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Life at the church
God blesses my path
9/9/20262 min read
Mt. Zion Baptist Church
The influence of this church in my life deserves its own post. It was here that I heard the Bible preached, felt the call of God on my life, was converted, baptized and grew in my faith. The church was such a part of our life, the question was not "Are you going to church?" but "Are they having church?" Here I was able to develop my understanding of what it meant to follow Jesus, but in addition, had opportunity to enhance my musical skills. I was placed on a chair and sang before the church at an early age. During our annual school of music in the summer, we all learned to sing in parts and to direct hymns. On Sunday evening services it was the young people who led the singing. In addition to growing in my understanding of the Bible and in musical skills, participating in the Royal Ambassador program taught me about the importance of missions. That knowledge would come to have a personal meaning later in my life. The Nowlands came to our church during my high school years, and made a deep impression on my life. Mrs. Nowland involved the youth in church dramas that really meant a lot to me. I played the part of the Spirit of Christmas in the play. The Nowland family consisted of two boys and two girls. Paul, the oldest was a student at Louisiana College and later went on to become a missionary to Brazil. He was involved in an incident not long after they moved in. There was a squabble right in front of the parsonage that he attempted to settle, but he was ignored. But I respected him for his attempt.
During my senior year in high school, unfortunately I began to be reluctant to utilize my conducting skills and refused to lead singing when asked by the current pastor. Later in college when I chose to major in music, it was a bit embarassing to face the pastor when I came home. I had no answer when he reminded me of my failure to be of assistance when asked. It was not my finest hour. I do hope the Lord has forgiven me. However there were several occasions that I was able to practice singing hymns and gospel songs outside the church. There were three of us boys in the church that were very close in age. One of them had a girl friend who lived near the church, a preacher's daughter that was a very good musician. Often we would go to her house and sing some of the popular gospel songs, some we heard on the radio. I enjoyed singing bass, especially when there was a special part in the song. I would resume my interest in music after I got to college.
