Five Stick Friday

Wow. Just wow. I’ve just come back from Dalton First United Methodist Church’s first worship gathering with new Senior Pastor Steve Usry. And I’m just emotionally exhausted…in a really good way.

I thought all the way home about how to express what’s in my heart without writing a thome. And I’ve already failed at three takes because the words just begin to flow out of my heart, through my fingers, and onto the screen with blinding speed, but unfortunately little “organization” or logical form. So I’m going to warn whoever is reading this…that even this version may end up lengthy…I just don’t know. But what I do know is it will be laid in four distinct “seasons” of my life with and at Dalton First United Methodist Church.

I’ll also defend myself in advance that, if it gets long, this blog serves a first purpose of being my digital mental health outlet, and a secondary purpose of “performance art” to anyone who decideds to wonder into it. That’s a spun way of saying…’This is more for me than it is for you” and I have to unapolegetically make no bones about that. Some day after I’m long gone, I hope my children will be able to walk back through this blog to gain a better sense of who I was, what made my heart beat fast, and what I did about it…

But I digress. Four “seasons”. My four “seasons” with DFUMC are.

1. 1979- The Beginning.
2. 1990 – The Return.
3. 2010 – The Service.
4. 2023 – The Battle

So…let’s dig in, shall we?

1979 – The Beginning – In the summer of 1979, my Dad, Chester Henry, sat my family down to let us all know that he would more than likely be resigning from his role as Minister of Administration at First Baptist Church. I was crushed. For a million reasons. Thoughtful reasons. Selfish reasons. Fearful reasons. Plenty of reasons. This whole situation with First Baptist could be a 20-page blogpost of its own…but that would really serve little purpose. So I’ll condense a lot of hurt, anguish, resentment, and downright rage into a sanitary sentence.

In a “standing room only” meeting in the Dalton First Baptist Sanctuary, my father and two other long-serving ministers resigned to the church.

In that same “church business gathering” I performed in the Church’s youth contemperary group, “The Joyful Noise”. Being a member of that group was something I had aspired to since it had existed. I’d watched Jim Bray, Carla Wilson, Faith Gibson, Art Holloway, Diane Ford, Michael Faucette, Carey Cline, many more, and my own brother David sing in it. And move people. I was all-in, and earlier in the 1979 year, I had auditioned and made the group. I was thrilled. So here’s that first “selfish” reason my Dad’s resignation ( at then at the age of 15 ) crushed me. I had realized my dream of a long run of high school in the Joyful Noise. However, its director, J. Wayne Robinson, was one of the ministers resigning with my Dad ( along with another fine man, Ron Holloway). There would be no Joyful Noise. I was despondent.

So…I was a kid that all of sudden felt like he didn’t have a youth group even though I did. The FBC youth group continued to love on me, and Jerry Chiles, one of the few remaining members of the staff, handled the whole situation like the professional but also empathetic human being I know him to be to this day. I continued on through the end of that school year, going to Ridgecrest, and a summer mission trip to Homestead, Fla. This was transpiring while my parents no longer attended First Baptist. It was only a matter of time until it was going to become untenable for me to attend either, particularly without my Mom’s support…who, frankly, was livid with the whole situation.

I’m not sure how I actually started going to Dalton First Methodist. But I remember the “group of who” behind it. Greg Ellis, Karen Kirkpatrick, Gay Rice, and many more marched in the DHS band with me. And as the kerfuffle at FBC down the street unfolded, Brad Cline, and the McDaniel brothers ( Lee and Jeff) and sister Diane( my classmate) moved their membership to Dalton First United Methodist. So between those I spent so much time with in the band, and those that were at First Baptist and moved their letter, I guess I came to my own conclusion to “try it out” on my own.

Keep in mind that I’m still angry, delusioned about religion in general, mad at the world, mad at my Dad for resigning, mad at my Mom for not being supportive of me continuing to go there, etc. But something about those “DFUMC kids”…the ones in the band with me, etc. spoke to my still small voice…”Go check this out…”

I did…and I never left. And what evolved was being involved in a Youth Ministry that someone ought to study as the paradigm for the gold standard of youth ministy. Charles Ruehl was the Youth Minister. Mike Moffitt was the Choir Director. Both mentored me in ways that I can’t explain without another 10,000 spare words. And they were both so very different , but complementary in the way they approached it.

So…the broken kid in 1979 that walked into DFUMC, exited in the Fall of 1981 after being a member of the singing group FAITH, serving as the Youth Council President, and taking a summer internship on a Youth Ministry Leadership Team with Ellen Neal and Melanie Miller…all as I prepared to go to Georgia Tech.

And somewhere, in some city, on our last night of Choir Tour…Mike Moffitt pulled me aside. Knowing that I was pursuing a degree in Chemical Engineering he said the prophetic words…”Henry, while you’re off doing your “Chemistry Thing”, don’t forget to find a piano stool every now and then…from what I can see, it keeps you happy…”

And he was right. It did. It always had. Even in the darkest parts of 1979, my piano was always there for me to beat on, yell at, enjoy, cry over, worship God through…and occassionally have a little fun.

So freshly armed with the confidence I’d gained from being led by Charles and Mike, I left for Georgia Tech… and the “Beginning” season” with DFUMC was complete.

And it’s 3:15 a.m….And I have to work in a few hours…so the story will continue with the next season later this week. Not an intentional dramatic tease…I’m exhausted. But smiling.

More soon. Beginning with “1990 – The Return”