I became friends with both Norm
Wakefield, my primary Christian Education professor and to a lesser degree, Norm
Wright, my counseling professor. Norm Wright had our whole class in his home
where we got to know him and his family and learn something of the trauma in
his own life. They were rearing a child with special needs. Their story was
emotionally touching.
Norm Wakefield probably should
have ignored me since I pursued a relationship with him with a passion, I
started visiting in his office and then Della and I were invited to his home on
three occasions for dinner. He intrigued me. He was not teaching methodology,
nor was he pouring out ideas and procedures to guarantee our success as
pastors. It took time for me to discover that he was trying to teach us to
think.
I remember the asking about his
own philosophy and he asked what I thought it was. I told him he was not
teaching methodology. There were no program ideas to write down. He believed
that all of us minister most effectively out of our own lives. Who we are and
how we relate is our most effective tool.
He asked what it was we were to
teach. The Bible. What relationship are trying to communicate. One with Jesus!
We talked about the primary teaching approach of Jesus with His use of
questions. He assigned the study of Jesus methodology as a paper. Norm was an
expert at bringing out the best with questions. Every class began with
questions.
He instructed me to be an avid
reader in our field of study. That built a strong foundation. To prepare to
teach, he would write out eight to ten questions to begin each. It initiated
discussion that often led full exploration of the subject. He did not ignore
content and he passed along much from some of the best writers in the field. He
introduced me to Larry Richards whose books were all philosophy oriented. Every
book I had read prior to his class was methodology. Frankly it got boring after
a few books.
That made sense to me. His style
affected my own. I don’t know if I could have taught without this contact. We
talked ideas, beliefs and attitudes. I was in awe.
The pastor I worked with or for –
if indeed either of those statements were true was a complete enigma. Who was
he? What was he about? From time to time board members and even some of the
parishioners asked me strange questions about him. Had I been in his office?
Did I know what was in her desk drawers? Had I ever smelled his breath? What did
it smell like? That was weird, real weird. The questions did not come all at
once, but were spread out far enough that I never found a connection. They all
seemed directed at his habits.
I met with some people I could
trust to try and figure out the concern being expressed. Apparently he had been
accused of smoking and drinking. There were questions because the accuser was
not deemed credible so they wanted to know if I had ever noticed anything.
Eventually I learned of rumors that he might be with some women. Huh! What was
I to do about that? Become a private eye!
Honestly, I was never with him
long enough or standing close enough to notice anything like that. He always
smelled of breath mints as far as I was concerned.
There was an older gentleman
living directly across the street from the church. From time to time he would
come along side me and almost whisper, “You should come earlier on Tuesdays.” I
would ask why and he would say, “Just come earlier.”
I dismissed his comments with a
laugh. Besides, I came immediately after my last class and could not come
sooner.
But one day, that one o’clock
class was canceled.
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