Preachers I Have Known
Margery McCurdy Plummer
I’ve known many preachers during my church going years, and I’ll have to say that all of them seem to have been sincere and dedicated to their calling, but like all of the general population and particularly their individual congregations, each was in some way different from the other.

I’ve always enjoyed hearing a preacher who was passionate concerning his beliefs, knowledgeable, considerate and concerned not only with saving souls, but also aware of the needs of others and dedicated to helping them.

I like for a preacher to have a gentle sense of humor but not to posture as a comedian and high on my list of attributes of an ideal preacher would be one who was humble and for sure to show in himself a human side. That’s a large order, I know, but once in a long while, just such a person may pass your way. It happened once to me.

One preacher that I remembered who lived next door to us during my teen years, had children near my and my sister’s age. We enjoyed participating in sports together and other activities common to teens of our age.

Their father, a busy man was always on the run, and along with their mother were out visiting the sick, the lonely and taking people to the doctor or shopping in his not too reliable Chevy. It was said that one woman gave birth to a baby in the back seat of the car while they were on the way to the hospital. I don’t doubt it.

This energetic man at one time also had an unpaid job coaching a local high school ball team. I don’t know when he rested, because occasionally I would see him mowing his small lawn wearing the white shirt and a tie that he wore on most occasions, ready for any call he might get to help someone. He and his wife would then jump into the car and take off. Maybe his energy came from God or partly from the Coca-Cola high he got each morning at the drug store.

Another preacher who I remember well lived across the street from us when our children were very small. He had a little boy who played in his yard and with our boys. This man was small and moved fast. He seemed to be rushing everywhere he went. He genuinely loved people and had a great desire to preach the gospel. I liked him. Maybe it was because he was so good and also one day he showed me that he really had a human side. I was in our front yard when I saw him go into his garage, get into his car and start to back out the drive. A short distance out, he quickly got out of the car and with great force kicked his son’s tricycle from behind the car into the yard. He was mad and like many of us, he could show anger. I suspect that venting his anger in this way saved his little boy some punishment.

One minister who I remember from the old Methodist parsonage had six children, three of them near my own age, and that in itself made me know them better as a family. Parsonage families that I knew seemed to have more boys than girls. This family had three boys, and we had fun playing touch football with them and other kids on a vacant lot between the parsonage and a neighboring house. Preacher’s kids make good friends.

Some preachers stayed on in White House when they retired. Brother Harper and his wife, Patty Sue, never retired. This much loved couple stayed on and have continued their work at the Millersville Methodist Church. They have been there for fifteen years, bringing new life to the small congregation. They are both avid sports fans and one or both can be seen anywhere White House plays.

Brother William Richardson was a beloved pastor in White House, and his death not long ago saddened all of his many friends. Brother Richardson was a unique person. Preaching was his main interest, but he had some almost unheard of hobbies.

When my husband received a citizenship award, Brother Richardson sent him a congratulatory card of his own design. On the envelope was a cut out design of a tiny airplane flying away from “Walton Plummer.” The inside of the card was duly decorated. Brother Richardson sent many of these cards for different occasions. In addition to these cards, one of his hobbies was driving long distances in as a short period of time as he could. He liked a challenge, like breaking his own records. His daughter told me that for his 80th birthday, he gave himself a gift. He drove non-stop to New Orleans and back in record time. She also told me that he ate a half cup of peanut butter each night before going to bed. Maybe that’s what gave him his youthful appearance, zest for life and long life. It’s nice if families in their loss can find some things to chuckle about.

There were other parsonage families that I knew and all had some influence on me. They brought something new to the community and, hopefully, took something good to another place.