Preaching in the Park

To really comprehend and understand the nature of the theme for this week’s column, one has to be older in years. It was the intent to write about how time has changed so many aspects of life for society in Calhoun and Gordon County.

I was going to use the opening words of the old gospel song “Hold to God’s Unchanging Hand” of 1906 by Jennie B. Wilson as the beginning point of the column today. I haven’t heard the song in a church service in recent years, but most of us of ancient years will remember the opening words, which declare, “Time is filled with swift transition.” From that point, there are several spiritual admonitions in the song worthy of consideration for any age – especially the modern age in which we find ourselves today.

The design of this column and the words written today will not be to examine the song for depth and meaning. It would not be without value to do so; a more expanded look at areas of life to which we can certainly appreciate the “swift transition of time” will be put on the back shelf for a little while. For today I am going to begin with a change, as suggested in the opening line of this column, you have to be among the elderly of our population to really grasp. Let me now notice a practice of my young days.

Preaching in the Park: Remarks today will give attention to several aspects of public proclamation of the Word. One aspect of that public proclamation is the location of the proclamation.

The park to which I refer today is one that no longer exists in downtown Calhoun. It is the site where the parking lot located between Court and Oothcalooga Streets on the North and South, and Park Street and the railroad tracks on the East and West.

That park was covered with grass and contained large trees with a trail worn diagonally by Calhoun High Students walking to and from school across the park from the railroad crossing on Oothcalooga Street to Court Street. Students did not have cars and buses were not available back then. While we might occasional- ly see and hear preaching in the new park on North Wall Street, north of the old Calhoun First National Bank building, the preaching done in the old park down at the railroad tracks was as regular as the Saturdays that rolled round.

Cars were pulled down in the park and loud speakers were used as preachers waxed eloquent in their remarks. It was the hollering and nonunderstandable type of preaching we don’t hear as frequently today. Still, the crowds gathered. To this young fellow it was a matter of entertainment. The city government eventually banished the use of loud speakers. With that banishment the preaching eventually disappeared from the park.

Lest anyone feel these are remarks of extreme condemnation, let me say that while I might disagree with methods or content, I respected and admired the zeal of those who found the time and gave the effort to proclaim what they felt a lost world needed. Don’t we remember the statement Jesus gave to his disciples to “go out into the highways and hedges?”

Emphasis has changed: It is both interesting and challenging to reflect upon great changes in the content of preaching from those older days. Let us examine some of the issues we heard discussed (and condemned) in days long past.

The theater and movies were a popular area of condemnation by preachers from past decades. Society changed and with that change came changes in the content of messages preached. Profanity and vulgar lan- guage was not heard in the movies in the decades of the 40s, 50s and 60s. Still, preachers condemned the viewing of moving pictures (movies). It is often wondered what people of those decades would think if they saw and heard the offerings of today. We live in a different age!

I remember well what one of my teachers at Florida Christian College said. He was not justifying or defending movies, but he made a point we need to consider. Brother G.K. Wallace would often say “Because a picture moves doesn’t make it wrong or evil.” He would then add, “We are exposed to many still movies which are wrong and evil in content.”

How long has it been since you heard a sermon condemning the moving pictures of today? Incidentally, the Bible teaches, “What mine eyes see affects my heart.”

“The Devil’s Walking Stick”: The movies gave way to television as a great evil of the day. It was common to hear preachers (those in the park and in local churches) speak of “The devil’s walking stick.” It did not take long to determine what they meant: They were speaking of the old original antennas picking up the TV signals from distant cities. Often certain families would be called out as giving way to the wiles of the devil as the antennas went up at their houses. I remember one fellow student at Florida Christian College telling me of the woeful news he had received from his hometown that day. He said, “Brother Jones (not his real name) bought a television set.”

In Conclusion: There is much more to be discussed. Nothing said today is in defense of either movies or the offerings on television. Incidentally, I record and maybe get around to watching all the old “Cheyenne” TV episodes of the 1950s and 60s. Nary (there is that word again) a cuss word will you hear. There are several channels on TV you can watch all day and not hear profanity or suggestive dialogue. It will be up to all parents to determine to what their children are exposed in their young and tender years.