Page 158 - Winterling's Chasing the Wind

In 1941, we first moved to Florida. My brother and I visited the Baptist Church in
Green Cove Springs and a summer session called Vacation Bible School. The
“hands-on” projects were the main things I remember. When we moved to
Jacksonville, I joined my playmate, Jimmy Butts, at the Naval Baptist Church in
Yukon, which later was renamed Yukon Baptist Church. Jimmy’s father was Sunday
School Superintendent.

Our Sunday School teacher was a sailor from the Navy Base, Bob Peterson. At the end
of each class, he handed each of us a Bible verse to memorize for the next Sunday. The
next time we met, we recited the verse we learned. At the age of 80, I still remember
most of those verses, such as Romans 3:23 “All have sinned and come short of the
glory of God” and I Corinthians 10:13 “There has no temptation taken you but such as
is common to man…but God is faithful and will provide a way that you can endure it”.

As a young person, I often visited churches nearby. When my father died in 1946, I
stayed at Margaret and Edgar Clancy’s house on Park Street where the educational
building of Riverside Methodist Church now stands. I attended Dr. Albert Kissling’s
Riverside Presbyterian Church that stood at the corner of Park and Post Streets. When
we moved downtown, I visited First Baptist Church and Snyder Memorial Church near
Hemming Park.

Since I didn’t drink or smoke, I felt that the Baptist church was for me because the
Church Covenant said that (1) we should abstain from drinking alcoholic beverages,
and (2) since our bodies are the temple of the Holy Spirit, we should not smoke tobacco
because it damages the body (lungs). When I joined the Air Force and was assigned to
Chanute Air Force Base, IL, I witnessed a different form of praying. I visited a
Nazarene church in Rantoul, IL where the preacher announced, “Let’s Pray”. To my
surprise, the worshipers got up from their seats, walked up and down the aisles with
raised their arms with each saying their own prayers. After that, I just attended the
Protestant service on the base with my friend Jack Hall.

Upon being assigned to Albany, GA in 1951, I attended the downtown First Baptist
Church where I professed my faith on Easter Sunday and was baptized by Dr. Leonard
A. Stephens. I was most blessed a year later when I was assigned to Oklahoma A&M
College (now Oklahoma State University). I came to know many close friends at the
Baptist Student Union.
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