Fairview Church of God
Some of my friends may recall that I was the pastor of the Fairview Church of God, Carlisle, Ohio for 18 months – July 1962 to December 1963. They were arguably the worst 18 months of my life!
In 1962 one of my earliest mentors recommended me to this church. At that time I was a door-to-door vacuum cleaner salesman. I accepted the call believing that my mentor and I had a future ministry together. He was aware of my Calvinism but assured me that this church would accept what is preached as long as one showed it to them in the Bible. They had a motto: “No creed but Christ, no law but love, no book but the Bible”.
In a very short period of time the church became disenchanted with my teaching. It led to a heresy trial (when other ministers of the same movement were called in to judge me). The charge: that I preached Jesus is God. A further trial brought in more ministers of the area who heard testimonies from some of the people of the church. The charge was broadened to include false teaching on the nature of faith and salvation. Nothing was resolved, but those against my ministry urged the members to sign a petition that I must leave. They needed one more vote to oust me, but I knew I should leave. I preached my last sermon there on December 29th1963. Louise and I drove away that day with a U-Haul-it trailer behind our Pontiac with all our earthly goods. We headed for Fort Lauderdale, Florida where I resumed my secular work as a door-to-door vacuum cleaner salesman. That December 29th was the most traumatic day of my entire life.
The previously mentioned mentor for some reason totally turned his back on me within months after I arrived at Fairview, refusing to get involved. He did not even call to say good-bye. Every time the phone rang I hoped it was him.
All of the members of that church have deceased except one – Arrean Murphy, now 89, who was devoted to my teaching. She has since become a member of a church of the same movement in Franklin, Ohio. She invited one of the deacons of the Franklin church to watch the documentary I did on Martin Luther on TBN – which commemorated the 500thanniversary of the reformer’s nailing of the 95 theses on the Wittenberg door of the Castle Church on October 31, 1517. That deacon got in touch with me and asked me if I would come to the church in Franklin – to preach the Gospel of justification by faith. I did it this past weekend (August 4-5, 2018).
It was rather funny as I thought about it. The teaching that got me in trouble 58 years before was what they asked me to preach! I did and we had a lovely weekend. They have asked me to come back. As for my old mentor, he became one of the most respected preachers in the area if not the denomination. He died three years ago. I was asked to preach his funeral – which I did. As former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher once put it, “It’s a funny old world”.