RECOLLECTIONS OF A PREACHER'S KID

By Olivene Godfrey

Being a Methodist preacher's kid, my earliest memories are closely related to church activities. And, at an early age I knew "by heart" the words to most church hymns. One of my favorites was "Amazing Grace."

This hymn was written by the Rev. John Newton, an Anglican rector in London. The words to the hymn first appeared in 1779 among a collection called, "Olyney Hymns." While it has a Protestant background it is sung in Roman Catholic churches as well, according to an article that appeared a number of years ago in the Wesleyan Christian Advocate.

As I thought of the old hymn this week, other memories of my childhood came back to me. And, some of those memories always return in the summer months, as that was "revival time” for my father who often served as pastor of a circuit of four or five churches, which were not air-conditioned. The only way to stir up a breeze was to use one of the hand fans provided by the local funeral home.

Usually the revival meetings would be climaxed with an all day Sunday service, with dinner "on the ground." Actually, the food would be placed on long tables in the churchyard. Following the Sunday morning service, the ladies, dressed in their best clothes, would spread food on the table.

There was always fried chicken and country ham, and of course, southern-style green beans. And every honest -to- goodness southerner knows that southern-style green beans have to be cooked with a slab of fatback until they are a greenish brown shade. An elderly relative of mine once remarked that he couldn't see how anyone, with any "gumption could eat canned green beans."

But, back to those dinners on the ground. There was always "fried corn" and potato salad, too. I have taken a lot of kidding over the years from some of my northern friends about
"Fried corn", that is, until they tasted the delicacy.

After relating some of my childhood experiences in a fan letter to writer, Paul Hemphill, (before he achieved his present literary status), he wrote to me that, "It sounds as if you have a beautiful background to draw from and write about this South you and I know."

And I do appreciate the rich experiences I had during those days. But, I still remember those hard church pews where I seemed to have spent so many hours of my life. Sometimes it seemed that as a small child, I slept more hours on those "benches" than I did in my own bed, as in those days, "revival meeting services would often last until midnight.

See you next time.