Not long ago several of us attended the Friday Night Singing at
Grace and peace to both congregations as make this transition into one body. And may the day hasten when the unity of the body will be more and more fully realized and experienced.
We Do Not Lose Heart…
Homecoming Sermon for Lindsley Avenue Church
October 14, 2007
McGarvey Ice
Text: 2 Corinthians 4.1 :…since we have this ministry, as we received mercy, we do not lose heart…. [NASB]
Trouble in the Biblical Text
SIGH Look at what we are up against! Division, personal enemies and opponents of our ministry who would discredit our ministry and distort our teaching. Deep-seated racism and class-hatred in the church, false and misleading teaching on a host of issues, envy and sectarianism, blatant immorality, a crisis of leadership. Why, our worship assemblies sometimes look more like chaotic gatherings to the gods of wine and love than moments of divine grace before the Lord of Life. Our city is on the one hand famous for its cosmopolitan character and on the other hand notorious for its lack of moral character. SIGH, look at what we are up against!
I wonder what it must have been like to be one of Paul’s associates during the years he labored and corresponded with the Christians at Corinth. Sosthenes, Timothy and Titus, along with others, shared ministry with Paul and had a part in the writing and delivering of letters (not to mention personal visits) to and from Corinth. Paul’s ministry in Corinth, and the time he spent in contact with the church there spanned a number of years and a number of letters. What we know is that the church was situated in one of the more important trade centers of the Mediterranean theater. It was truly cosmopolitan and offered the best of Greek and Roman culture. At the same time it offered the worst of idolatry, immorality and competing stories by which life could be lived. Into this circumstance Paul and others declare the good news of God: that Jesus Christ was crucified and buried and is now raised from the dead. Into this situation Paul and others declare that the way of Jesus is the story by which we live. And yet, the church at Corinth is a congregation divided. Personalities, false doctrine, class, ethnic and racial identities, sin, would woo the church from the foundation laid for them in Christ. No wonder we could easily imagine Paul letting out a deep and painful sigh as he receives the latest news or correspondence from his beloved Corinth.
Trouble in the Present Day
One-hundred fifty years ago Cherry Street Christian Church in downtown Nashville was hailed by many as the finest church in the city. It certainly had the finest building, and her minister, Jesse Babcock Ferguson, was praised as the best preacher in the South. But the church was troubled. A few years into his ministry, Ferguson has clearly and openly espoused Universalism and Spiritualism and the peace of the congregation was deeply upset. In fact, when Alexander Campbell himself paid a visit to the Nashville church to assist them, Ferguson left the city, claiming that the ghost of William Ellery Channing had warned him not to meet Campbell. At one time the church was strong, with many capable workers teaching and ministering. But in the late 1850’s the church was broken. In the midst of what we now call the “Ferguson Affair” David Lipscomb began preaching in the suburbs of the growing city. He preached in East Nashville, North Nashville, and here, in South Nashville. After the civil war, as the city was reconstructing itself, this area of town was the intellectual center of Nashville. The universities were here, a good deal of wealth was here. But between this hill and downtown was a slum known as Black Bottom. In the years before the Cumberland River was controlled by dams, that low area would flood and the rich black silt from the river gave the area its name. It was, by all accounts, one of the worst places in Nashville, and its was just down the hill from where we sit this morning. This area of town offered the best and the worst of one of the key cities in the South during Reconstruction. And this area of town would be the place where David Lipscomb would devote the remainder of his life as Elder of the South College Street Christian Church. His first audience in the 1850’s was three ladies and little boy. By 1877, 130 years ago, the little band was able to purchase a corner lot a block from here. A decade later in 1887 they were able to build a building and the congregation grew. As they grew they faced grievous obstacles and grand opportunities. Life in the church in Nashville was in some ways similar to that in Corinth. There was division; there were competing stories that vied for a place in the hearts of Christians. Racism, class-hatred and sectarianism were constant issues. I suspect that David Lipscomb, T. B. Larimore, James A. Harding, J. C. Martin, W. H. Timmons and others could echo Paul’s deep sigh for the church.
