The Rest of the Story

The “rest of the story” refers to the rest of the story of the A.C. Hall, Sr., family of Hayes Barton Baptist Church.  As I’ve shared in at least one other post, the journey of this blog is one filled with blessings, and one of the blessings I received came in an envelope with my name typed…not word processed; not handwritten…typed on it.  The envelope came from Helen Hall Bosse, the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. A.C. Hall, Sr., and it offered a story entitled “My Years at Hayes Barton Baptist Church” by Helen Hall Bosse, MD.

The envelope was given to me on a Sunday morning just when I was wondering where my next story was going to come from.  The story was intriguing given it offered the same tale about the Halls not being charter members that I had heard from Julian Bunn.  It also was intriguing because it offered that Helen had gone to medical school in the 1940s.  That certainly was not a common occurrence in those days; for a woman to study to be a doctor. 

I called Helen the next day, and we set up a conversation around her still very busy schedule.  When I arrived at her home at Springmoor, I was instantly surrounded by the many collectables she has from her many travels and interests.  Then she pulled out a photo album entitled “This is Your Life:  1923-1973” which contained mostly black and white photos from Helen’s life.  Helen’s mother had put it together for her and given it to her on her fiftieth birthday.

Helen’s story is so interesting that a blog entry can’t do it justice.  We paged through the years, seeing photos of a house that still stands on Sunset Drive behind the church (I drove past it this week to see it now.), photos of Hayes Barton Baptist Church’s sanctuary before the fire, a photo of the burned church that I hadn’t seen among the other fire photos, photos from her studies at the Medical College of Virginia in Richmond, and photos from travels all around the United States and the world.

Helen was a practicing anesthesiologist for half of her career, the only one in Raleigh for a time.  The other half she spent as a medical consultant for Social Security Disability, taking her medical knowledge and teaching others how to understand medical terminology. Helen married late in life, learned and taught ballroom and line dancing, and even won a tango competition along the way.  Although we didn’t discuss it, I’ve been told that Helen also performed as a clown a time or two. 

Helen has traveled all her life and particularly enjoyed the trips she took with Tom and Betty Bodkin.  To this day, she enjoys Hayes Barton Baptist Church as her church home. “It has been my home all my life,” shares Helen.  “Wherever I have been, I always come back.  And when I am here, I get there.  When I can’t, I watch the TV ministry and often have neighbors come and watch and say how wonderful Dr. Hailey is.”

Helen says in the story below that “God has blessed me with a church home for many years.”  In like manner, God blesses Hayes Barton Baptist Church with Helen Hall Bosse.

My Years at Hayes Barton Baptist Church

Helen Hall Bosse

In the early 1920’s, my parents, Mr. and Mrs. A. C. Hall, Sr., met when she was a teacher at Meredith College and he was attending Wake Forest College.  Meredith informed her that because she was getting married, she could no longer teach at Meredith.  They married.  They were attending Tabernacle Baptist Church when Hayes Barton was conceived.  They became charter members of the choir at the new church.  I was two and one half years old and mother was pregnant with my brother and would not join the church until after my brother was born in January.  She always regretted that they were not charter members of the church.

When I was ten years old, we moved to Sunset Drive, one-half block from the church.  All four of us where there when the doors opened.  Both my mother and father sang in the choir for years.  Early on they were in the Forum, and my brother and I attended B.Y.P.U.  We grew up with our church family.  My parents helped with youth groups.  He was a deacon, and she taught the Modern Lydias for many years, into her eighties.

At age nine Louis Gaines baptized me.  Carl Townsend was my mentor and friend through my teenage years.  T.L. and Helen Cashwell were great friends and were encouraging  as my mother aged.  [My father had died in 1963].  Helen remains my friend here at Springmoor.  Dr. Balentine’s teachings were enlightening.  Dr. Tolbert was a great help when mother died in 1995.  No one can preach better than Dr. Hailey.  All have been wonderful ministers.

When I was in medical school in the 1940s, I joined the First Baptist Church in Richmond.  Within a year, I returned my membership to Hayes Barton.

My brother, A.C. Hall, Jr., and his wife Dorothy Bray and their four children continued as members until he left his career as a Raleigh City Planner to reside at his motel at Atlantic Beach.

Now at 87 years old, I will continue living at Springmoor Retirement Community and reserve every Sunday morning for Hayes Barton Baptist Church and participate in whatever I can.

God has blessed me with a church home for many years.

A Part of God's Plan

As I near completion of the first month of these faith stories, I can’t help but note that there are some recurring stories and themes on this journey.  The stories are ones that come up in different conversations with different people. Most of them involve events at Hayes Barton Baptist Church, but some involve its people.  Here is one of the stories that will have a “rest of the story” in another posting.  The story is one about two people who were at Hayes Barton Baptist Church at its founding but were NOT charter members.  Read on and you’ll know why and why it is an important story.  The people are Mr. and Mrs. A.C. Hall, Sr.

I heard this brief story from several people when discussing the early history of Hayes Barton Baptist Church.  Julian Bunn offered it first, but others also mentioned it.  The story really is about more than just two people, Mr. and Mrs. A. C. Hall, Sr., who are its focal point; it is about all of the people who are Hayes Barton Baptist Church.

“In the beginning” of Hayes Barton Baptist Church, a handful of people met hoping to plant a Baptist church in, as the 75^th anniversary book states, “the new section of Raleigh known as Hayes Barton.”  Meetings took place in homes in the Hayes Barton neighborhood during the fall of 1926.  A General Steering Committee was formed which was chaired by N.H. McLeod, Sr.  Members included Mr. and Mrs. C.R. Boone, Mr. and Mrs. D.F. Fort, Jr., Dr. and Mrs. Ben J. Lawrence, D.R. Jackson, A.J. Fletcher, L. Polk Denmark, and Mrs. N.H. McLeod, Sr.

Eventually this committee, working with the Baptist Council of Raleigh, moved to organize what today stands as Hayes Barton Baptist Church.  The day this organizing action took place was November 7, 1926.  At that time, as the 75^th anniversary book states, “It was also agreed that all members received into the church by January 1, 1927, would be considered charter members.”  The book offers a list of 175 charter members.  In some way, this list is where this story really begins.

