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July 31, 1998 – North Texas United Methodist Circuit riding lay preachers fill two-point charge: Wheatland and Hutchins UMC's BY JOHN A. LOVELACE, SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT The Rev. Tom Peel rides a 60-mile circuit every Sunday with nary a horse in sight. But he has the power of 200-plus horses under the hood of his car as he; his wife, Peggy; Circuit Riders Margaret Tooley and Jan Matise and a tagalong journalist depart from University Park United Methodist Church. Calls of "we miss you" echo in their ears from members arriving for their own early service. At 8:45 a.m., the abnormally quiet southbound toll way and I-35 help get us to Wheatland United Methodist Church early. The picturesque white-frame church down a winding path off Hampton Road is unlocked and cool. Today' s worship bulletins lie neatly on the foyer table. Music Director Christi Ellis arrives next, and she and Margaret, serving her third straight Sunday as liturgist here, begin going over the order of service. Soon they are joined by Circuit Rider David Simmons, who came in his own car. It's the second straight Sunday for David, a lawyer, to preach here. With him are his wife, Deborah, also a lawyer; their 4-year-old daughter, Sarah, and a family friend, Hannah Kerr, 8. In the foyer, Wheatland members arrive to a handshake from greeter Ted Shepardson. All are beaming at one another and at their new friends and fellow United Methodists from University Park. The camaraderie among them is plain to see after only three weeks of a year-long commitment. Rankin Bickley, chairman of the trustees, winds and sets the old clock on the wall in the right front of the sanctuary. The clock indicates that it's about time for the 9:30 worship service to start, moved up so the Circuit Riders can go from here to the 11 a.m. service at Hutchins United Methodist Church a 15-minute drive away.
35-member congregation As lay liturgist, Margaret confidently leads the 35-member congregation through the call to worship, the opening hymn (she's a choir member at University Park) and the welcome to the community, including Happy Birthday to Millie Von Hagel and Gary Sims. (Later, after the service ends and the visitors move on down the circuit, Gary will teach Wheatland's 10:30 a.m. Sunday School lesson). Preacher David seems relaxed as he takes the pulpit, drawing laughs as he observes that everyone seems to be sitting where they were the previous Sunday. A couple of good-natured responses indicate that this is the way it's done at Wheatland. As David reads the lectionary lesson from Galatians 5:1,13-25, many follow the text on printed sheets Tom Peel has provided or using pew Bibles. Pauses for chuckles where David seems to have anticipated them make his message on "Fruits of the Spirit" flow nicely. His side story about installing the familiar Galatians text about love, joy, peace, etc. as the screen saver on his law office computer amuses the congregation. "Imagine," he challenges, "a world with only one law: 'Love your neighbor. Take on the yoke of slavery to love.' I'd be out of a job." Chuckles. He closes with a brief prayer for strength to adopt the law to love one another, then turns the floor to Margaret for the time of concerns and prayers. Tom Peel listens intently because as the clergyman heading University Park's Circuit Rider project, he tries to make hospital visits and serve other congregational needs in both Wheatland and Hutchins churches as well as in University Park. Following the prayer time, Ted Shepardson brings the offering plate forward. The plate, rather than having been passed through the congregation, has been in its familiar place on a stand in the rear center of the sanctuary. Several offering envelopes, checks and currency bills are visible. A hymn and dismissal with blessing close the service. Time remains for a brief informal business session to verify the 8:45 continental breakfast and communion service the following Sunday and a look ahead at scheduled weddings, including at least one for Tom Peel. Weddings at a $250 rental are a vital source of income for Wheatland church. After handshakes, hugs and backslaps, the Circuit Riders leave this enlivened, appreciative congregation and head for the next. On to Hutchins The Circuit Riders reach Hutchins United Methodist Church some 15 minutes early. Pianist Sharon Reames is selecting music for the 11 a.m. service. Four generations of her family will be here today, as usual. Liturgists Margaret and Sharon double-check the order of service written on simple cards. There are no printed bulletins. Members, many of them well along in years, arrive with the same kinds of smiles and welcomes seen at Wheatland. By the time Sharon' s daughter, Angie, and her three kids arrive, the congregation totals 20. Hymns of the morning are familiar. My Hope is Built, as always, makes a stirring opening statement. I Love to Tell the Story fits naturally before the sermon, and Take My Life helps bring the service to an appropriate close. Beginning his message, Tom Peel explains that the Circuit Rider lay preacher scheduled to be here today was unavoidably detained. So the 30-year veteran clergyman, a product of small-town Tennessee, fills the pulpit, basing his sermon titled "Samaritan Opposition" on the lectionary selection from Luke 9:51-62. The minister uses the word "resolute" as his primary description of Jesus' s determination to go to Jerusalem despite opposition by Samaritans and despite demurrers by some who said they wanted to follow him but first wanted to tend to chores such as burying a deceased father. Jesus answers, "No one who puts a hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God." 'We are resolute' With his question, "Have we decided not to close our church?" and his answer, "You bet!" Tom Peel enlivens the theme inside the very walls. "We are resolute," he goes on. "We're not looking back." He reminds the congregation that the Circuit Riders "will be with you a year, two or three or more," adding, "We give one another mutual encouragement and we have made the intentional decision to be one with each other and one in Christ." During concerns time, Wanda Atwell asks prayers for her sister facing surgery. Tom Peel verifies the time and place and promises a hospital visit. Following the benediction, members and visitors warmly bid one another goodbye. But a photo opportunity of all seven members of the four-generation family present that day proves irresistible for the journalist. As we finish at the altar, great-grandmother Wanda Atwell advises, "We're glad to have you here today. But don't write the story about us. Write about the Circuit Riders. They're the story."
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