Grace in the Biblical Text
Deep as that sigh might have been, Paul was convinced that division, personal enemies, doctrinal upheaval, and immorality would not have the final say as to the hope of the church. For Paul had declared to the Corinthians that the one who establishes them both in Christ and who anointed and who sealed them, and who gave to them the Holy Spirit as a pledge is none other than God himself. Furthermore, Paul declares, as many as are the promises of God, they are YES in Christ Jesus. Paul’s ministry in Corinth is not based upon nor is it rooted in his own personality, his own ethnicity, his own social status, or his own teaching. Paul’s ministry is rooted in the gracious act of God in Christ. His ministry from first to last is Christ, indeed, to sum it up, as God’s promise to us in Christ is YES, so our response and our ministry is AMEN (2 Cor. 1.19-22).
Into troubled Corinth, with all of its promise and all of its peril, Paul declares that God’s gracious promise to us in Christ is YES. Paul will go on to say that his adequacy comes not from himself, but from God (2 Cor. 3.5). For Paul there is something that stands beyond the troubles of the moment that roots and grounds ministry: the grace of God and the mercy of God and the ministry of God. How else could he be hopeful for Corinth? How else could he be so confident as to declare the gospel in that city? How else could he deal so boldly yet patiently and lovingly and tenderly with the church in Corinth? How could he except for the prior work of God? How could he but for the mercy of God and the ministry with which God had blessed him?
Grace in the Present Day
2 Cor. 4.1: “Since we have this ministry, as we received mercy, we do not lose heart…” David Lipscomb comments concerning this verse that “as God had committed to him so great a trust, he would not be discouraged or disheartened by the great persecution he endured.” J. W. Shepherd adds that “there was nothing so deep down in his sould, nothing so constantly in his thoughts, as this great experience. No flood of emotion, no pressure of trial, no necessity of conflict, ever drove him from his moorings here. The mercy of God underlay his whole being.”
How else could David Lipscomb, T. B. Larimore, James A. Harding and others declare the gospel in Nashville in the 1850’s, or in 1887, or how can we declare it today given the circumstances we face? How can David Lipscomb dare to plant a congregation when the best and brightest his church had to offer turned out to be a shame to the brotherhood across the South? How can he be so confident as to plant a congregation between his city’s intellectual center and her most squalid slum? How could he but for the mercy of God and the ministry with which God charged him?
How can we venture forth with the good news? When we look around our city we would could very well sigh and shake our heads and say look at what we are up against. Look at how we are afflicted! Look at how we are perplexed! Look at how we are persecuted! Look at how we are struck down! Look at what we are up against!
Henri J. M. Nouwen says this, “Our lives are full of brokenness. Broken dreams, broken relationships, broken promises. How can we live with that brokenness except by returning again and again to God’s faithful presence in our lives?”
Paul says, “We do not preach ourselves but Christ Jesus as Lord, and ourselves as your bond-servants for Jesus’ sake. For God, who said, who said, “Light shall shine out of darkness,” is the One who has shone in our hearts to give the Light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ. But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, so that they surpassing greatness of the power will be of God and not from ourselves; we are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not despairing; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; always carrying about in the body the dying of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our body. For we who live are constantly being delivered over to death for Jesus’ sake, so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh.
How can we lay down our lives in such brokenness? We can, since we have this ministry. We can, because we have received mercy. We can because of what God in Christ has done for us and is doing through us for our city. Because of God’s faithful presence in our lives, we do not lose heart. Amen.