In reviewing the list of charter members, I did not find the names of Mr. and Mrs. A.C. Hall, Sr.  To be honest, I knew their names wouldn’t be on the list as I had been told they were not charter members.  I just had to make sure they were not on the list, or this story wouldn’t be worth telling.  You see, Mr. and Mrs. A. C. Hall, Sr., were involved in the activities which took place “in the beginning” of Hayes Barton Baptist Church.  They, in fact, were “charter members” of the choir, according to their daughter Helen Hall Bosse.  But they were not charter members of the church.  So, why is NOT being charter members even remembered some 85 years later? 

Because of how important those charter members were; that’s why.  The Halls were not able to join by January 1, 1927, and therefore are not considered charter members.  Their not joining is remembered because they very much wanted to join and very much wanted to be charter members.  But times were different back then.  Mrs. Hall was pregnant at the time of the church founding and, therefore, was not able to go out in public and join the church.  Hence, the Halls were not charter members.  “So what?” you might say.  Well, it is a “so what” as their not being charter members is remembered because it was regretted for many years.  Mrs. Hall, in particular, is remembered as wanting to have been a charter member.  But times were different back then.

The story of the Halls NOT being charter members lives on through the people in our church. And these very stories comprise who we are as a church.  They are our heritage. They illustrate how we started with the hope to plant a church.  And they show how the church can be a home for a lifetime. While the Halls were not charter members of the church, they were lifetime members.  And their story, just like yours and mine, make us who we are.  Whether “in the beginning” or today, the people of Hayes Barton Baptist Church are the lifeblood of Hayes Barton Baptist Church.  Each is to be remembered, and each is to be cherished.  Whether a charter member “in the beginning” or a new member today, each is a child of God and a part of God’s plan that is known as Hayes Barton Baptist Church.

Listening to What God Has to Say

It never crossed my mind that I would be able to write about Vince Lombardi in the Hayes Barton Baptist Church 85^th Anniversary Blog, but here I am doing just that.  You see, the person in today’s story actually saw Vince Lombardi in person!  It took a little research on my part as well as a follow-up post-interview question to ferret out this information but, lo and behold, he actually did see the legendary football coach of the Green Bay Packers in person while he played for a short time in the National Football League.  This little detail isn’t really a big part of his story, but I’m discovering that writing this blog is generating blessings, and this is one of them! The person, of course, is Bobby Hall, husband of Kate about whom there also is a story posted.

Just as his wife Kate has a certainty about herself, Bobby Hall has a certainty, a confidence about who he is and what he believes.  He, like Kate, points to the Bible for guidance.  For Bobby, the verse is Philippians 1:21, “For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain” (NIV).  He shares that it “offers a good way to live.”

And Bobby lives this good way.  As mentioned in the story about his wife Kate, Bobby and Kate are a couple that is perfectly matched to each other and perfectly matched to teach young couples at Hayes Barton Baptist Church.  They have been teaching the Genesis Class since 1999, and, even though Kate was an educator by profession, Bobby is the one who takes the lead with the class.  “I have never considered myself a teacher,” says Bobby.  “I’m a facilitator.”  Kate adds, “When Bobby shares from his own personal experience, he is able to translate from what he knows to what the class members likely are experiencing.”

Bobby and Kate joined Hayes Barton Baptist Church in 1980 when they moved to Raleigh from Greenville.  “Our sons liked it and felt comfortable and so did we,” shares Bobby.  Even though they both were used to smaller churches given where they grew up, Bobby says they got and continue to get that same small town feeling at Hayes Barton Baptist Church.

Sunday School and other church activities are what allow that feeling to happen.  For Bobby, those activities have included coaching boys basketball which he did for a number of years, including a year which ended in a state championship back in the day when such championships existed. 

Bobby’s sharing about basketball led to a question about the sports he played which led to finding out that Bobby played football at North Carolina State University on the team that won State’s first bowl victory.  “The white shoes team?” I asked.  “You know about that?”  Bobby responded.  That’s how the football angle evolved and led to my internet research which led to finding out Bobby had been drafted by the Buffalo Bills.  Mind you, he didn’t tell me that.  I had to find it out by asking about the draft and then asking about whether he had played at Lambeau Field in Green Bay.  While he didn’t do that, he did play an exhibition game against the Washington Redskins when Vince Lombardi was that team’s coach near the end of his career.   “He was standing right there on the field when we came out of the locker room,” says Bobby.  Oh my, hearing Bobby describe it made me feel like I had seen Lombardi myself in person!

And while Bobby’s NFL career didn’t last beyond the exhibition games, Bobby continues to be a team player through his involvement in various church efforts.  Currently he is chairman of the Mission Evangelism Council and oversees the Ledford Fund.  “The dual responsibilities have been great,” says Bobby, “it is exciting and encouraging to see the number of people getting involved in missions.” 

Like Kate, Bobby sees missions as providing opportunities for “people to respond to needs.  The Support Circle which is working intensively with one family is an example of this,” says Bobby.  “In this situation, two Sunday School classes, Danielson and Genesis, are jumping in to help this family.” 

Bobby and Kate see the hope of Hayes Barton Baptist Church in the young couples in the Genesis Class.  “I teach them, and Kate loves them,” says Bobby.  “We work together to give them what we can.” 

The heritage of Hayes Barton Baptist Church is in its people and “the willingness of the people to come from wherever they are, come to consensus, and join together,” shares Bobby.  “I love the fact that we have the wisdom of many years and the new ideas of young people operating in this church.”

As far as Hayes Barton Baptist being a home for them, Bobby says, “This is home for us.  It is a big part of who we are; part of our identity.”

With Kate, Bobby has found that Hayes Barton Baptist Church enables them to live “a good way.”  “I try to always have one ear open to what God has to say,” says Bobby.  What a good way to live.  Listening to what God has to say and living in a way that follows what God is saying.  Bobby Hall offers us an example of someone who does that.  And he saw Vince Lombardi in person!  You can’t beat that!

Sharing Joy

Do you remember when you learned how to do something for the first time…something you really wanted to learn how to do?  Did someone teach you?  Take you by the hand and help you?  Say encouraging words so that you could overcome any fears you might have?  Do you remember how you felt when you finally learned?  Do you remember the joy and sense of accomplishment?  Aren’t you glad there was someone to help you learn so that you could finally do it on your own? 

