Jeannette and Lib,

Tommy and Bobby,

Beverly and Ira,

and everybody in the world.

Keep Harold be a good boy.

Amen. 

Mealtimes were always prayer times as well.

God is good.  God is great!

And we thank Him for this food.

For love and friends,

And all things good.  Amen.

For many years, my mother kept a small plastic loaf of bread in the center of our table that was filled with small cards that included verses of scripture.  She would have Beverly or me pull out a card and read it.  Maybe we would even try to memorize it.

She was a good teacher and a good example!  I still have two of her Bibles.  She created duct-tape envelopes in the front and back to hold her many prayer lists. 

When I went to college, I immediately began getting up around 5:30 AM to read my Bible and pray.  When my roommate protested, I quietly slipped out and went to a rather cold kitchen area to have my devotions.  Eventually, I was joined by a number of other fellows who had a common desire to start the day with God! 

In reflection, I believe my most effective praying has taken place while walking.  I’ve walked miles and miles around the various sanctuaries where I’ve pastored.  In Harrison City, I walked the fields behind the brand new church I was appointed to serve.  In McClellandtown, I walked a lot in the fields behind the church property.  In East Liverpool, I walked in Thompson Park.  In Spencerville, MD, the church had twelve acres with a very private little cove on the back corner.  In Akron, I prayer-walked in Goodyear Park almost every day.  In New Middletown, I walked in Poland Forest.  In China, I walked nearly every day at the Yitong River Park which was two light rail stations away.  Here in Enon Valley I walk our little village.  As a hiker/backpacker, it’s been a most natural way for me to pray.  

[Caveat:  For the last several years I have been suffering from a sciatic nerve problem that severely limits my ability to walk.  This has clearly affected my prayer life as well.]

Yet, I’ve rarely been satisfied with my prayer life.  Too often it has been too self-centered.  Thankfully though, there have been seasons in which I have been outreaching in prayer.  For several years I set my phone alarm for 10:02 AM.  When it went off, I would take several moments to pray Luke 10:2, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore, beseech the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.” 

My three-year China journal [which I’ve been reviewing this morning] is full of scriptures and quotes from books I was reading during that time.  Living in a spiritually lost and confused culture heightened my awareness of sharing my faith and praying for God’s direction in my life.  I needed Him more as a result! 

But, I must confess that many days my prayer life is anemic.  It feels rote and repetitive.  It seems unproductive and ineffective.  I want it to be different, but don’t always know how to get there.  I’m impatient and not always willing to invest the time and focus that is sometimes required to make prayer effective. I get distracted.  I'm too conscious of the time.

I’m so grateful for God’s patience with me!  He doesn’t write me off.  And I’m especially grateful for those rare times when His presence invades my space and my heart.  Old-timers used to refer to those times as ‘praying through’.  I need to explore that concept.  I need to be more persistent in prayer. 

I recently did a seven-day fast.  My prayer life spiked during those days.  Fasting and prayer have always been great partners in drawing near to God! 

I spend a lot of time discouraged because of the deteriorating conditions in our country.  I’ve recently begun limiting my exposure to the news because of the depressing effect it has on me.  I’ve come to the conclusion that I need to watch less news and spend more time interceding for our nation.  I have no doubt that we could turn our nation around if we would invest more in prayer!  The phrase has been around for ages:  PRAYER CHANGES THINGS!  It also changes people! 

Lord,

My mom helped me get started right!  Thank You for her influence.

Throughout my life I’ve had a desire to serve and please You.

At times I’ve felt in stride with You;

other times, I’ve failed You miserably by my inconsistency and rebellion.

I’m getting down to the last years of my life and I want them to count for You and Your Kingdom!

Help me to be willing to make the necessary sacrifices to be a truly godly man.

Teach me to pray, Lord!

For Your Kingdom’s sake.  Amen.

NEW BRIGHTON THANKSGIVINGS

 As I lay in the dark this morning, I found myself remembering Thanksgivings from my early years in New Brighton, PA.  [Feel free to add your thoughts, memories or corrections in the 'comments' section.]

I was born in 1952, so my recollections are primarily from the mid-1950's and through the 1960's.  My home church was the New Brighton Free Methodist Church, which - at that time - was a large church that ran three buses that brought mostly children to Sunday School.  

My primary memory of Thanksgiving revolves around the Thanksgiving Community Worship that took place in the morning around 10:00 AM.  This was surely an awkward time for women who were preparing large meals for their families.  There may have been some years that my mom didn't go.  But my dad and I would still go (it was one of the rare things that the two of us did together).  

The service was moved to various churches that participated in the protestant ministerial group.  That was part of the fun and excitement:  seeing the insides of some of the other churches!  When the service was held at various Presbyterian or Lutheran churches, we would be exposed to remarkable pipe organ music!  Singing the great Thanksgiving hymns like

• "Come, Ye Thankful People, Come"
• "We Plow the Fields and Scatter"
• "For the Beauty of the Earth"
• "Now Thank We All Our God"

took on a whole new dynamic when sung to the accompaniment of these grand instruments and a full sanctuary of worshippers!  

We saw many of our neighbors at this community service.  We would always greet Dr. and Mrs. Phillips and others from our William Penn Way neighborhood.  All men wore suits and women were dressed in their Sunday best clothing.  Appropriate scriptures would be read by various community pastors.  A Thanksgiving message would be delivered by the host pastor.  

During this time period, the local ministerial group had considerable influence!  When they spoke out on issues relevant to the community, their words had significant impact.  Certain clergy members who had stayed in the community and gained considerable trust over the years were especially authoritative.  I only remember one name:  Rev. Matchett.  The Ministerial Association had clout in those days!  

There were other times that we gathered to worship, such as Good Friday, but none seemed to garner the community's support like Thanksgiving Day!  It was a celebrative time;  a joyful time;  a reflective time.  

We gather together to ask the Lord's blessing;

He chastens and hastens His will to make known;

The wicked oppressing now cease from distressing,

Sing praises to His name:  He forgets not His own.

Beside us to guide us, our God with us joining,

Ordaining, maintaining His kingdom divine.

So from the beginning the fight we were winning:

Thou, Lord, wast at our side, all glory be Thine!

[And now, with all the organ stops open:]

We all do extoll Thee, thou Leader triumphant,

And pray that Thou still our Defender wilt be.

Let Thy congregation escape tribulation:

Thy name be ever praised!  O Lord, make us free!

And ALL God's people said:  AMEN!