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Postscript: This sermon attempts two things: first I attempt to speak a good word to a congregation on a special anniversary. To that end the sermon recounts some measure of that congregation's history, but places that history in a sermonic context and not a Sunday School class or history lecture context. I am not trying to lecture on the history of the congregation, I am using the history of the congregation as a resource for a sermon to the congregation. Secondly, I attempt to speak a good word to a congregation that deeply desires to minister to a nieghborhood of Nashville that is notorious for drug and gang activity. Though in part revitalized, the area has a way to go. A combination of the southern interstate loop around the central city and the urban development initiative of the 1960's produced a depressed ghetto. Yet the congregation did not leave, or fold, or relocate. Instead, they stayed. And Sunday was a special day when several former members returned. I wanted therefore to speak a word that would contribute to the present work of the congregation, and more than that, to ground ministry in the good news of God in Christ. So the sermon is an attempt to do specific historical theology for the good of a local congregation. As to form, I took a cue from Paul Scott Wilson's "four pages of the sermon" and structured my sermon accordingly: trouble in the biblical text, troble in our world, grace in the biblical text, grace in our world (cf. Thomas Long, The Witness of Preaching 2nd ed., 128-129). One other thing, I did not footnote my quotations.
It was my pleasure to speak yesterday at Lindsley Avenue Church of Christ in Nashville for their Homecoming Sunday. Lindsley Avenue is the oldest Church of Christ in Nashville, having grown from the preaching of David Lipscomb in South Nashville (as early as 1855). By 1877 they purchased a lot at the corner of Third Avenue South (then known as College Street) and Ash Street. A decade later they completed a brick building (which is no longer standing) and under the preaching of T. B. Larimore the congregation was set in order. That was November 1887, so this years' homecoming marks their 120th Anniversary. From what I can gather they can legitimately claim to go back to the 1850's although they existed for years as a "mission" church. It seems that they did not have elders and deacons and may not have met every week to observe the Lord's Supper and carry out a program of ministry until Larimore's meeting gave them a real boost in 1887. Although not set in order, they did have an active Sunday School (which was quite large) even though they conducted in rented quarters until the building was completed.
It was this congregation that David Lipscomb served as elder from 1887 until his death thirty years later, in November 1917. This church piques my interest becuase it is one thing to read what Uncle Dave writes each week in the Advocate; this church's story shows what life is like in a congregation, week in and week out, under Lipscomb's pastoral care. I'm not suggesting there is a disconnect between what he writes and what he practices; I suggesting that this church provides a wider frame of reference for understanding Lipscomb that simply the pages of the Advocate. At any rate, having outgrown their building, they purchased the Presbyterian meetinghouse at Second and Lindsley Avenues in 1920. At that time the Carroll Street Christian Church (which had swarmed from South College Street) returned and the two congregations took the name Lindsley Avenue Church of Christ. The building is an eclectic Romanesque example of 1890's church architecture, originally constructed for the Grace Cumberland Presbyterian Church in 1894. The older photo to your right is from 1896, when the Grace Church and her pastor were featured in the Centennial Album of Nashville (the same Centennial which gave us, among other things, Centennial Park and the Parthenon). http://www.tennessean.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071003/COUNTY10/710030449/1006/NEWS
I don't know about the records of the Commerce Church of Christ near Watertown (east of Nashville near Lebanon), but I suspect that if a fire (or flood, or tornado, or...) were to destroy most any church building, the records of membership, baptisms, and ministry would not survive.
If you have, or know of anyone who has, valuable congregational records, please contact me at Disciples of Christ Historical Society. Upon donation, your irreplaceable congregational records will be properly sorted, processed, filed and boxed. They will then be housed in a climate-controlled and access-controlled secure environment in perpetuity. Here they will be available to researchers, genealogists, church historians and students such as contact me for research assistance on a daily basis.