The person in today’s story has made many people glad in the way I’ve just described.  She has helped many learn how to do something for the first time.  She has taken them by the hand and helped.  She has said encouraging words so that fears are diminished.  She has spread the joy and generated the sense of accomplishment.  And when I think about writing about her, one word keeps coming to mind that connects to all I’ve just written.  That word is joy, and the person is Kate Hall.

Bobby and Kate Hall met with me together to talk about Hayes Barton Baptist Church.  Being married 41 years means that they probably do a lot of things together.  They are a couple that has great rapport.  I noticed that when I watched the 75^th anniversary video for Hayes Barton Baptist Church because they were interviewed together for that ten years ago.  They haven’t changed in ten years.  Bobby still looks at Kate with love-filled eyes, and Kate’s return gaze is one of admiration and love.

Yet, enough about the two of them as I want to write about Kate in this story; Bobby will be in a different posting.  I think the first time I heard about Kate Hall was when I heard that she taught swimming on the missions in Helena, Arkansas.  Eventually the missions to Helena came up in our conversation when Bobby said, “Kate won’t tell you this so I will.”  I was all ears at that point, and Bobby said, “They named the swimming pavilion after Kate.”  

Kate modestly acknowledged that this was true but quickly noted that the sign had been taken from the building shortly after the opening.  That might tell you something about the area in which the swimming pool is located.  It is an area of great need.

Kate recalled that she first went to Helena she “didn’t have a clue she was going to teach swimming.”  Teaching swimming was something she had done since she was a teenager, and when she saw the pool in Helena, she realized why she was called on that mission.  “When a need is identified,” says Kate, “people respond.  That is how missions work.”

Kate has responded to needs all her life.  Born in Morganton, North Carolina, Kate attended the University of North Carolina at Greensboro and earned a degree in speech pathology as well as a teaching certificate.  Kate became director of the Hayes Barton Baptist Preschool in 1982.  She was asked to take on the role as she contemplated God’s call during a lay renewal weekend.  “There are times in our lives when we have to ask, ‘How is it that God’s made me and how does that play into what I can do in the church?’” says Kate.

With regard to her preschool days as well as her many other efforts that involve children, mothers, and young married couples, Kate shares, “I love children, and I love taking care of children and mothers. I love helping people and seeing if they can get from point A to point B.  I see the joy when people learn.”

Kate also experiences the joy of learning and loves to learn. “I know I haven’t arrived yet,” says Kate with certainty.  “I know that I will always have something new to learn.”

One other thing Kate knows with certainty is to “always keep Christ as the cornerstone in my life.”  Kate does that through her actions which are reflective of His teachings as well as through keeping His teachings in mind. When asked about her favorite Bible verse, many came to mind but one, Jeremiah 29:11-13, rose to the top for her:  ^“’For I know the plans I have for you,’” declares the LORD, “’plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Then you will call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart’” (NIV).

There is a joy that emanates from Kate Hall when you talk with her.  Whether she is talking about swimming, her marriage to Bobby, her sons, teaching two-year-olds and teaching the young couples in the Genesis Class, or the mission trips she’s taken to Arkansas, Guatemala, the Kennedy Home in Kinston, and, most recently, Haiti, Kate radiates a joy that comes with her beliefs.  She knows with certainty that Christ is her cornerstone, and she knows that God has a plan for her.  What a great way to live life.  It enables her to share the joy that is in her heart with others in ways that make them more joyful and more aware that God has a plan for them, too.

The Small Things Make the Biggest Impressions

The person in today’s story holds a special place on the journey that my husband Jim and I have taken at Hayes Barton Baptist Church.  Having known her from working with her at the State Construction Office which is part of North Carolina State Government, Jim happily replied “we are about to” one Sunday when she said to us, “You’ve been coming here often enough.  Isn’t it about time you two joined?”  That seems to be how it happens for a lot of folks at Hayes Barton Baptist Church.  We are glad it happened for us that way and that Shirley Faulk played an important role in our journey story.

Shirley Faulk came to Hayes Barton Baptist Church as a child.  “My mother brought me here,” recalls Shirley.  “I had no choice.”  Yet, a little while later in our conversation, Shirley notes, “I had a choice to stay.  I’ve never been a member of another church and never want to be.  I love this church and all the people in it.” 

When Shirley moved nearby, she really moved nearby.  “There was a duplex apartment where the Rite Aid is today,” says Shirley. “I remember being baptized when I was ten and being a member of many different Sunday School classes through the years.  I have always, as long as I can remember, been involved in the activities of this church.”

One of the activities Shirley is involved in is what she describes as “the most fun job in the church.”  This fun job is something she’s been doing more than thirty years, and it involves what often is the happiest day in a person’s life.  The job now is being co chair of the Wedding Committee (I didn’t even know we had a wedding committee!).  Shirley, fellow co chair Cleo Edwards, and several others are responsible for directing the weddings that take place at Hayes Barton Baptist Church.

Shirley has many wedding tales to tell given her years of involvement.  “All the brides and grooms have shown up,” she laughs.  “And,” she laughs again, “most of the time they seem happy.”  Most of the weddings are pretty traditional, shares Shirley, but there have been some unusual situations.  One time, a bride added a bridesmaid on the day of the wedding, and Shirley had to pull together a bouquet from the other bridesmaids’ flowers for the added participant.  Another time, a bride who was a professional singer, actually sang at her own wedding.

“Bottom line,” says Shirley, “we get them up and down the aisle.”

And that is kind of typical Shirley.  Between the laughter and the “bottom line,” there is a person who cares about people.  Whether she’s helping a bride and groom at a wedding rehearsal, inviting people to join the church, or sending out messages to keep the Koinonia Class informed about prayer concerns, Shirley cares. 

And she often cares the most about the little things.  “It is really important that we pay attention to the small things around here,” says Shirley.  “They are what can make the biggest impression on people.”

One of the small things, or maybe not so small things, that Shirley cares about is that Hayes Barton Baptist Church offers an evening Bible study.  Shirley worked with others to make that happen.  A year ago the first class of “Study, Pray, Serve” was held, and its third study is now going strong.  “We have a wonderful time together,” Shirley says of the thirty folks who are meeting on Monday evenings to study the Gospel of Mark.

Shirley says she hopes that, with the activities she’s been involved with at Hayes Barton Baptist Church, she’s “played a small part” in its heritage.  “I am so grateful for all of those people who came before me,” shares Shirley.  “They were grounded, traditional, spiritual.  I’m glad they had the foresight to make the decisions they made.  I see hope because of them.  I hope we continue as we started as we have so much to offer.  I want our missions to grow.  I want our church to go on and on.”

