God gave us wonderful years in Wichita, home of McConnell Air Force Base, from which our church drew a few married couples that were stationed there. Their almost unbounded enthusiasm for the Word and work of God was encouraging. Some of them ended up going into the ministry after their stint in the Air Force. But the enormous financial demands upon a small congregation of people were, for a young pastor, staggering. We loved the people, had some good revival meetings with the likes of Evangelist Jerry Sivnksty, and saw significant spiritual growth—but after giving it my best effort, I felt I could not lead this church out of its financial dilemma, try as I did. I resigned without a place to move to, but that place would soon open up to us in the small, strongly Mennonite town of Newton, Kansas, where a group of folk were coming together to start a new church, Liberty Baptist. The leaders assured me that this was not “split” off from another church. There were forty or fifty people, mostly younger couples, and their enthusiasm for Christ was evident. I accepted their call to become the first pastor of this start-up work, and we moved to Newton in early 1977.
The temporary meeting place of Liberty Baptist was a beautiful little (Methodist Youth) chapel on Broadway Ave. The quiet little town was perfect for a family with small children, and the “kids” could ride their bikes anywhere they would choose to without our fear of someone harming them. I soon secured time on the local Christian radio station for a 30-minute broadcast, “Liberty Baptist Lifeline,” each Saturday morning, and the presence of this new church was soon recognized. We sought and found a good piece of property on which we asked God to help us build a permanent meeting place of our own. The second year, we founded Liberty Christian School—pretty much a one-room school house!
This small town of 15,000 to 20,000 people, though, had two independent Baptist churches before Liberty Baptist was organized, plus a “Bible church” that operated a sizable and respected Christian school. So the new start-up church was not a “split” from any of the existing churches, but it was comprised mostly of people who had, at one time or another, been active or at least involved in one or more of those assemblies.
Newton and surrounding towns in that area were strongly Mennonite, and many of these good folk were “old-school, conservative” Mennonites with an Anabaptist heritage. But the town was also home to a leading Mennonite college, not known for its conservatism. The community was strongly ethnic. After some time, I became unsettled in my spirit as to whether I wanted to spend the rest of my life in this culture. The people were wonderful, our church was growing, and, though typical problems would rear their heads from time to time, Ellen and the children and I were happy where we were. But, in my prayer life, I was still not altogether convinced that this was where I would be comfortable in ministering for a lifetime. I finally prayed to God and said something to the effect that if His will was for me to stay in this ministry, I would be satisfied with that; but if He had another place in His vineyard that He chose to move me to, that would suit me, too. Either way was okay, as long as I knew He was leading. I shared this conversation with my best friend at the time, who happened to be pastoring in Indianapolis (Tom Kent, Joy Baptist Church) without any indication that I expected to move any time soon, if ever. Unknown to me, Tom had heard that Pastor Fred Moritz, a seminary classmate of mine, had resigned the pastorate of Thompson Road Baptist Church to go into full-time evangelism. Tom called the church office and left my name with someone, in case the church was still looking for a pastor to fill that vacancy.
Sometime in March of 1979, I received a call from a member of the TRBC pulpit committee, enquiring as to whether I would consider candidating for the TRBC pulpit. I do not remember anything specific about the brief conversation. I know that I indicated I was not actively seeking a move from Newton but would always be open to God’s direction at any time, to any place, if I were convinced it was in His will. I heard nothing back from the TRBC pulpit committee and gave that phone conversation no further thought—until sometime in August, when I received another phone call from the pulpit committee inviting me to candidate for the still-open pulpit/pastorate.
I had been planning a trip east (vacation), so after praying with my wife, I returned the call and agreed to drop by to get acquainted with Thompson Road Baptist Church. That was mid-August. The Wednesday after our Sunday visit to the church (having preached twice and participated in a question/answer session), I received a call letting me know that the church had voted to call me as pastor. After more prayer and family discussion, I accepted that call and agreed to be on the field in Indy the Sunday after Labor Day, 1979. Our three children moaned and groaned about moving. The Sunday we had been at TRBC getting acquainted, I later learned, they had done anything they thought they might get by with in order to leave a “bad” impression with the church. But move we did, once again, with no house to move into and with all our “earthly goods” packed into the longest U-Haul truck available at that time. TRBC sent two men from the church to help us pack and move. The people at Liberty Baptist were taken by surprise—it had all happened so fast. (More later.)
“Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct thy paths.” (Proverbs 3:5,6)
YOU and GOD 