Two Legacies, 50 Years Later KEEBLE and KING Fought for ‘Different Things in Different Ages.’
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An international newspaper Our mission: To inform, for Churches of Christ inspire and unite Vol. 75, No. 4 | April 2018 www.christianchronicle.org Two legacies, 50 years later KEEBLE AND KING fought for ‘different things in different ages.’ BY HAMIL R. HARRIS AND BOBBY ROSS JR. THE CHRISTIAN CHRONICLE arshall Keeble was calling sinners home at a 1939 gos- pel meeting in Ridgely, Tenn., when a young white man Mapproached him after the sermon. The renowned black evangelist reached out his hand, thinking this was one more soul ready for baptism. Instead, the man struck Keeble in the face with a set of brass knuckles and ran. The Church of Christ min- ister recovered his balance and kept encouraging the crowd. The meet- ing’s organizers wanted to call police, PHOTO PROVIDED HISTORY.COM but Keeble told them not to, later Marshall Keeble smiles from the cover of a vinyl record In 1964, Martin Luther King Jr. smiles as he learns that he remembering, “I had to know how to of his sermons, including “There’s Water in the Plan.” has been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. meet him, or I’d get hurt bad.” Despite violence and threats from white supremacists, Keeble never wavered in resolve to share the Good ‘Boy preachers’ still sharing the Word News with seekers black and white. Fifty years ago, the world lost two famous black preachers. LIKE THEIR FAMOUS MENTOR, Keeble-trained ministers devoted to saving souls. On April 4, 1968, an assassin’s See KEEBLE, Page 7 BY bobby ROSS JR. | THE CHRISTIAN CHRONICLE at the Reseda Church of Christ, the preaching, and his thing was saving San Fernando Valley congregation souls and baptizing people,” said RELATED COVERAGE LOS ANGELES he has served since 1975. Daniel Harrison, another of the for- INSIDE STORY: REMEMBERING ‘SISTER KEEBLE’ ................3 n 1963, an 11-year-old named Winrow, the son of mer boy preachers. VOICES: KEEBLE AND RACIAL RECONCILIATION .................9 Dewayne Winrow preached at a single mother, had “Right now, many DIALOGUE: HISTORICALLY BLACK, VITAL TO FUTURE .......10 Southwestern Christian College’s been baptized at age 9 of us are still carry- annual Bible lectureship in at the Bell and Farrall ing on his legacy,” ITerrell, Texas. Church of Christ added Harrison, The boy’s message resonated with in his hometown of senior minister for one notable person in the audience: Shawnee, Okla. the Chatham-Avalon Marshall Keeble, the famous black The sixth-grader Church of Christ in evangelist who baptized an estimated moved to Tennessee Winrow Harrison Chicago for 50 years 30,000 people before his 1968 death. and became one of and director of the “Brother Keeble came to the Keeble’s “boy preachers” — stu- national Crusade for Christ since its stage, and he offered me immedi- dents who traveled with Keeble to launch 39 years ago. ABILENE CHRISTIAN UNIVERSITY ately a full-time scholarship to begin gospel meetings and delivered short At the Nashville Christian Institute, Evangelist Marshall Keeble preaches attending the Nashville Christian messages before he spoke. Harrison roomed with David Jones, in Abilene, Texas, in the 1960s. Institute,” Winrow, now 65, recalled “Brother Keeble’s thing was See BOY PREACHERS, Page 8 2 THE CHRISTIAN CHRONICLE APRIL 2018 One in every thousand people in the world is deaf. e individuals who make up this large population have a chance to respond to the Gospel when they are taught the Word in their own language. Sunset’s extensive three-year program of ministry for and with the Deaf thoroughly prepares hearing and non-hearing people for eective work with the Deaf, either starting a new church or working in an existing program. In-depth Bible courses are the foundation of the program, to which are added comprehensive preparation in sign language, teaching on the psychological aspects of being deaf, and the study of deaf culture. e eectiveness of the Deaf Ministry Program is demonstrated in the fact that several deaf congregations have already been started and a number of other congregations have established deaf programs in the U.S. and abroad. Learn more about Abbie Wilson’s story of how the Deaf Ministry helped her to Change Her World. Use the QR code or visit sunset.bible/change-your-deaf-world. Deaf Ministry Sunset International Bible Institute • 800.658.9553 • www.sunset.bible APRIL 2018 THE CHRISTIAN CHRONICLE 3 ‘Sister Keeble’ The art of stayed strong in mind, faith faith-sharing never got to meet ATLANTA-AREA CHURCH presents a Marshall Keeble or hear him preach. vivid ‘Jesus Journey’ to community. I was a baby when IKeeble, the famous trav- BY ANTHONY RHOADS | FOR THE CHRISTIAN CHRONICLE eling evangelist who started hundreds of