McGarvey Ice
Public Services Archivist
Disciples of Christ Historical Society
1101 19th Avenue, South
Nashville, TN 37212-2196
615.327.1444
http://www.discipleshistory.org/
ice@discipleshistory.org
The Future of History
The fall research season is in full swing. Just today I had three researchers going full-steam. All are graduate students, from Vandy, Lipscomb and U. of Chicago. I'm always energized by sharing scholarship and by facilitating scholarship. Today was a good day for research; and if anyone tells you that people are not interested in our history, then they would be wrong.--------On that note, my presentation to the Tennessee Conference of Historians Saturday at Union University in Jackson, TN went well. Being my first such presentation, I have nothing to which to compare it (at least as far as the presentation is concerned). However, I was comfortable with the paper and the conference as a whole was well-done. The people at Union went out of their way to make it a good experience. The coordinator of the session in which I presented made several thoughtful and genuinely helpful suggestions on the paper. I wasn't expecting that and was very impressed. My paper was entitled: Nashville Churches of Christ, 1866-1906: Patterns of Evangelism for a Growing Fellowship. I've got some more work to do on it, both in the areas of research and interpretation. --------I'm commuting in via Murfreesboro Road now instead of I-24. It's comparable, and sometimes quicker, plus I have yet to brace myself for what I'm sure is an impending rear-end from either 1) an 18 wheeler, 2) a redneck in a large pick-up, 3) women who are putting on make-up. If that sounds snobby or sexist, then you haven't driven I-24 in the mornings; you drive it for 6 years and then get back to me. For the drive home, however, the interstate is still quicker. Most days it flows rather well; today I made it home in about 35 minutes. Lately, I've listened to Bob Randolph and James Walters sermons from Brookline Church in Boston. I burn CD's and can get one, maybe two sermons in one one-way trip (unless Bob gets long-winded).--------Speaking of James Walters, I've found his work on Rome and Romans not only fresh and well-reasoned, but tremendously insightful for a reading and application of Romans. Ethnic Issues in Paul's Letter to the Romans; a book you should own. So, having an opportunity to hear him preach (even if on CD) is a real bonus. (Chad, I'm envious...take good notes!) I met James at Chad Smith's (beautiful) wedding last fall. A fine exegete and a nice guy (both of them).--------Speaking of Romans, we at Central Church will be in chapter 4 Sunday morning. Steve and I are attempting a program of teaching in which I teach the AM class, exegete the text for the day and he preaches the AM sermon on the same text, drawing out from it teaching for the assembly. The trick here is to do a class well (and not preach a sermon under the guise of a Sunday School lesson) and do a sermon well (and not preach as if it is a Sunday School class). I think the approach has real merit. This is the first time we've attempted such and it seems to be going well.--------How about that for a stream-of-consciousness post? I've also added some new blogs, deleted others, and fixed some broken links. I've got more to add as time permits.
I spend my days researching for other people. I answer their questions and sniff out leads on their behalf. Genealogy, congregational history, biography, orphaned parents, scholarly articles and books, institutional research, seminarians and professors: it varies from day to day and no two days are the same. I really like the variety because it forces me to interact with the full range of our materials at work and really has broadened by understanding (while at the same time reminding me how much I do not yet know or understand).
I also nurture some research projects of my own. The last three weeks, for example, I've been up at the crack of dawn tracing out the story of Nashville Churches of Christ from 1866-1906 in preparation for a paper I'm presenting at Union University in Jackson, TN in September. I've had long-standing research interests in Central Church and J. W. Shepherd and constantly keep my eyes open for anything that can contribute to an understanding of them. My most recent project included the Churches of Christ in North Edgefield, a suburb of Nashville just across the river from downtown. This project, slated for publication in September, led to my paper on the Nashville churches.
This afternoon, I enjoyed a few hours at church with former residents of the Central Girls' and Boys' Homes. Right at 100 folks, primarily from the Nashville area, gathered for lunch, to share memories and to keep in touch. I listened to stories and met some fine folks.
Last night Laura and I, Sharman, Sara and Marice (colleagues from DCHS) attended the Friday Night Singing at Charlotte Avenue Church of Christ. The congregation is merging with West Nashville Heights and will sell the building later this fall; this was the last singing in the old building (circa 1921-1923 or so, patterned after the Ryman Auditorium). I'd never before been to church at Charlotte Avenue, so I thought I'd better strike while the iron is hot. At one time it was about the largest Church of Christ in Nashville with something like 1200-1300 members. A historic congregation to be sure.
