To which generation would I like to live and minister? Would it be during the early to mid-1800s, my great-great-great granddad Col. Sameul Doak McMahan's time? At that time Protestants began moving into Texas, which belonged to Mexico with the approved religion being Catholicism. In the Spring of 1832, Neeham Alford, a local Methodist preacher, and Sumner Bacon, a Cumberland Presbyterian, held a two days' meeting in Sabine County near Milam, Texas.
There was opposition from a Mexican officer Gaines and others about their meeting. An hour prior to the time of preaching, a Mr. Johnson appeared with a huge whip shouting that he would horsewhip the first preacher who entered the stand. Rev. Alford arrived during the midst of the disturbance and repeated Johnson's threat to Alford. "Well," he said, "I am as able to take a whipping as any man on this ground." Alford was a muscular and strong man who was nicknamed bulldog preacher in Louisiana. Johnson looked at the brawny arm of the preacher and quietly backed down.
During the service, someone told Col. Piedras, the Mexican commander at Nacogdoches, Texas, about the Protestant gathering. He asked, "Are they stealing horses?" "No." "Are they killing anybody?" "No." "Are they doing anything bad?" "No." "Then let them alone."
Later, in July, 1833, Rev. James P. Stevenson held a camp-meeting in the neighborhood of Col. Samuel Doak McMahan near San Augustine, Texas, some 20 miles from Milam. In September of that year, another camp meeting was held, which resulted in the organization of a church with 48 members, with Col. McMahan selected as class leader. The church we know as McMahan's Chapel United Methodist Church.
Col. McMahan was converted to the Christian faith on the bank of the local Aish Bayou in 1832 during a time of private prayer. He was licensed to preach in 1837. Therefore, he often preached at McMahan's Chapel, named after him.
I might have liked to live and minister during this day with its adventures and challenges, with its horses and buggies...I wouldn't choose to live and minister during that generation though.
It was said of Col. McMahan that no one lived in his family without being converted. I am thankful that he was instrumental in the conversion of my great-great grandfather, James Thomas Patton Irvine, who married his daughter Susan.
To which generation would I like to live and minister? Would it be during the last half of the 19th century, when J.T.P. Irvine lived, 1815-1871?
It was during a time when there was unrest for many reasons. Texas was wanting independence from Mexico. Texas' independence came in 1836 with the Battle of San Jacinto, where J.T.P. Irvine served as chaplain. It was during this time that United States was split on the slavery issue. The whole nation divided, including most denominations. In 1844, the Methodist Episcopal Church, South began.
J.T.P. Irvine was admitted on trial for ordination in 1842 with his first appointment being Shelbyville, Texas. He had a full career serving in churches in this area. He was both a reserve delegate and a regular delegate to two or three General Conferences. He was the presiding elder (what we now call District Superintendent) of Palestine and Marshall Districts.
There is a fascinating story surrounding his life and times involving the East Texas Vendetta. It was a war between the Regulators, who professed to punish thieves; the Moderators, who sought to hold the Regulators in check; and the Conservatives, who belonged to the law-and-order party. It has been estimated that 100 persons lost their lives over this rift.
In the Fall of 1844, some 3,000 people were armed, and it appeared that a civil war was imminent. President Sam Houston ordered out the militia and things quieted down. During this time, J.T.P. Irvine came close to being killed one night by mistake. At a certain house, a party of Moderators were expecting an attack. As a precautionary measure, they had attached a bell to the gate, so that if anyone opened it, it would be an alarm. Rev. Irvine, who was on the Shelbyville circuit, rode up to the Moderators' house to spend the night. The bell rang, and he was fortunately recognized, and his life was spared.
Through the work and ministry of J.T.P. Irvine and others and with God's help, the feuding began to subside. It was not uncommon that men, loaded with arms to kill each other, were struck under conviction, and knelt side by side, and experienced God's grace and forgiveness.\
I might have liked to live and minister during this day with its unique adventures and challenges, with its horses and buggies...I wouldn't choose to live and minister during that generation though.
To which generation would I like to live and minister? Would I want to live during the time of my great grandfather, Benjamin Irvine from 1848-1890?
The times were very similar for him as they were for his parents. He was probably beginning to see the nation rebuilding after the Civil War. Benjamin was a bi-vocational lay preacher. His primary income came through school teaching, and on the weekends, he was a circuit rider.
His life was cut short at the age of 42, due to the hazards of his ministry. He had been preaching at a revival and rode home on his horse during an awful rainstorm. He subsequently to pneumonia and died. His wife, Richard Ann, was left as a single mother with seven children to raise, never remarrying. Other ministers and parishioners died from diseases during this time that we would consider curable today.
I might have liked to live and minister during this day with its unique adventures and challenges, with its horses and buggies...I wouldn't choose to live and minister during that generation though.
To which generation would I like to live and minister? Would it be during the day of my grandfather, Charles Benjamin Irvine from 1890-1948?