Churches of MARIETTA, Ga. — Lauren Williams Christ, died 50 years ago. wanted to teach her 3-year-old daugh- “I wish you would have had ter, Kena, the significance of Christ’s the chance sacrifice on the cross. But how? Inside Story of meeting “She was ready to learn more about him,” Daniel ERIK TRYGGESTAD Jesus,” said Williams, a former elemen- Harrison, Like many Churches of Christ, the congregation in Fargo, Texas, opts for all-caps lettering. tary school art teacher. So Williams minister for painted five scenes from Jesus’ story, the Chatham- celebrated around the world during Avalon Passion Week, on poster boards and set Church of up the display in a friend’s backyard. Christ in Big C or little c? Walking among the vivid depictions Chicago, from Jesus’ life “left a great impact on all Bobby Ross Jr. said as we of us, not just our child,” said Williams, discussed ARE CHURCHES OF CHRIST truly nondenominational? As numbers who earned a bachelor’s in studio art Harrison’s experience as one decline in the U.S., Christian Chronicle readers discuss definitions from Lipscomb University in Nashville, of Keeble’s “boy preachers.” Tenn., a university associated with I wish that, too. and implications — and question whether or not the debate matters. Churches of Christ. But I was blessed to She began thinking about “how interview Keeble’s widow BY ERIK TRYGGESTAD | THE CHRISTIAN CHRONICLE Despite the fellowship’s lack of man- great it would be to share this experi- during my time as an made creeds, some church members ence with a lot of families,” Williams Associated Press reporter iscussion of Churches of Christ see the body of believers as a capital- said. “I wanted to create something in Nashville, Tenn. in 2018 often boils down to a ized “Church of Christ” — a group of larger than life and eye-catching so Laura Keeble was 104 years single letter. autonomous congregations, born out that children and adults alike could old — and still strong in mind Many of the fellowship’s 1.4 of the Stone-Campbell or Restoration experience the wonder surrounding and faith — when I profiled Dmillion adherents in the U.S. prefer Movement, that functions as a denomi- Jesus’ life, death and resurrection.” her for AP in 2003. (Even the lower-case “church of Christ,” in nation in everything but name. Members of her congregation, the though I didn’t begin work at keeping with the King James transla- “Much ink has been spilled about how Burnt Hickory Church of Christ, The Christian Chronicle until tion of Romans 16:16, from which the Churches of Christ are not a denomi- See ART, Page 24 2005, the tip for the story fellowship takes its nation,” said Alex Ritchie, a member came from Lynn McMillon, name: “The churches of of the Woodbury Church of Christ in the Chronicle’s president Christ salute you.” Minnesota. “While this may have been and one of my former Bible “There’s a wide spec- true to previous generations, this claim professors at Oklahoma trum of what defines a falls flat to younger Christians.” Christian University.) Church of Christ today,” Creeds are “no longer the standard On weekday afternoons, said Hollee McAdams, a by which a denomination is mea- Keeble sat in her nursing minister’s wife who wor- sured,” Ritchie said. “The Churches of home room, content to ships with a congrega- McAdams Christ are unified by a common set of watch Oprah Winfrey on tion in Plano, Texas, that values and practices. While these are television. But at 3 p.m. refers to itself as “the church of Christ unwritten in most cases, they serve the on Sundays, she expected on McDermott Road.” same purpose as a formalized creed. someone to wheel her down- “Perhaps, though, it could be defined “To the outsider, the Churches of stairs for worship. as a community of people that have Christ have drawn clear lines on most “I’m going as long as I’m been clothed with Christ,” McAdams theological and cultural positions, so able,” said Keeble, who said, “who love God and his people and we can no longer reasonably claim to CAMILLE WARREN lived to be 108. who do their best to glorify him, using be nondenominational.” Lauren Williams adds details to one of her See SISTER KEEBLE, Page 4 the Bible as their directive.” See NONDENOMINATIONAL, Page 12 “Jesus Journey” illustrations. 4 THE CHRISTIAN CHRONICLE INSIDE STORY APRIL 2018 SISTER KEEBLE: Evangelist’s widow lived by faith FROM PAGE 3 girls at a time in her home. She Baptized in a Mississippi creek in never gave birth to a child, but she 1913, this gentle woman known as became “Mama” to many. “Sister Keeble” boasted a spiritual However busy their days were, strength that belied her wrinkles, the Keebles always knelt and prayed white hair and wheelchair. before going to bed — and prayer For much of her life, she lived remained an integral part of Sister in the shadow of her husband.