So, this weekend was a real treat. Let me plug my research projects: If you have, or know of anyone who has any historic material (paper items, photographs, ephemera, congregational records, books, periodicals, bulletins, letters, etc. no matter how insignificant you think it might be) along these lines, drop me a line, I'd love to meet you, listen to your story and talk with you.
It is up to us to keep and preserve our stories!
For the first time in about 5 years I tackled two courses in one semester at DLU: Preaching-Teaching Biblical Genres (Prof. John York) and Old Testament World (Prof. Ted Carruth).
Both were fine courses. I understand much better now the inner logic of narrative preaching (ala Craddock, Long, Lowery, Graves and others) and have sharper tools with which to construct sermons and preach them. I find this quite new and helpful since I managed to earn a BA in Preaching without ever having to preach in class. That's another story.
OT World contained so much in so many ways: so many civilizations, so much time, so much data. But I have a better grasp of the main issues on the table and a better working knowledge of the basic information. Though I am much more comfortable in the world of the New Testament, I count this course as great progress. I'd never done formal course work in OT World before, so the thrill of having the issues and data 'click' and fall into place is a real help.
With six hours down, I've got two semesters, and fifteen hours, left. Up to bat for the spring semester are three courses (an independent study in Missions, a short course in Genesis, and a third yet-to-be-determined); on deck for the summer are two more (one in Historical Theology with John Mark Hicks and one yet-to-be-determined).
Mark Manry: I wish you could join me for the Hicks course as I go out in style for my degree. Great memories, friend!
Speaking of degrees, I found this gem a while back and have been saving it for an apropos post:
"When a man reaches the point that he has sufficient reputation that it is uneccesary to print any degree after his name, he has "arrived." Degrees printed after names are crutches for little men to lean upon. Of what possible use can a B.D. [precursor to today's M.Div., M.Ice] degree be to a gospel preacher except some more infidelity to unlearn. When a man reaches the point that he prefers to be called "Doctor Blank" instead of "Brother Blank" he has indeed become a conceited donkey. Recently when I had an article about this matter in The Christian Leader a brother wrote to inquire what degrees I had. Now, brethren, that's just the point: not is it the truth? or Does the Bible teach it? but What degrees do you have? Yes, brethren, a new disease has broken out among us preachers -- it is "Degreeitis." Let us hope it will soon run its course."
--George W. DeHoff, "This and That" The Christian Magazine vol. 2 no. 3 January-March 1948, p. 29.
A big salute to Lipscomb University's Institute for Conflict Management for hosting an interfaith dialogue on campus. Thank you for being forthright, proactive, intentional and honest. A big salute for taking a risk.
Given the significance of such an event 1) at all, 2) in Nashville, and 3) at Lipscomb, you'd think the Tennessean could have done a better job of covering it. Sure, they gave the event front-page coverage today, but gracious, what sorry reporting it is. It's sensational, uselessly provocative, and rather dismissive of the true import of what Lee Camp said.
So, another big salute to Randy Lowry for issuing this statement. Kudos to Lipscomb for being forthright, proactive, intentional and honest by issuing the statement. Way to go friends, I'm impressed.
If the talk-radio blather from early this morning right on through the afternoon is any indication, I'm sure there will be letters to the editor (look at some of the comments already online) and lots more ranting. In their righteous indignation (based on a poor example of newspaper work) I hope folks will take the time to hear Dr. Camp out and try to understand the larger context of his argument (see Mere Discipleship and this blog (http://discipleshipdiscussion.blogspot.com/).
I hope they grapple with how truly radical his call is. It's radical all right, but not in the ways they think. In fact, its much more provocative and much more significant than we would like to admit.
And so it goes in Nashville tonight. Hope things are well with you, wherever you are.
And so to bed.
Installment #2
Choosing a college was not a agonizing decision for me. That I would attend one of "our" schools was not really up for grabs (though my parents certainly didn't force it). Late in high school I had determined to be a youth minister (how the path of my life has meandered through a variety of ministries is a different post for another time), and so attending Lipscomb University (DLU then) was a no-brainer. I had entertained going to ACU (and almost did) but a greater academic scholarship and being closer to home won the day.
