Page 161 - CHASING THE WIND EDIT

In 1957, we moved into our new house off Soutel Drive which was closer to my work
with the U.S. Weather Bureau at Imeson Airport. We attended Riverview Baptist
Church on Lem Turner Road which had a large membership that grew to the point that
a second Educational building was built. Virginia sang in the choir which was
conducted by well-known pianist Lee Turner. I was Sunday School Superintendent for
a year, even though I worked shift work at the airport and sometimes worked the
midnight shift. When I became Chief Meteorologist at Channel 4, we started going to
North Jacksonville Baptist Church which had a thriving educational program and
magnificent music under Leroy Summers.

When we moved in 1965 closer to Channel 4 on Jacksonville’s Southside, we found it
hard to find a similar Baptist church. Finally, thirteen years later our daughter, Wendy,
led us to downtown First Baptist Church. We were part of the real glory days of that
congregation. Dr. Homer Lindsay, Sr. had just retired and his son, Homer Lindsay, Jr.
led the church to its greatest accomplishments. With over 5,000 in attendance for
Sunday School and a new auditorium that could not hold many more than 3,000
members, two morning services were started. The choir, under the leadership of
Denney Dawson and his wife, Diane, grew with up to 200 members. We learned new,
inspiring choral music for nearly every service. Special musical productions were
presented three or four times a year.

The soloists, who were part of our congregation, inspired us each week with
meaningful hymns. Wayne Coleman sang “’Til the Storm Passes By”, Gloria Robinson
sang. Bill Gaither’s song “There’s Something Different About Him’, and Homer
Lindsay’s sermons touched a chord in the lives of many of us. In fact, occasionally
Jimmy Theron’s “Amens!” would rise up to the rafters. For five years the choir and
church members presented the drama “The Life of Christ”. The auditorium was filled
Friday and Saturday nights and Sunday.

These experiences were the ultimate in “Glory Days” for many of us during that era.
After surviving a heart attack and congestive heart failure, my body was weakened to
the point where I had to depend on God to regain enough strength to walk. It began with
my counting my blessings as I could barely walk from room to room in my home. I felt
the message of the shepherd David applied to me as I was “walking through the valley
of the shadow of death” (Psalm 23). The words of the hymns I had learned over the
years, such as “He Leadeth Me”, and “I Need Thee Every Hour”, inspired me as I could
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