He raised a family during the Great Depression. He was impacted by World War I and II. He saw people begin to move from rural life to urban life. During this time, the north and south split in the Methodist Episcopal Church was reconciled and renamed simply "The Methodist Church."
He was a second-career bi-vocational preacher. He joined the local Methodist Church that was close to him in rural East Texas. It was a Congregational Methodist Church. He had supported his family as a carpenter and farmer. His devoted wife Effie had prayed for years that he would answer God's call to preach. He refused to respond, but finally surrendered to God's call to preach in 1929, when he was around the age of 39. He was ordained in the Congregational Methodist Church and served in many rural communities. He juggled his churches, trade and family the best that he could. My mother said that he would stay awake at night and read books of theology to help him in his ministry. He had no set salary from his churches during the Depression. He was often offered meat and vegetables as compensation for his work.
He was impacted greatly by World War II and urbanization and went to Houston to continue using his carpentry trade and pastor rural East Texas churches on the weekends. He was elected a delegate to the General Conference of his denomination just prior to his death, and his daughter Margaret as a reserve delegate and went in his place.
Would I want to minister in this generation? I have heard of the struggles of the Depression, but how it brought people together. People are starting to get cars, but many roads were undesirable. There is greater communication with telephones.
I wouldn't choose to live and minister in that generation though. To which generation would I like to live and minister?
Would I choose my parents' generation, Jimmie and Margaret Sims, which began during the Great Depression? They have seen many dramatic happenings in our society already...The Great Depression, World War II, Korean War, Vietnam War, the atomic age with the emergence of bomb shelters, the coming of TVs, the civil rights movement, women's rights movement, assassinations of John F. Kennedy and Martin Luther King, people walking on the moon, a more mobile society in every way.
You might think this generation skipped a Methodist preacher. It's not true. I learned after I surrendered to the call to ordained ministry that my own Aunt Daphne Wigley had been licensed to preach in the Congregational Methodist Church. She never did move from the church that my grandfather founded in Colmesneil or pastor it, but she believed that she fulfilled that call by teaching Sunday School.
And, as many of you know, my mother has often filled pulpits as a preacher, though never under appointment.
Would I want to minister in this generation? Of course, in part, I do. There's something about this generation that is appealing. This generation seems to have a lot of hope. When the World War II vets returned, they were offered the GI bill that would pay for a college education. When people my age graduated, we were told that the student grants and loans had to be cut back. When World War II vets returned, they were offered fabulous deals for home loans. When college graduates my age wanted a house, they weren't sure that they could manage that and a family and the payment of their college loan. When people wanted a job out of high school back then, a college degree was optional for many well-paying jobs with great benefits. When people my age graduate from college with a bachelor's, master's or even PhD degree, there are no guarantees they will get a job with security or even one that matches their degree and expertise.
I wouldn't choose to live and minister in that generation though.
God has called me to minister in this generation and during this time and age. Actually, God has called each one of us, whether you are in my generation or not, to minister during this time and this age. Actually, I couldn't have responded to God's call to be a fully ordained elder as a woman prior to 1956. Being raised in East Texas, I wasn't too sure that word had reached us that it was alright, even in 1981. God opened doors for me to minister, just as God will open doors for you.
We've seen quite a few changes in recent years ourselves...computers, internet, answering machines, cellular and wireless phones, microwaves, VCRs, no World War in my generation but a raging escalation of violence in our towns, communities, and cities, drug abuse, domestic violence, the threat of AIDS, cloning, laser surgery, traveling to Mars, the general population is not as Christian-professing and church-going as it used to be.
There are times when I think about all of these factors and I'd like to live in some other age, but which one? Sure, it used to take a lot longer to get from one place to another. Sure, people died of diseases we don't hear of anymore. Sure, it took a lot longer to do chores. Sure, minority and women's rights weren't as accepted. But it seemed a lot easier then, simpler. Which age, then? All of them have had their problems. And who better to understand (or know that I don't understand) this crazy world we live in than you and me?
This is when I rely on that great cloud of witnesses--some of whom I've already named, some of whom I'll never know their names--the faithful, the ones who ran a good race. That's when I sink deep down into our wonderful spiritual roots that we celebrate today.
There are times that I get discouraged, I think about my ancestors and forebearers who kept the faith and I know they must be urging me on. I think about Abraham and Sarah how they left their home and went to a strange land by faith. I think about the Israelites who persevered in their struggle for freedom by faith.
I keep my eye on that finish line. I always heard that the person standing at the finish line would be Jesus. If Jesus could endure all that he endured, I sure can do the same! He's the goal I've been running towards all along. Funny thing, he's not only the goal, but he's been present with me all along and surrounds me with the wonderful cloud of witnesses that cheers me on. I can make it; I know I can! Sometimes I feel like I'm ready to drop and my arms are feeble and my knees are weak, but my eyes are fixed on Jesus.
God has placed us in this age to live and to minister to the people in our community, nation, world. Let us persevere, trusting in the cloud of witnesses, in Jesus, so that when we reach the finish line, Jesus will say to us, "Well done, good and faithful servant."