Both Mom and Dad went to Lipscomb (DLC then): Dad after two years at Ohio Valley (OVC then, still a 2 year school, and he attended in the very early days of OVC); Mom all four years. My mother was the first from her immediate family to go to college. The Ice's have had a much stronger history of higher education.
Grandad Ice attended and/or graduated from more schools than anyone I've ever known. For a few weeks he and my great-grandfather, in a Model T Ford and a canvas tent, toured the South (they were living in southeast Ohio at the time, the early 1920's) to decide on a college for young McGarvey and hit, in geographical order, Harding College, David Lipscomb College, Milligan College, Johnson Bible College, Christian Normal Institute (later Kentucky Christian College, now KCU). As far as I can tell they didn't even stop at Freed-Hardeman or the College of the Bible in Lexington (both of these schools then representing the farther ends of the spectrum of the Disciples). In the end Grandad wound up at CNI, though he did study a semester at Harding in 1930. He finished his BA at Cedarville College (a Baptist school) in Ohio. Then came graduate schools in a couple of different disciplines. I could post on and on about Grandad.
Grandad's father, K. C. Ice, from central WVa, took his BA at Hiram College 
in northeast Ohio, in 1899. He evidently was awakened to missions at Hiram. Who or what the driving force was I do not know. Family stories have him with eyes set on medical missions in either China or India. He immediately went to St. Louis and took his MD in 1904. From there he headed back east to (cue Handel's Hallelujah chorus...) Bethany College for his Master's in Philosophy. He was the village physician in Bethany while taking his degree and no doubt cared for many notables, perhaps even Campbell family members in their old age. Having finished in 1907 he spent a year in doctorin' and doctrine (ha ha, I amuse myself) throughout West Virginia. Long story short...he married, soon had a son and whatever plans for missions to India and/or China he had were abandoned in favor of missions to the poor of eastern Kentucky, southeast Ohio and southwest West Virginia. Though a medical doctor, he was never wealthy. Often just getting by and thankful to accept payment in kind, whether books, chickens, rocking chairs or garden vegetables.
That's the gist of it. What I haven't been able to do yet is to chase down the influential professors at Hiram and Bethany. The earliest that I can trace my family's (either maternal or paternal side) in the Campbell-Stone Reformation is the early 1860's. More later.
In the world of Biblical scholarship and Near Eastern archaeology, few finds rank as high as or higher in terms of across-the-board significance than the discovery of a cache of Biblical scrolls and manuscripts in a series of caves near the Dead Sea. In the world of the Stone-Campbell tradition, few collections of manuscript material compare to the collection recently acquired by Disciples of Christ Historical Society of from First Christian Church in Frankfort, Kentucky.
This collection of letters is simply superb. The breadth and scope of the Fall Collection is tremendous. Their value to scholars over the next few decades will prove to be inestimable. Verily, verily, we may not see another cache like this one for a very long time. (Please, someone out there prove me wrong!) I really don't think comparing them to the Dead Sea Scrolls is too overblown. I'll cite one example: We have one Walter Scott letter at DCHS. In the Fall Papers there are five new ones. And that is just the tip of the iceberg.
Disciples World contributor Ted Parks has the scoop here
The photo to your right is of John William McGarvey, renowned Biblical exegete and scholar of a past generation. His ministry of writing (esecially his Commentary on Acts, 1863 and later reissued in 2 volumes in 1892 and hundreds of articles in papers and journals) and teaching (in the College of the Bible at Transylvania College, University of Kentucky) established him as the preeminent scholar-preacher of the Disciples in the latter half of the 19th century.
A student of Alexander Campbell and graduate of Bethany College, he trained most of the ministers and preachers and missionaries of the Christian Churches from the 1870's-1900's. He was widely read and engaged the larger world of Biblical scholarship. In many ways he typified the Restoration ideal of the latter 19th century: steeped in the English Bible, competent with the original languages, rationalistic, devoted and zealous, and committed to the Restoration principle.