Hayes Barton Baptist Church is certainly Shirley’s church home.  “I don’t want to be anywhere else,” she says.  I suspect hundreds of brides and grooms, and mothers of brides and grooms, too, are glad that Shirley isn’t anywhere else.  I know Jim and I are glad she isn’t anywhere else.  The smallest things can make the biggest impressions.  “Isn’t it time you two joined?”  That made a big impression on us.

Back to "The Basics"

There hasn’t been one person mentioned more to me as a suggestion to include in the 85^th anniversary blog than today’s person.  That “speaks volumes” about what people think about her and about the high regard she is held in by Hayes Barton Baptist Church members.  I was fortunate to visit with her recently at her home.  Much like Dan Stewart, she played a part years ago in my husband Jim’s faith journey when she and her husband were teachers of a Sunday School class for singles at Hayes Barton Baptist Church.  After visiting with her for just over an hour, I can say she’s playing a role in mine now, too.  That person is Betty Griffin.

Betty Griffin’s southern accent is one of the first things one might notice when first meeting her for it truly is a southern accent.  It is strong, steady, slow, and sweet.  I wasn’t surprised to learn she was born in Darlington, South Carolina, as the accent reminds me of the accents I hear when Jim and I visit his side of the family south of our southern border.  The accent isn’t the only aspect about Betty that reminds me of his family for Jim has an Aunt Azell who likely holds the same kind of reverence at First Baptist Church of Belvedere, South Carolina, that Betty holds at Hayes Barton Baptist Church.  One thing for sure, I won’t ever attempt to match either of them at quoting the Bible for I would surely lose!

Betty had a “wonderful childhood” growing up in a “strong Baptist home” where “church was a big part of life.”  Betty’s family moved to North Carolina, specifically to Gastonia, during The Great Depression.  In the early 1940s, she attended the University of North Carolina at Greensboro and graduated with a teaching degree. Her husband Maurice also graduated from college during that time, from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and then joined the army.  Betty and Maurice were married on September 2, 1944.

Their adventure began, one might say, at that point.  Betty and Maurice traveled from North Carolina to a little town in the southeastern corner of Nebraska.  It took a plane, a train, and a few buses to get them there, but when they arrived, they found themselves in Geneva, Nebraska, which was close to Fairmont Army Airfield at which Maurice was to serve as a gunnery instructor for B-29 crews.  The B-29s were the Superfortress bombers used during World War II, including eventual use as the planes that dropped the atomic bombs on Japan.  “I remember looking up in the sky and seeing about a dozen of those B-29s fly overhead,” says Betty.  “They were so massive they blocked out the sun.  They were huge.” 

While Maurice was busy training the B-29 crews, Betty was busy teaching fourth graders.  “I remember being told when I was hired that the class I was going to be teaching was a really smart class,” says Betty with a smile.  “A few weeks into the semester, I gave them a spelling test, and they all flunked!  I couldn’t believe it.  So I asked the students what happened.  One little boy shyly said, ‘We can’t understand a word you are saying.’”  Ahhh….remember the southern accent mentioned above? Betty says for years people in the town would know the students she taught because they grew up talking with southern accents!  They had learned well from Mrs. Griffin.

After the War, Betty and Maurice moved to a house on White Oak Road, four blocks from Hayes Barton Baptist Church.  They joined the church and “jumped right in.”  Betty, being from a musical family, joined the choir. “Being in the choir has been one of my loves through the years,” says Betty.

There have been a lot of things that have gone on “through the years”:  meetings; classes; committees … all have marked Betty’s membership at Hayes Barton Baptist Church but, when all is said and done, what matters the most are “the basics” says Betty.

“‘What is your personal relationship with God?’… that’s the basic question to answer,” according to Betty.  “If you feel good about your personal relationship with God and your church helps you with that, then your church is doing what it is supposed to be doing.”

One of the most important things a church is supposed to be doing is enabling us to worship, says Betty. “The church exists primarily for worship, and I can worship so easily on Sunday mornings at Hayes Barton.” 

The “basics” are what make Hayes Barton Baptist Church Betty’s home church.  “Even in hard times, it has always been my home.  I have always felt a warmth in the church.  And it goes back to the fact that I have my relationship with God.”

Of that relationship, Betty says:  “There is one thing I know so deeply in my heart; God is in control.  He is in control of everything.  If we keep our faith, we will have hope. Capital letters H O P E … hope.”

Hope comes from the Bible and from prayer, says Betty.  “Philippians 3: 8-11, Colossians 1: 9-12, Psalm 121…there are so many,” says Betty.  “And prayer… it is the most powerful weapon a Christian has.”

As Betty reflects on the past and ponders the future, she feels good about Hayes Barton Baptist Church.  “I’ve been taught that we are in God’s hands,” says Betty.  “I’ve been able to see the wonderful young leaders we have in the church.”

What wonderful leaders we have had “through the years” as well.  Betty Griffin is one of them.  She is one who makes sure we stick to “the basics.”  After all, when all is said and done, all goes back to that personal relationship with God.  Betty reminded me of that and that is why she is playing a role in my faith journey now.  All the other stuff is “other stuff.”  What is most important is asking the basic question:  “what is my personal relationship with God?” 

One of Many

I haven’t asked this question in any of the other conversations to date but, for some reason, I asked today’s person what his favorite Bible scripture is.  And I’m glad I did as I think the question may become one of my stock questions.  The person offers Micah 6:8 as his favorite: 

He has shown you, O mortal, what is good.
   And what does the LORD require of you?
To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God. 
                                                                                                                       ~NIV

The reason I’m glad I asked is because I think the man, Bob Hutzler, reflects the scripture.  I met with Bob Hutzler at his office on a rainy Friday afternoon.  He was preparing for an upcoming meeting but graciously took time to talk about his journey and Hayes Barton Baptist Church. I know Bob from Stephen Ministry as he is one of five Stephen Ministry Leaders that we have in our church.  I also know that he is someone who was recommended to me for inclusion in the 85 stories.  Read on and you’ll learn why if you don’t already know.

