Pastor James

Pastor James
By
Tom Kaiser


When Pastor James passed it affected not only his congregation but the whole city of Magnolia.
To say he was a great man would be a giant understatement. He came to Magnolia about twenty years ago. Arrived by Greyhound Bus and walked to the church just carrying a small suitcase and a Bible.
His soft voice was a kind of magic. He didn’t talk loudly, but his words were filled with greatness. When he spoke you had the feeling that you wanted to hear more. More than one person had said that his sermons were the fastest hour in Magnolia. It seemed like you just got there, and the sermons were over, and a whole hour or maybe a little more had passed.
Pastor James had a way of getting a person to do things for the church. He didn’t try to conn anyone, he made them feel that what he wanted to be done was the least they could do.
He got Williams Lighting to make a red neon light saying, “Always Open.”, and the company also hung it by the door to the church. They had to run a power cord and put in a wall socket, all at no charge to the church.
He did every service for the twenty years, never taking a vacation, he did all the weddings, baptisms and funerals. Always visited the sick, and instructed those that were about to be married on what responsibility they were about to embark on. He instructed the choir, and always had a kind word for the Woman’s Christian Society that met on Wednesdays.
His sermons were always first the Law of God, and then the Gospel. He had a way of delivering the sermon that made everyone feel that what he was saying pertained to just them.
Everyone in the city knew Pastor James. Even if you were not a member of his church, you knew him and you helped him out anytime he needed something.
I volunteered to help gather Pastor James’s personal things and clean up the church for the new Pastor.
Upon entering, we found the kitchen spotless. Everything was put away, the countertops were clean and shiny, and there were no dirty dishes. The whole apartment was spotless. I went into the bedroom to change the sheets, and the bed was stripped, and clean sheets were sitting at the foot of the bed.
Under the bed was the small suitcase that Pastor James had arrived with. Pulling it out and opening it. Inside was a small pair of little girl’s shoes, a napkin folded around what appeared to be about a half cookie, and an envelope.
Opening the envelope, thinking that it may have the name and address of a relative, I pulled out a single sheet of paper. Unfolding it I see it is a birth certificate. The name on the certificate is Janet Derring. Along with the certificate is a picture of three men, all wearing collars like what Pastor James wore, and a little girl wearing a lovely dress and what looks like the same shoes as what is in the suitcase.
On the back of the picture were the names of three men. Jake, John, Jerry. Off to the side was the name Janet. Under each name was written a birth date and a death date. All except for Janet hers was just a birth date of June 28, 1942.
I folded everything back up and put things back in the envelope.
I was about to show what I had found to the other ladies when Mr. Williams the mortician came in. He saw the envelope in my hand and took it from me. He asked me if I had opened it, and I told him yes, and that there was a picture and a birth certificate in it. He asked me whom I had shown it to and when I said no one. You could see the relief on his face. He told me to never tell anyone what I had found, that was going to be our secret. What if I said anything to anyone it would destroy the faith people had in Paster James, and all he did for this town.
I asked Mr. Williams if Pastor James was Janet. He said yes and to never disclose what I had discovered.
We buried Pastor James in the cemetery next to the church two days later. For the last three years, the ladies of the Women’s Christian Society have placed flowers on the grave of Pastor James every Saturday.
The new Pastor is a guy named Albert. Pastor Albert is no way near the Pastor James was, but he too preaches the Law and the Gospel, and the congregation likes him.