Being an admirer of him, my great-gradfather named his firstborn, a son, after "Brother McGarvey." McGarvey Charles Ice (d. January 28, 1999), my grandfather, was born October 5, 1909, on the campus of Bethany College. My great-grandfather was the town doctor in Bethany for a few years, living just a stones throw from, and in the shadow (both literally and figuratively) of, Bethany's Old Main. I'm really rather surpised that Grandad was named McGarvey Charles instead of McGarvey Campbell!
My dad named me after my grandfather, so I can claim to be a namesake of old Brother McGarvey only indirectly. But I have inherited, and with grateful hope continue, a heritage of scholarship (great-grandad held degrees from Hiram College, Bethany College and an MD), Grandad (PhD) and churchmanship.
I have my heritage. It is mine to do with what I will. I embrace my past. I can neither choose my history nor can I change it. But I sincerely believe there is a nobility to the best of my heritage. So I embrace it, I choose to appreciate the previous generations (yes, I know they were flawed, but I will love them and appreciate them nonetheless), and I choose to participate in the ongoing story. My past has a future and I want to be a part of it.
End part first. More to come.
Grace and peace.
Greetings friends,
Here are some reflections on my visit to Portland Avenue Church of Christ in Louisville last evening.
I spent the day at Kirkpatrick Lectures held in conjunction with the North American Christian Convention. I decided late in the afternoon to forego the evening session at NA to find the Portland Avenue building and visit for Wednesday services. My time was limited and I had to be back in Nashville that night. Not knowing when I would have time to visit PA for services, I set out. I knew the general area of town in which to look, and after several turns and stopping once for directions I was pulling in just as services were starting.
The area of town, to the west of downtown Lousiville, along the river, is a working class neighborhood of row houses, city lots, brick and stone factories, schools and small businesses. I suspect an exodus to the suburbs is partly responsible for its decline. The area has seen better days.
After some helpful directions I soon found a simple, white clapboard church, the Portland Avenue Church of Christ. Immediately my eye was drawn to the vintage black-and-gold-lettered sign on the front of the building: "All are welcome here, especially the stranger and ther poor." The white building is surrounded by a lush green lawn. Adjoining the back of the building is the facility for the Portland Christian School. This school is among the oldest primary and secondary schools still in operation by members of Churches of Christ. If memory serves me correctly it is the second-oldest, behind what is now called David Lipscomb Campus School in Nashville.
A nice young man took me down a hallway lined with colorful art projects and posters, past classrooms with children to the prayer-meeting, assembled in the Boll Memorial Library.
I found four elderly members, three ladies and one gentleman, discussing the needs of those on their sick-list. They warmly welcomed me and we exchanged introductions. That I was in town and stopped by to visit pleased them (you do have to want to find Portland Avenue, it is out of the way a bit); that I knew of Brother Boll and Brother Olmstead (whose portraits hung on the wall above the high bookcases containg Boll's library) especially surprised them. I am from Hendersonville, not very far at all from Gallatin, where Olmstead preached. I knew a few people from the Gallatin church, although we haven't had contact in several years.
We prayed for the sick, mentinoning their families, loved ones, caregivers and doctors in earnest hope for healing and peace. Following the Amen they discussed the needs of their missionaries, in detail and each by name. I recognized most of the names from my reading the Word and Work. Yet the people I knew only by name they knew as people, as family, and as ones sent and supported by the church. Many times someone would say "They really need our prayers, we must not forget them." We prayed for the missionaries, in detail and by name. We then discussed the affairs of the world, especially Israel and the Palestinians and the war in Iraq. We prayed for the leaders and decision-makers in our land and in other lands in earnest hope for peace. Discussion afterward turned to their beloved minister, Alex Wilson, and how much they appreciated him. We then prayed a final time, for Alex and the congregation. Again, in earnest and with hope that God would work through them for good in their community.