Bob and Marsha Hutzler have been members since 2001. “Marsha and I had moved to Cary and were looking for a church home.  We started visiting churches and probably went to about a dozen over a year’s time,” recalls Bob.  “We had occasion to watch Dr. Hailey on TV and, more and more, he and Hayes Barton Baptist appealed to us.  We started attending and conversing with Dr. Hailey.  Being a lifelong Baptist, the church was more natural for me although Marsha had a connection to the church being a third cousin of Dr. Cashwell.”  By Easter 2000, Bob and Marsha “knew we had found our church home,” and Marsha was baptized.

In addition to Dr. Hailey, “the other draw to Hayes Barton was the amount of missions being done and the opportunities to serve,” says Bob.  “I have always known that I have a servant’s heart and that I have been given opportunities to serve others.”  Bob’s service includes activities like Meals on Wheels, driving the Springmoor bus, being one of four teachers of the Fellowship Class, serving on the Parking Task Force, the Building and Grounds Committee, and the Budget and Finance Committee.  Bob is a deacon and, as noted before, a Stephen Ministry Leader.

Since I am a Stephen Minister, our conversation somewhat naturally turned to talking about Stephen Ministry, a relatively new ministry at Hayes Barton Baptist Church.  As a leader, Bob and our other leaders had to attend training in order for Hayes Barton Baptist Church to begin the ministry.  Bob was impressed with the training and “the number of people I met from all over the country and all walks of life.  All are dedicated to serving Jesus Christ through this ministry.  People of all faiths were being trained by learning and interacting with one another.”

One of the stories Bob related is how attendees were paired together as prayer partners.  The pairs met through the week’s training and prayed for each other.  Bob’s partner was a very accomplished professional who revealed struggles with public praying.  Bob and the man worked on this through the week and, by week’s end, “prayers were answered” so to speak, and the man was praying out loud in front of the group without any difficulty. 

Bob shares this story not to take credit but to demonstrate the power of prayer and the power of the one-to-one connection that is the focal point of what Stephen Ministry is.  As the training coordinator, Bob has had to train we lay ministers in active listening and process-oriented conversation.  And he made us role play and role play and role play!  All, it turns out, to prepare us well for our caregiving relationships.

Bob considers himself a lifelong Baptist, but he doesn’t quite have the history that one supposes when hearing that description since his family didn’t attend church.  Growing up in Martinsburg, West Virginia, Bob was a typical boy who wanted to play basketball.  Sports, scouts, and other activities were offered at First Baptist Church.  “One of the church leaders took me under his wing,” recalls Bob.  “And I was baptized when ten years old.”

Bob translates his faith to his work and vice versa.  “I’m blessed in this way,” he shares, “The company I work for and the business I am in are about serving other people.  There is a natural transition from work to church for me.”

Although a member for just over a decade, Bob sees change as part of Hayes Barton Baptist Church’s recent heritage.  “The church has expanded its local ministry.  Of course, there now is the Family Life Center.   There are more mission trips.  And there is Stephen Ministry which affords the opportunity for people to walk side by side with a listening ear and understanding heart.”

The hope of the church is “that we continue missions and programs to serve more and more people as we are instructed to do by the message of Jesus Christ,” says Bob.  “We need to reach as many people as possible.”  And this is where scripture entered the discussion.  “To act justly and love mercy and walk humbly with God” (Micah 6:8).  “That verse is one I came to learn from Judge Britt in the Fellowship Class,” shares Bob.   “I dedicated my testimony at my deacon ordination to Judge Britt, and I based my testimony on that verse.”

Bob obviously bases more on that verse than his testimony.  He defines his work and his church life with that verse.  While matter of factly describing all he does, Bob quickly points out he is “one of many” at Hayes Barton Baptist Church who serve in similar ways.    “There are many with servant hearts at Hayes Barton Baptist,” says Bob.  Yes there are.  They “act justly…love mercy…and walk humbly with God.”  The 85 stories are evidence of this as, taken individually, we see “one” like Bob amongst the many, and, taken together, we see the “many” that make Hayes Barton Baptist Church the church it is today, one that has a heritage, offers hope, and feels like home.

Determination

Ever meet someone with whom you feel a quick connection?  You don’t know why, but it is there.  The person in today’s story is such a person for me.  I had already interviewed him twice for the Hayes Barton Baptist Church newsletter Faith Points so was a bit familiar with him.  It took no more than a few minutes with this interview to uncover just what the connection is.  We were born in the same city and almost in the same year.  The city is Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and the year….we’ll leave that for you to figure out!

Mory Read and I have talked on several occasions about Operation InAsMuch, the annual missions day we and many other Baptist churches across North Carolina hold each year.  Mory has been the driving force behind this missions day for several years at Hayes Barton Baptist Church.  When we have talked, our conversations were about planning, recruiting, and carrying out Operation InAsMuch.

When we began our conversation for the 85 faith stories celebration of Hayes Barton Baptist Church, we began as I have with many of the people I meet; we began with the question, “Where were you born?”  For Mory, it was Milwaukee, Wisconsin…and that was all it took to understand why I feel an ease for conversation with him.  I, too, was born in Milwaukee.  And while he was born at Mount Sinai Hospital and I was born at St. Joseph, we each can claim surviving Wisconsin winters as one of the markers of our childhoods.

Mory was not “born and raised in the Baptist church” which makes him different from many of the people we’ve talked with for the stories, but does not make him that unusual at Hayes Barton Baptist Church.  Growing up in a small Wisconsin town north of Milwaukee, he remembers worshipping in the homes of elders on Sunday and Wednesday nights.  He remembers the town as a typical one for the time in Wisconsin:  “a bar on one corner, a post office in the middle of the block, and a bar on the other corner.”

Wanting to move beyond the farming and factory work that the Wisconsin of the time offered, Mory decided to move to North Carolina in 1986. “I was looking for something different to do,” says Mory, “I contacted people in many places but actually heard back from someone in North Carolina.”  While he didn’t get a job from that contact, he decided to move “to find what I wanted.”  This determination on Mory’s part is something that characterizes his approach to life.  “My mama would call it stubbornness and tell me I was stubborn,” says Mory with a laugh. 

Mory started attending Hayes Barton Baptist Church in 1990 and married his wife Susan at the church in 1994.  He attended a long time before becoming a member.  “It took some time,” Mory recalls, “because I wasn’t ready for organized religion.  I guess I was being stubborn again.”

