DOWN HOME

 

I am scheduled to be at Knoxville. Tennessee, with the West Towne Christian Church, November 14-16. The congregation has just celebrated its ninth anniversary and there are people from varied backgrounds represented. The location is 401 Gallaher View Road No.5, Knoxville, Tennessee 37919 . . . December 2-5 I will be with the saints at Denton, Texas. Nell and I are looking forward with a lot of happy anticipation to being with Leroy and Ouida . . . The Saint Louis Forum has been canceled this year. The energy shortage coupled with decreasing interest the last two years made us feel that it was the thing to do. We shall miss it. It continued for more than a quarter of a century . . . I am to be in Roswell, New Mexico, January 23-25. You may write Stan Harbour, 1912 West Second Street, Roswell, New Mexico 88201. . . Oak Hill Chapel in Saint Louis, sponsored a Vietnamese Boat People Family who arrived from Hong Kong, after almost indescribable sufferings, on September 12. It required securing an apartment, furnishing it, securing food and clothing, and will now require nurturing them. We will need to teach them English and enroll the children in school. It has been a vitalizing experience working together hour after hour, and we ask your prayers that we may now carry it safely through to its ultimate conclusion. There are eight members of the family. . . I have been invited to give the B.D. Phillips Memorial Lectures at Lincoln Christian Seminary on February 20, 21. It is my hope that I shall be able to meet a lot of good friends there for the occasion . . . On March 28 I will speak for the Century Club at Macomb, Illinois, where John Derry works so effectively. I count it a real privilege to return to view that campus ministry project. . . My book, Colony of Heaven, is having a good run. It’s a historical study of the origin of the congregation at Philippi, with ramifications for our life today. It really makes a difference when one studies the love letters of the New Testament in the three-fold context of geography, history and revelation. . . My next book will probably be off the press before the new year rolls around. It is called In the Beginning. It is an account of the change I made when the Spirit of God turned me around and I was able through the grace of God to discard the frightful sectarian spirit. It is an updated version of my book Thoughts on Fellowship which was written way back in 1957 when I ceased to trust for my salvation in The Church of Christ, and began to place my hopes on the Christ of the church. We will take your advance order now. . . Great changes are occurring in our generation as people begin to shake themselves loose from the bondage of this world. I have just concluded the fourteenth session of Bible Study in the Catholic Church. There were 17 hungry persons enrolled, including one priest and three nuns. . . We have resumed home Bible Studies at Oak Hill Chapel with good attendance. It is amazing how many more people will come to a home than will attend at an ecclesiastical structure. Last year we had 105 in attendance in five homes . . . Our Sunday evening meetings in Tower Grove Park were noted for three things—the size of the audience which was greater than we could have accommodated in our little building, the breadth of coverage of various denominational backgrounds represented, the eagerness with which all participated in participating in the songs and in listening to the proclamation of the gospel. We plan to resume these meetings next year, if God wills.—W. Carl Ketcherside, 139 Signal Hill Drive, Saint Louis, Missouri 63121.