One of the ladies attended Central in the early 30's when she was completing a Master's degree at Peabody. One of the ladies and her husband (Mr. and Mrs. Robert Heid) were entertained for an evening meal in the home of J. W. Shepherd. She vividly recalled the hospitality and graciousness of both J. W. and Julia. Robert would later edit and publish the Word and Work; he also would later preach for a time at Portland Avenue. It has been 20 years since he passed from this life to eternity; she, and Heid printing, still print the paper and mail it out each month from a little wooden-frame building adjacent to the Portland Avenue property.
They showed me the auditorium where for over 40 years R.H. Boll preached. New flooring and air-conditioning notwithstanding, it is essentially the same as it was back then. These ladies grew up in the community, attended Portland Christian School, and regaled me with stories about how the building was often packed to overflowing. They told me about how Boll was a studious, meek, and humble man. They told me how he urged them to study the scriptures for themselves, and not believe anything because he or anyone else said to, but because it is what the scriptures teach. Somewhere online is a sermon or two by Boll. I forget the site; but I must listen to them again.
They took me to the Word and Work Bookstore where I bought a few tracts and booklets by Don Carlos Janes, J. R. Clark, Stanford Chambers and Boll. My great-grandfather admired Boll, and subscribed to WW. His son, Dr. McGarvey C. Ice, did as well. He read it faithfully each month. My own personal memories of seeing and reading the WW, and hearing my grandfather speak highly of Boll and his attitude toward scripture and prophecy made the visit to this little shop all the more meaningful.
The prayer-meeting, with just the five of us, will stand out in my memory, I hope, for a long time to come. Seeing the Boll library, and knowing that the study of these books played a deeply significant role in the life of the Portland Avenue church and in the readership of the WW, was particularly meaningful. One book story: I pulled from the shelf Boll's Lessons on Hebrews, (McQuiddy 1910). Penned inside is a notation, to the effect of: "First Copy, to my dear wife, love Robert, 1910." In a moment, as I stood in the library holding that book, Boll's scholarship, ministerial and pastoral presence in the PA congregation, and his humanity came together in a profound way.
More could be said, but this is enough to convey the essence of a wonderful visit to the Portland Avenue church. Someday I hope to return for worship and research.
Who else has been to Portland Avenue? Please share your memory.
Grace and peace,
Mac
This from my friend Clint Holloway:
Area Worship Service for Churches of Stone-Campbell Traditions
At 5 pm on June 11 there will be an area worship service for congregations of the Stone-Campbell/Restoration Movement and as part of the 2006 Stone-Campbell Dialogue hosted by Lipscomb University. Participants in the worship service will include Churches of Christ - Christian Churches - Disciples of Christ. The highlight of the service will be a celebration of the Lord's Supper, which Thomas Campbell called "that great sacrament of Unity and Love." The Lord's Supper will be led by Jeff Weston Australian-born director of the World Convention. The service will also include worship in song, responsive readings, Scripture and prayer (no preaching). The service is being hosted by several local congregations, World Convention, the Disciples of Christ Historical Society and others. It will be held in the Great Hall of the Family of God at Woodmont Hills (Church of Christ), 3710 Franklin Road, Nashville, TN 37204.
All churches and their members are invited to be a part of this unique and historic worship celebration among the three historic bodies of believers that trace their roots to the 19th century Reformation movement led by Thomas and Alexander Campbell and Barton W. Stone.
The Stone-Campbell Dialogue is an annual gathering of Scholars and Ministers from throughout the United States and across the three historic streams of the Stone-Campbell Movement who meet to share and discuss the unity we have as brothers and sisters in Christ and to heal decades of sinful division. It is not, however, a movement to seek merger of the three distinct bodies but a recognition of our heritage.
For more information on the worship service please contact Clinton J. Holloway at milligan95@yahoo.com
For more information on the Dialogue please contact Robert Welsh at rwelsh@ccu.disciples.org
Clinton J. Holloway
Minister of Involvement, First Christian Church, Nashville, TN
Stone-Campbell Movement Historian
"It is better to light a candle than to curse the darkness."
Laura, the girls, and I hope to see you there. Look for me at or around the DCHS table.