Although it took some time, Mory became very involved in activities in the church.  In fact, he was so involved that on the day he finally joined, many people congratulated Mory by saying that they thought he already was a member.   Choir, food boxes; helping shut-ins; outreach…all of those activities were part of Mory’s involvement.

Of actually joining the church, Mory recalls he felt one Sunday while “sitting in church that the time had come.”  He was baptized on an Easter Sunday and remembers how much his experience “correlates with Jesus Christ rising on Easter.”  Of full immersion baptism as an adult, Mory says he had no problem. “I did it proudly.  It is a tenet in the Bible.”

As said before, Mory has spent the past few years leading Hayes Barton Baptist Church’s efforts with Operation InAsMuch.  “I have the ability to plan and organize,” says Mory, “and I like helping people, getting them what they need.  Operation InAsMuch allows me to get people involved in helping other people.   There are more needs than we can ever meet, but we can work together to meet some of them.”

As Operation InAsMuch becomes part of Hayes Barton Baptist Church’s heritage, Mory reflects on other aspects of the heritage of the church.  “I think of those who have gone before us.  We think of it as their church but, most importantly, we need to think of it as God’s church,” says Mory.  “We’ve been here a long time and gone through many interesting things.  We always rally together and carry forward.”

The hope that is Hayes Barton Baptist Church from Mory’s perspective is that “it continues to be a beacon that will bring the Word to the people and be a place for people to connect with and be closer to God.”

Of the home he has found at Hayes Barton Baptist Church, Mory sees “people you really care about and love.  You get to know a lot of people.  You find warmth that makes you feel like it is a home.  Everyone can fit here in some way.”

There is no doubt that Mory fits in at Hayes Barton Baptist Church.  The “stubbornness” that his mother noted has translated into a determination directed at helping meet the needs of others.  That determination is also a signature of Hayes Barton Baptist Church as a whole.  Yes, Mory fits in at Hayes Barton Baptist Church.  No surprise now; he is a fully involved fully member whose determination helps make things happen for God and God’s church.

A Mission-hearted Man

The person in today’s story is someone who knows how to build things.  He can do it all when it comes to construction, but his favorite thing to do, when pressed to pick a favorite, is framing.  He says framing is “kind of like a puzzle” because it involves putting all the pieces together.  After having written just over twenty of the faith stories for the blog, I think I have a kinship with this person as each story is “kind of like a puzzle” that has to be framed. In the case of this story, there is a frame on which it hangs, which is missions, and there is a core at the center of the frame, which is a mission-hearted man.  That man is John McGrady.

John McGrady’s father was a builder and, not surprisingly, John “grew up building” as he puts it.  “I learned to do everything from framing to roofing to siding,” says John, “the whole gamut.”  Those life experiences have made John a valuable contributor on missions that require such knowledge and expertise.  And they also have made him valuable on missions that may not involve building buildings but instead involve building lives.

John was born in Elizabethton, Tennessee, and grew up in North Wilkesboro, North Carolina.  He remembers the Baptist church he attended as one that was first a wooden church and then a masonry one.  “I grew up in a Baptist home and a Baptist church,” says John.

In 1997, John and his wife Sue joined Hayes Barton Baptist Church.  “We were drawn by Dr. Hailey’s sermons and their great applicability to life,” recalls John.  Joining the Danielson Sunday School Class was the next step in their involvement in the church.  “Ed Gaskins is a good teacher,” says John, “and there are other good ones teaching the class, too.”

In 2005, Hurricane Katrina hit the Gulf Coast, and John decided to go on a mission in February, 2006.  On this mission, John supervised college students as they helped with some of the initial building efforts after the storm.  He went back in the summer of that year with a group of high school students to supervise on another building project. 

As people and organizations began to shift their attention to other places in need, John still felt called to the Gulf Coast so he went “solo” and traveled on his own back to the area to work with the Gulf Coast Baptist Association.  “I thought that there were people in need there.  I have a gift that can help them, and I felt I could make a contribution,” shares John.  On this solo mission, he spent two weeks as a house leader working on a house three blocks away from the beach.  “There wasn’t anything else left between that house and the beach,” John recalls.

If you are sensing a pattern at this point, you are in sync with where this is headed.  While John may have been “blind to missions,” as he himself describes it, for a good part of his life, in the last decade, John has developed an eye for missions and has become a mission-hearted man.  John has traveled to Helena, Arkansas, where he helped build a bathhouse by the pool where swimming lessons have been taught by the Hayes Barton Baptist Church mission teams over the last several years.  John has worked on local Habitat for Humanity construction projects about which his comments tend toward the families who moved into the houses rather than the construction projects themselves.  And in the past two years, John has gone to the Kennedy Home for Children in Kinston at which he has tutored youth in math and, perhaps surprisingly, helped them decorate cupcakes with the expert assistance of his wife Sue. 

These last mission trips to Kinston are really at the heart of this story and what make me think and feel that John is such a mission-hearted man.  “You watch these kids at Kennedy Home,” says John with emotion right at the surface, “and you will either have your heart warmed or broken.  They are so vulnerable and so needy.  I enjoy letting them know that there are people who care about them.  How many people have they been exposed to who care for them, who are willing to sacrifice for them, who are willing to accept them as they are?  On missions like the ones to Kennedy Home, opportunities exist to present a Christ-like image to these kids.”

Picking up on that theme of opportunity, John shares that he sees the heritage, hope, and home that are Hayes Barton Baptist Church as rife with opportunities.  “We have in Hayes Barton’s heritage an open church and a compassionate church, one in which we follow the two great commandments of loving God with all of our hearts and loving our neighbors as ourselves.”

“We have many opportunities,” says John when talking about hope, “to be compassionate, mission oriented, and an example of Christ’s love.”  With the Family Life Center, “we have made the church a bigger part of everyday lives, and we can offer more programs.”  John references Hayes Barton Baptist Church Preschool and the Frankie Lemmon School and then says, “It is well worth it to have what we have here.”

The church home we have In Hayes Barton Baptist Church, shares John, is one in which “members share lives and hear their witness.”  Sunday School is at the heart of this, says John, “My class makes me think of home.”

John and Sue’s home reared two accomplished daughters, and I suspect the parenting in that home was framed with patience, compassionate, and love.  I don’t know if John was “blind to missions” for all those many years as he said he was; the missions have just changed.  Whatever the case, what we have amongst us now is a mission-hearted man.  He is one of many mission-hearted men and women at Hayes Barton Baptist Church. They have big hearts with which they love God and their neighbors.  That is what, in particular, missions allow, and that is what John McGrady is all about these days.

