Under His Wings

When a pastor was called to a Congregational church in colonial America, it was said that he “settled” over it. The image was of a setting hen and carried strongly parental overtones, of maternal warmth and solicitude on one hand, and a father’s gravity and authority on the other. He was expected to stay with his congregation, apart from unusual circumstances, his whole life. One will recall from Moby Dick that its New England pastor was called “Father” Mapple by the sailors of his parish. He was no Catholic, but in Melville’s hands a Protestant concession to the desires of men’s hearts, since every Christian knows that things are best when his pastor is a father, the title not being simply a rank, or merited by ecclesiastical exercises, but a father spirit and in truth.

When a pastor stays--and is kept by his people--in one place for many years, the image of the pastor who is father and brother, the man at the head of a spiritual family, becomes more vivid and plausible. It is a sign of both authority and solicitude, an image of how things should be--a sign of the Church. For that reason I celebrate here the ministry of my brother David, who this month became the pastor of longest tenure at a church that has existed since 1841.

First Baptist Church of Baraboo, Wisconsin, now known as Walnut Hill Bible Church, has a turbulent history, having had about 45 pastors during its more than 160 years. During the pastorates of David and his predecessor, Carl Zwart, however, the hard labor of its ministers and elders brought it new life. It is a life from which my brother, who came to the church as his first call out of seminary, has profited greatly, as the church has profited from his pastorate. This month, while recuperating from heart surgery, he was told that he had surpassed the previous record tenure, having been settled over the church for eighteen years, five months, and one day.

No one except his three children, as far as I know, calls Pastor Dave father, but here, it seems to me, is a chance to celebrate publicly a fatherhood that deserves public celebration. Congratulations to Walnut Hill Bible Church and my brother David, one of the finest pastors I know. Ad multos annos.

Comments

[Bill R]

Blessings indeed upon your brother David and his congregation. I for one support the return of the ancient honorific of "father" for all pastors, for the reasons stated here. St. Paul thought it appropriate in his own case. (I Corinthians 4:15)

[James A. Altena]

I join Bill in wishing blessings -- especially as (the Lord willing) my parish will have been blessed with Fr. David Ousley for 25 years come this summer.

[smh]

I have had the honor of meeting Fr. Ousley (once), and of reading his eloquent and perceptive writing. He is one of the finest examples I know of a first-rate mind proving its intelligence by lifelong dedication to the Things that Count.

[Jim Kushiner]

Blessings upon David, Steve, and I commend you publishing this recognition. I hope he still has time to read Touchstone from time to time! May the Lord bless his labors in Baraboo.

[Harold Storm]

Well I broke the record here this year. I started my 20th year...no pastor since 1850 had done that. Blessings Love Your Parish

[Harold Storm]

I meant since the church started in 1850.
Blessings Harold A. Storm

[Clint Hutchens]

Steve (of the Uncled variety),

Just wanted to thank you for this posting and share an infrequent emotional bonding among us Hutchens men.

Clint

[Jim Kushiner]

"emotional bonding among us Hutchens men."??
Takes my breath away! Touchstone will never be able to live this down....

[James A. Altena]

Nick,

to reply to your query to me re: Fr. Ousley under another thread. If you want to look up some things that Fr. Ousley has written, go to the web site of my parish (David Mills, a longtime close personal friend of Fr. Ousley, posted it on a previous MC thread back on 10/13/2007):

http://www.anglicanphiladelphia.org

In addition to audio clips of his sermons (usually about 15 minutes long), past issues of his onetime periodic newsletter “Pilgrimage” (now defunct, alas) are now being posted on the web site. The Latimer Trust in England (staunchly Reformed in outlook) has published two collections of the “Pilgrimage” essays as inexpensive booklets under the title “The Way of Holiness”. (As that title indicates, Fr. Ousley’s specialty is ascetical theology – the shaping and direction of souls to sanctification and holiness of life. He is himself a living model of that.) Unfortunately the booklets must be ordered directly from England, so the postage is more costly than the booklets themselves; but the web site is:

http://www.latimertrust.org/studies.htm

I will add that I circulated by e-mail to several people Fr. Ousley’s Epiphany Sunday sermon on what the Magi teach us about the right worship of God. A staunch TULIP Calvinist friend (a Touchstone subscriber but not an MC blogger) wrote back to say that it was the finest sermon he had ever heard on the topic, and that if was within his power he would have it broadcast to every congregation in English-speaking Christendom. It says a great deal for Fr. Ousley’s eirenic but profound “mere Christianity” that a dedicated Anglo-Catholic such as he can find a ready acceptance in Reformed circles as well.

[smh]

Clint:

What I'm doing here is an attempt to expiate my guilt for pummeling your Dad with snowballs over at Northside Park sometime back in the sixties. I'm still afraid of being sent to hell for that.

On the other hand, I guess I can take some of the credit for developing his moral fiber, and thus his worth as a pastor. What's a big brother for?

Uncle Steve

[Christine Hutchens]

My Uncle Steve,

Thank you for honoring my father and our church family in such a way. It is good of you to remind us what a rare gift our family has been given in Walnut Hill Bible Church.

I don't think our platypus would have grown to practice such patience and forgiveness if it wasn't for his annual winter walloping...I know I have benefited greatly from his possession of these traits, so again, I thank you.

I love you, we all do,
Christy

[smh]

Ah, Christy, don't try ruin my hard-won image as a mean SOB. I've been cultivating it for years, and if it is discovered that someone actually finds me loveable, I might as well retire.

This happened to Fr. Reardon, you know, some years ago. It became generally known, through unauthorized leaks, that this high and dangerous rock of learning against which so many careless barks had broken was in fact--in the words of his daughter, I believe--a "teddy bear." Everything he has written since then has been perforce done in modo urso theodoris. He tries, of course--all of us here try--to emphasize the "bear" part of it (the "Gift of God" Bear, no less), but alas, to those who really know him the "teddy" part sticks like a burr.

Much love, Sweetheart--and I'll be up to Baraboo in a few weeks with some snowballs to throw at your convalescent heart-patient father in a desperate attempt to clear my name.

Uncle Steve