Odds & Ends...But Mostly Odds!

The late George Carlin used to pose the question "If you had 36 odds and ends on a table, and 35 of them fell off, what do you have left- an odd or an end?"  In my early days at Springfield Friends Meeting whatever was left would have seemed like an odd to me!  Here are some random recollections from those first few months:

• Springfield was dominated by families, many of whom had 100 years or more of history with the Meeting.  Many of those family trees had widespread roots, and it took forever to discover who was related to whom!  Some of those who were related didn't speak to each other.  I learned not to assume anything when it came to family ties...
• There were people at Springfield who really didn't want to be there.  They were upset with leadership and direction in the church, and all they did was complain.  But they didn't leave (at first), because of their ties to "Historical Springfield..."
• Which brings us to the Springfield Memorial Association.  This group, independent of the Meeting itself, had oversight of the cemetery, the grounds and the Museum of Old Domestic Life (pictured).  Yes, we had our very own museum. Many of the members of the SMA no longer attended the Meeting. The tension between this group, which too often saw Springfield itself as a museum, and the church, which thought it should be about reaching the community for Jesus, was often very strong.
• It seemed that everything at Springfield had been given in memory or in honor of someone!  Little brass plaques where everywhere.  There were two Grandfather Clocks in the meetinghouse that could not be touched.  The adult Sunday School classes were all named after members who had passed away, and I didn't know a Charles F. Reddick from a Dora E. Richardson!  We lived in the Byron Haworth House.  When Max and Avis left they named the Fellowship Hall in their honor.  I live in fear that I will discover that my good friend and current Senior Pastor Ray Luther has been using the Carl Jones Toilet located near his office...
• I learned quickly what it meant to be volunteered "John J. Blair style."  The John J's were a class of older men who been together for many years.  If you missed a meeting with them you would find yourself in charge of something terrible...volunteered John J. Blair style! 
• It was expected that I be fully participating member of the Sara R. Haworth Circle, made up of the oldest ladies in the Meeting.  I was also their offical van driver.
• I used to go down the hill and around the corner after school and play video games with Mike Mercadante.  He had a hockey game and a beach volleyball game that I was actually pretty good at.  My son Will can tell you that those were the LAST video games I was ever good at...
• Despite being a pretty small youth group, we had students from three different school districts and as many as six different high schools.  And some of those schools didn't get along very well!
• Jerry Morgan, who eventually became a good friend and a strong supporter of the youth ministry, announced to me after a couple of months that he didn't care much for me or what I was doing, because he failed to see how my work was of any help to Max.  He was not alone.  Many folks saw my job as taking part of the load off of Max.  Fortunately, Max was never one of those people...
• I had just begun my work in October of 1986 when I discovered that twice a year for a couple of weeks it was almost impossible to live in High Point, NC.  The Southeastern Furniture Market took over the entire area, and it was almost impossible to do anything else during those times.
• There was an event every Sunday morning before Sunday School called Opening Exercises.  This event brought together a small group of mostly older members for a quick devotional and to celebrate birthdays and anniversaries.  It was significant to me because it fell into a huge group of things that could be filed under the heading "We do it because we have always done it." 

Despite all of these odd things and many more, I quickly fell in love with the place, and more importantly, the people. It occurs to me now that perhaps it was because I am pretty odd myself!   As 1987 continued, God set a plan into action that would transform our little youth ministry one step at a time. We would not keep doing it like they had always done it!  I was helping to plan a leadership training weekend for youth at Ridgecrest Retreat Center near Asheville, and I would be taking six of our students along.  Amy, Todd, Robin, Jamie, Ken and Traci, I hope you are following along, because tomorrow, the truth can be told! 

Because of Jesus,