A Man on the Go

Today’s story is about a passionate man, someone who has a zest for life.   Whether he is talking about the Coastal Conservation Association, Campbell University, the University of North Carolina Tar Heels, or Hayes Barton Baptist Church, this person exudes an energy that shows others he is someone who is interested, involved, and invested in the world around him.  I like him for many reasons with three that come quickly to mind:  (1) he, along with a few other men, was willing to participate in the piloting of a couples Companions in Christ study; (2) he is always offering to help with Hayes Barton Baptist Church’s newsletter Faith Points; and (3) he loves dogs.  The man, of course, is Dave Hawkins.

David Hawkins and I didn’t get a chance to sit down and have a formal interview for this story.  He is a man on the go, after all.  Coming and going, more like it.  He is involved in many activities at Hayes Barton Baptist Church and outside of it as well, and he pursues his activities with enthusiasm and energy.

Dave thoughtfully sent me a page of notes about his life at Hayes Barton Baptist Church and then followed up with not one but two phone calls.  He wanted to make sure I received the notes and wanted to make sure another thought he had after sending the notes was included in the story.  He was driving to the coast when he called. I think I almost always talk to him when he is driving somewhere…to the coast, to Campbell, to church.  Coming and going.  I even received an email from him when he was on a hunting trip, I think, in South Dakota.  “When I see one of your emails,” Dave said, “I always answer even if I’m in the middle of nowhere.”

Dave has been attending Hayes Barton Baptist Church since 1946 and became a member in 1957.  He was baptized by Dr. John Kincheloe.  His wife Jennifer and daughter Michelle were baptized in 1990 by Dr. George Ballentine.  His mother Ruth Hawkins Wilson was a life-long member of the church and the Townsend Couples Class until her death in 2007.  Dave wrote, “She so loved Hayes Barton Baptist which was her life, along with her boys, after my Dad died in 1956. She married Bill Wilson in 1967.”

 One of the points Dave and I discussed when he was driving to the coast was something he wrote in his notes about his mother.  “When Bill died in 1985,” Dave wrote, “Mother had memorials left to place the cross in our baptismal area.  It always concerned her and Papa Bill that we had no cross.”  That is the “back story” behind the baptistery cross that is back behind the beautiful doors we have. 

Dave and Jennifer definitely see Hayes Barton Baptist Church as their church home.  “Jennifer and I had some time away from the church and visited other churches during Mother’s fourteen year battle with Alzheimer’s,” shares Dave, “but our heart always brought us back to Hayes Barton Baptist Church and ultimately to the Danielson Sunday School Class.”  Dave currently serves as the class’s president. 

Dave also is a first year deacon and involved in the Benevolence Committee, Sanctuary set up/ Greeting Committee, Welcoming Committee, and Support Circle (for homeless ) Committee.  “I always try to help opening night with the consignment sale and participate in Monday evening  Bible study and, most times, the Tuesday morning Yost Men’s Bible Study,” says Dave.  I also know he helps out around the office and then there, of course, are the very welcome submissions to the newsletter Faith Points.

The pilot class of Companions in Christ for couples was where I not only met Dave but found out about his love of dogs.  He was, if I remember correctly, in the process of having a new dog trained.  Being the dog lover that I am, I always perk up when hearing someone talk about a new pup.  As Dr. Hailey said in a recent sermon, “Everybody loves puppies.”  When someone like Dave talks about a dog, the love for the dog comes out in the talking.  Sure, the training may not quite be the success it should be from the start, but the love comes in the bonding of a man and his dog.

Dave is a man of action and a man of study.  He has been on mission trips to Helena, Arkansas, and the Kennedy Home for Children in Kinston. Among many things, in Arkansas, he helped with a building project and at Kinston, with a cookout.  As to his studies, he, Liz Bradshaw, and Honor Holmes became involved in the World Religion Department  at Campbell University following several Wednesday night sessions on Mormonism, Islam, and Judaism . “This has led to a serious involvement the Divinity School,” shares Dave, “where I am now attending classes and also serving on the Advisory Council for The World Religions and Global Cultures Center for The Campbell University Divinity School.” 

Dave not only attends classes but loves to read.  “Same Kind of Different as Me, The Faith Club, and The Hole in our Gospel in the last few years have made me a much stronger Christian and better person,” says Dave.  “These books and Campbell’s World Religion classes have made me acutely aware of the importance of understanding and truly knowing others.  We really need to understand our neighbors so we can truly love them.”

That understanding of love, that passion, is what Dave is all about. And he sees it at Hayes Barton Baptist Church as we celebrate our Heritage, Hope, and Home.  “The Danielson Class and David Hailey’s ministry have given us everything we could want in a church,” says Dave.  And Dave gives back to Hayes Barton Baptist Church similarly.  Whether he is coming or going, he is giving it his all.  Safe driving Dave!

 

Practicing Goodness

Janice McClendon has been married to John for fifty years.  Interviewing Janice and John separately (John’s story is posted September 7) allowed me to hear two stories that reflect much goodness, kindness, and love and also shows that while “two may become one,” each “one” still is a unique child of God. 

When we started our conversation, Janice went into more detail about the early years of her relationship with John than John did when he spoke with me.   As college students, they would catch the same bus that would pick up students and take them to various churches in Raleigh.  John was attending NC State, and Janice was a freshman at Meredith when John asked her for a date.  “We were a match,” Janice says with a smile; after all, their first date was a tennis match. 

As she talked about fifty years of marriage, Janice described the growth of a couple and a family.  The moves, the jobs, the babies.  Eventually, as John had shared, there was a move to Raleigh and the joining of Hayes Barton Baptist Church.  “What we found in the children’s ministry, the Danielson Class, and T.L. Cashwell was a perfect fit,” says Janice.  “We jumped in with both feet.”

The importance of Hayes Barton Baptist Church in the life of the McClendon family is obvious.  “The children were happy here,” says Janice.  “And what your children experience is so important.”  Given I’d just heard people at a Sunday School social talking about taking care of Scott McClendon in the nursery oh so many years ago, I had a real feel for what Janice was talking about.

