Train children in the right way,
and when old, they will not stray.
~Proverbs 22:6
Tell me and I forget.
Teach me and I remember.
Involve me and I learn.
~ Benjamin Franklin
Despite all the advice to the contrary, I LOVE substitute teaching in the middle schools of Cobb and Cherokee counties. Everybody tells me I’m nuts for doing it and out of my mind because I enjoy it. The teachers are grateful and full of spunk. Middle school students are insane because they are on the cusp of disbelief. Sixth graders are fun because they haven’t quite realized that they’re not in Kansas any more. Seventh graders are a handful because they believe that being difficult is their life’s calling. Eighth graders are interesting to work with because they finally realize that school is a serious endeavor. I cannot tell you how much I admire each and every one of them!
Many of the most influential persons in my life have been teachers. But when it comes to those who taught me the greatest faith lessons, the honor goes to Mr Phillips and Pastor Wood. Both these great men were a part of the first community of faith of which I actually remember being a member. When we joined Pilgrim Baptist Church in Glastonbury, CT, it was part of the Conservative Baptist denomination. I didn’t realize that this would be the first time in my life that I would live in the same town two years in a row. We joined when I was 8 and I would remain there until I was 15…the “Wonder Years.”
Pilgrim Baptist started meeting in an old Masonic Temple some time before we joined. Pastor Wood led us and we grew rapidly. Many of the members worked at the Pratt & Whitney aircraft engine plant where both my Dad and Pastor Wood worked, my Dad for the USAF and Pastor Wood for P&W. Soon we had the resources to build our own church. And when I say “build” that is exactly what I mean. Through P&W, we had access to architects, engineers, and craftsmen of all sorts and we didn’t contract it out, we built our church brick by brick. I remember carrying cinder blocks and bricks to construct its walls.
Mr Phillips was our Sunday School teacher. I was amazed at how much he knew about the Bible. As we studied scripture through his teaching the words, events and characters came alive for us. He just had a special way of making it all so real and important to us. He could start fires in our hearts and minds with chalk dust.
Pastor Wood’s sermons were the same way. He preached with scholarship and enthusiasm in such a way as to make scripture central to life as a Christian. He had studied both biblical Hebrew and Greek so we could better understand what the words of the Bible meant when they originally heard and read. It made me feel like I had lived way back when and how I would feel if I had lived in those times and heard these teachings. That made scripture so much more relevant for my life here and now.
We also considered ourselves a missionary church. There were several missionary efforts that we supported through the years. And often the missionaries themselves would visit us in person with slides and artifacts showing the work they were doing in their missionary fields around the world. We supported missionaries in Africa, South America and Central America.
Because of these two saints, studying scripture has never been a boring chore for me but an exciting adventure in faith. The persons and events that have defined the history and life of Christendom were never two dimensional comic book characters, but full of real meaning and importance for every Christian alive today. So you must forgive my sometimes annoying fascination with both Scripture and Church History. I, like Wesley, consider them foundational pillars to faith.
My prayer for you, my fellow travelers in faith, is that, in your studies and meditations on your own life in faith, you may experience teachings and teachers who warm your heart in such a way that your faith grows. I pray you may continue to have moments that change and challenge the faith that has sustained your life. That the Holy Spirit continues to fill your hearts with a burning passion for God’s Word and God’s People.
Blessings,
Rev Dr Jim McGrath
