A cornucopia of fruits and vegetables appeared on the alter at Thanksgiving. It was from the church to the Landons. Miss Abbie Farwell had superintended the present. She was a delightful old woman that Kenneth had become friends with in his church…
Kenneth reads a journal entry about a Sunday school play he participated in. He comments on Wiley Young, a dramatic and powerful preacher who came to the church the summer before, competing with Kenneth for the position of pastor of the church.…
Kenneth recalls a bit of a problem with the girls at his church who were asking him for a ride home. He was glad to do that and it even was fun at times, but some of the girls kept putting themselves forward.
Kenneth tells about the end of his year at the church he pastored. Evangelist Dad Hall would stir up the congregation, Kenneth would calm things down in the right direction. Kenneth remembers preaching a sermon on tithing as the church was jammed…
Kenneth reads about his plan to get a quartet for every night of the week for the evangelistic meetings. He reads about his discussion with Dad Hall about personal works in relation to Calvinism. He tells of his plan to preach on Second Coming as…
Kenneth had only two more Sundays to preach in Columbus, and the news of his departure felt like there was a funeral going on. The feeling, says Kenneth, was mutual. Yet, "I can surely look back on my first church with satisfaction and peace in my…
Kenneth's first funeral at the Deacons' was a big one, with crowds of people coming from all over Pennsylvania. It was all new to him, but he made no mistakes, even at the grave.
Kenneth recalls his first day at the church in Columbus, NJ. He describes the church building and its people. He comments on the order of service on this first day. He went in the evening for service at another church.
Kenneth describes the first in a series of evangelistic meetings he organized. He tells of how people responded to his first night meeting. Evangelist Dad Hall got sick and Kenneth had to ask Chris Jensen, a man he picked on campus, to take over.…
Kenneth spoke at a funeral and was invited to speak at several of them from that day. One day he asked why people so often wanted him to speak at funerals, and the answer came, "Well, you're always so cheerful."
Kenneth wrote out all the Christmas cards by hand, to all the families in the church. It was a beautiful card. Margaret reads the message that Kenneth had composed. Kenneth comments that it was a great love affair, "It was my first church
Kenneth visited his father in Meadville and met a working man at the Erie Railroad who was doing what Kenneth used to do there. He was making substantially more money than Kenneth was likely to make in religious work.
Kenneth tells how he was saving money for marriage while pastoring the church in Columbus, NJ. He figured he could get up to $600 by the spring, which would give him enough money for his wedding in June
Kenneth reads from his journal about a two week evangelistic meeting he was planning. He wrote Dad Hall, a prominent Episcopalian evangelist, who agreed to be the speaker. Kenneth then informed the church of the plans.
In March Kenneth was still looking for a church to lead. He recalls receiving letters from two of the churches he had written to, but there were no firm promises yet at this point.
Kenneth was a good preacher who had mastered the techniques of preaching. He never wrote his sermons and learned very early how to hold an audience. He was so comfortable with his audience that Brad wondered where he had gotten it.
The last issue of Kenneth's parish paper stirred up a "rumpus" all over the countryside among hard-boiled farmers. They were all talking about how to be square with the Lord about their money. Many told Kenneth that he should be a missionary right…
Kenneth was asked to preach at Princeton and he did it the most natural but effective way he could. He almost won the sermon contest without knowing that he was participating in it.
Kenneth tells about his painting of the car the church had bought him. The mixture of paint and enamel gave the car a gloss like a mirror. Margaret recalls that Kenneth once had all the "insides" of the car out.
Kenneth tells of a letter he received from a member of a church he pastored in Cambridge City, Indiana. Kenneth has had only two small churches in the US, one in Columbus, New Jersey, and one in Cambridge City, Indiana, while he was the head of the…
Kenneth tells about his Easter Sunday at the Columbus church, his morning preparation and teaching, his sermon on the resurrection and its impact on the congregation. He commented how the church was willing to get him a car.
Kenneth learned about the death of Margaret's father right at the time when a group of young people were ready to join the church under his leadership as a newly appointed pastor. Reluctantly he decided not to attend the funeral in order to care for…