The granddaughter of a Baptist preacher and daughter of a father who worked for the Foreign Missions Board, Janice is no stranger to the setting of a Baptist church, but, she, like John, was hesitant when asked to teach a young couples Sunday School Class.  “The Lord was definitely involved in that decision,” says Janice.   Called the Noah’s Ark Class because couples come in pairs just like the animals did onto Noah’s ark, members “receive a good mixture of Scripture, Bible history, and practical application,” says Janice, from John, Chris Moore, and Rob Singleton.  “I leave the teaching to them now,” she says.

With counseling education and experience, Janice is a critically important member of the Stephen Ministry leadership team as she is the referral coordinator.  She handles requests for Stephen Ministers and assigns caregivers to care receivers.  Her interest in the Stephen Ministry goes back many years.  “When I learned about it and thought about it, I said to myself, ‘I am going to listen to God about this.’  I was trusting enough to know that God would let me know about doing it.”

“My hope is that Stephen Ministry will become as important at Hayes Barton Baptist Church as Sunday School,” shares Janice.  “I want it to be familiar; something that people can easily turn to and call on to help them through the tough times in life.”

One of the tough times Janice shared about was when her father died.  “My dad and I were very close, and what I realized when he died was that he was the one who had had the relationship with God.  I had my relationship with my dad and, through him, with God.  But my roots with God had been planted, and God had always been there.  That was when I worked on my direct relationship with God.”

This connection between father and daughter helped teach Janice the importance of family bonds and family.  And for Janice, Hayes Barton Baptist Church is family.  “It has been a second home.  It has been like a family.  I see its heritage as the connections we have as a family to the church.  It is the heritage we leave to our children and our grandchildren.  I can’t think of a greater gift to give a family than a church family.”

“I cannot imagine anything on the corner but Hayes Barton Baptist Church,” says Janice. “It is a beacon.  These days a person doesn’t get much affirmation of actions in the outside world, but at Hayes Barton Baptist Church, there is plenty of affirmation that goodness is still a part of how a person lives as a Christian.”

“Goodness and kindness,” says Janice, “are things that begin at church and can be practiced at church.  Church gives us a way to practice goodness so that we can go out in the world with it as a habit.”

Knowing Janice from Stephen Ministry, I can say with certainty that she “practices what she preaches” and that goodness is a habit of hers.  Whether talking about her father, her family, or her faith, Janice affirms that goodness is part of being a Christian.  And while she is a wife, a mother, and a grandmother, and fills many other roles, she is also a unique child of God, with whom she has a direct relationship.  I think it is must be kind of “a match” as they would say in tennis.

Ordinary Becomes Extraordinary

Taking something ordinary and making it extraordinary.  That is what today’s story is all about.  The person in today’s story has a gift for doing that.  And she has many other gifts, too. Like the ease at which she strikes up and carries on conversations with strangers who become fast friends.  Talking with this person is certainly easy, and conversation with her quickly moves from ordinary to extraordinary.  I think we became fast friends by the time we were done.  And for me, that’s extraordinary!

Audrey Lassiter is not one to sit very long, so I felt privileged that we sat for over an hour talking about her life and involvement in Hayes Barton Baptist Church.  She said she thought about taking me on a tour around the church to point things out, and we did exactly that when we were through talking.  She is, as was said more than a few times on the recent Scotland mission, “a human version of the Energizer Bunny.”

But I digress as that’s not where we started our conversation.  We started with Audrey talking about rocks and burlap and flowers.  And giftedness.  “Everyone has God-given gifts,” says Audrey. “And the Lord has blessed me as my gifts are to be able to take something ordinary and make it extraordinary.  Like taking rocks and burlap and flowers and making a beautiful arrangement.”

“Each person has talent and has to make the most of it,” says Audrey, “You have to figure out what you can do and then do it.” And Audrey does.  She likes to work on projects, “on the planning, the seeing it happen, the getting it done, and the starting a new one.”

“I’ve always been like this,” reflects Audrey. “I remember as a child growing up in the country on a farm.  I’d spend half my playtime setting up boxes as playhouses before we’d ever get to play.”

That farm was in Hertford County, and Audrey grew up “working sunup to sundown” in fields of tobacco, peanuts, and cotton.  She went off to school at East Carolina University and eventually moved to Raleigh with husband Jimmy and the children and joined Hayes Barton Baptist Church.  “It was 1970.  We visited churches all over Raleigh.  The children had been to Bible school at Hayes Barton.  And when we talked as a family about where we wanted to go to church, Jim piped up at four years old and said, ‘I want to go where Bible school is.’ It has been ‘home sweet home’ ever since.”

And Audrey is a big part of making it “home sweet home” for all of us as she pays attention to the comfort and beauty that mark Hayes Barton Baptist Church.  “I turn the lamplights on when I come in, just like at home,” says Audrey.  “I take apart flower arrangements from Sunday and make smaller ones to put around the church so we have fresh flowers everywhere all week.  I go for balance in terms of function and beauty.”

The attention to detail that she has is extraordinary.  Instead of a cardboard box for DVDs on the counter at the Family Life Center, why not a pretty basket?  A balance of function and beauty throughout.

“The biggest project by far was the Family Life Center,” remembers Audrey.  “It was a year in the planning, and we still were here almost all night right before it opened.  Everything was handpicked by people like Lib Moore, Kathy Teague, Michelle Henson, and Tonya Hill,” says Audrey of the Family Life Center Decorating Committee.

Audrey has been on many committees and projects through the years and always with the intent of “making an impact on people.”  “When we’d go shopping for the rooms at Overtoun House in Scotland, we’d see it as part of our mission to talk to people and tell them that we are working at a place that is going to help women and girls in crisis,” shares Audrey.  “We can help them see Christ in us through our works.”

Likewise, Audrey wants people who come to Hayes Barton Baptist Church to see Christ in what is here.   The paintings, the candles, the crosses…all the details that surround us that we often look past and take for granted…Christ is in those pieces that have been so lovingly selected and placed by Audrey and others. 

As we toured the parlor and Cashwell Corridor after we talked, I began to see what Audrey’s keen eye sees.  A focal point here, a swath of light there, some color in a portrait, fresh flowers on a table.  Ordinary becomes extraordinary.  Because of extraordinary people like Audrey, Hayes Barton Baptist Church is extraordinary.  A reflection of God’s gifting and blessing.  Thanks be to God!