Our Canada – August-September 2019

Son of a Preacher Man

For a teenage boy in the ’60s,

visiting rural churches with Dad

was an education in itself

by Gordon Renfree, Carstairs, Alta.

THE WAY IT WAS

O

ne of my most vivid

memories growing up as

a PK (preacher’s kid) in

the Maritimes in the 1960s was

visiting rural churches, mainly

in New Brunswick. At the time,

my father, Dr. Harry Renfree,

was the “executive minister” of

his Baptist denomination for the

Atlantic provinces, which in lay-

man’s terms translates as head

honcho. Someone who disagreed

with him on some issue once

called him the pope, but that’s

a bit of a stretch.

Part of his responsibilities

included visiting or preaching at

churches on special occasions

such as dedications, anniver-

saries, ordinations and baptisms.

Many of the churches were in

rural areas and, if the Sunday

round trip was less than a day

from our home, he would some-

times take me along.

Some of these visits were

to what was called a “field” of

churches. The field generally

consisted of two to four churches

that fell under the responsibility

of one pastor. In some cases, the

churches would have services

on alternate Sundays or, if the

field consisted of three churches, a

service was held at one church

in the morning, another in

the afternoon, and a third in

the evening. When he visited,

Dad and any family members

who had come along would be

invited to a meal after

the morning service. The

hostess would bring out

her nicest china and serve

up her best meal. It was

always a generous feast,

and it seemed we would j

get the last bite in when i

was time to head o­ to th

afternoon service. After th

we went to another home for

supper. Again, out came the

hostess’s best china and another

delicious, full course meal, then

o­ to the evening service. As

a growing teenage boy with a

bottomless pit for a stomach, I

thought it was great. My father

on the other hand, although he

never complained, certainly

must have felt the e­ects of two

large meals—but perhaps it gave

him extra fuel for the evening

sermon.

Upholding Traditions

The two common features I

remember most about these rural

churches were the pot-bellied

stove and the pump organ. Even

on a cold winter day, the stove

was only lit right before the

service began, so it would only

warm up to a comfortable level

just before the benediction at

the end of the service. Perhaps it

was done that way on purpose—

nobody fell asleep and the pre-

ferred seating was somewhere in

the middle of the church, where

the stove was

located, rather th te

back pews.

The pump organsayn-

teresting instrum ’ kd

of like a giant accod ly the

bellows are generated with the

feet instead of the hands. The

sound coming forth is dependent

on the organist operating the

pumps. Varieties of intonation

depend on the pressure applied

to the pedals. Some of the musi-

cians were very consistent, but

others’ techniques were to apply

pressure akin to someone hyper-

ventilating.

Occasionally, Dad would be

called upon to baptize people.

I’m convinced there was one

occasion where he thought his

own transport to the Promised

Land was imminent. Many of

the rural churches didn’t have

water tanks, so baptisms were

done in the ocean or river. On

this occasion, the baptism of

17 candidates was to be done in

the Saint John River. It was not

The

serve

just

it

the

that,

home for

than the

organ is a a a very very very very in in-

instrument. It’s kind

accordion, only only only the the

generated with the

42 Our Canada AUGUST / SEPTEMBER 2019