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?”