A Century After His Birth A Calling Is Fulfilled

Harry M. Philpott was born 100 years ago on May 7, 1917, in Bassett, Virgnia.  Two years later his father purchased a bankrupt furniture plant and moved the family to Lexington, North Carolina.  United Furniture became a thriving industry and the Philpott family started a legacy of community involvement and service.  As the six Philpott sons grew up in the Lexington City Schools and the First Baptist Church, they all seemed destined to follow in their father’s footsteps in the furniture industry.  But in 1935, 18 year-old Harry discovered a different destiny.  He heard the voice of God calling him to be his prophet and in September, 1935, Harry Philpott was licensed to preach the Gospel by the First Baptist Church of Lexington, NC.

        He started to live out his calling as a Navy Chaplain in the Second World War.  After the war he earned his Ph.D. at Yale Divinity School where he became a Teaching Fellow for Dr. Luther Weigle, a preeminent Biblical scholar who was the lead translator for the Revised Standard Version of the Bible.  Harry Philpott participated in the work of the translation, or in his words, “I did most of the grunt work.” 

        His calling took him into the educational arena and in 1965, he became the President of Auburn University in the sleepy little town of Auburn, Alabama.  A year before he came to Auburn, Governor George Wallace stood in the schoolhouse door of the University of Alabama to prevent black students from enrolling.  Only after a federal order enforced by the National Guard did George Wallace stand down. 

        No such theatrics were necessary at the “Loveliest Village on the Plains.”   While the University of Alabama was integrated by a federal mandate, Auburn University was integrated by Harry Philpott.  During his tenure, the entire university including athletics became fully integrated.  For the one who heard the voice of God calling him at the age of 18, this was a matter of righteousness and justice.  It was simply the right thing to do.

        Dr. Philpott’s passionate conviction for justice and equality was not limited to his professional arena.  The new President who grew up in First Baptist Church in Lexington, NC became a member of the First Baptist Church in Auburn.  As a typical Baptist church in the deep south, the congregation was all white and women were excluded from ordained leadership.  It was Harry Philpott who led his church to change.

        On March 19 our church called the first female minister in the 138 year history of our congregation.  When Meagan Smith was asked by one of our members if she felt any pressure being a female minister, she responded by saying that it was not until she went to seminary that she realized many Baptist churches limited the role of women.  She explained that she grew up in a church with several female ministers as wonderful role models.  That church was First Baptist Church in Auburn, Alabama.

        When I called the pastor in Auburn to talk about Meagan, I asked him if he knew of Harry Philpott.  “Harry Philpott!” he exclaimed.  “He is the patron saint of this church.”  He went on to tell me that the church was open and progressive primarily because of the influence of Dr. Philpott. 

        Growing up in First Baptist Auburn, Meagan was influenced by a wonderful couple, Virgil and Donna Starks.  Virgil was a Sunday School teacher, they were youth leaders, and Meagan was close to their family.  The Starks are African-American.  If not for Harry Philpott, they would not have been in Meagan’s church.  Virgil Starks was also my brother’s best friend, but that’s another story for another day!

        First Baptist Church of Lexington was full of great joy and excitement on March 19.  Our congregation unanimously and enthusiastically welcomed Meagan into our family.  We have been searching for a new minister for a year.  Little did we realize that this calling actually started one hundred years ago when a baby boy was born in Bassett, Virginia. 

        “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I called you to be my prophet.”     Jeremiah 1: 5

                                                             

Reach for the Stars

One of my favorite stories from Lexington’s history is about an amazing group of businessmen who dared to reach for the stars with a bold vision over 100 years ago. In spite of the fact Lexington was strategically located on the main line of the Southern Railroad; it remained a sleepy little hamlet at the turn of the 20th century with Wenonah Mills being the only major industry. (Dixie Furniture started in 1901.) In 1909 the town learned that a new railroad was being constructed, the Winston-Salem Southbound that would intersect with the mighty Southern precisely in Lexington. Town leaders knew this was a golden opportunity, but it would take more than two railroads to attract new industry. It would take a great vision and bold dreams.

The Lexington Board of Trade was established and the leaders immediately started to dream. They planned a lavish banquet at the March Hotel, inviting potential business partners across the state and region, to promote Lexington as a town of progress and promise. Those important visitors probably didn’t expect a great deal from this little town, so they must have been shocked at what they experienced.

Rather than simply promoting Lexington as a regional center of commerce and trade, the town business leaders had a much more expansive vision. Decades before the Internet, television, or even radio, they promoted Lexington as a city that was destined to become an “international center of business and trade.” They even planned an international menu for the banquet that included Cuban cigars. The main course was, naturally, barbecue — three types of barbecue: pork, beef, and opossum! (I’m not joking! They served up opossum to those swashbuckling tycoons.)

Did Lexington become an international center of trade? No, not even close. They probably should have left off the opossum, but what did happen changed the course of our town for the greater part of the 20th century. Because the visionary leaders of Lexington dared to reach for the stars, business and industry more than doubled over the next few years. The difference was not so much convincing others that Lexington would be a great place to locate a business, but it was the leaders convincing themselves that Lexington was an exceptional place to work and call home.DefaultsDone

Two years after the international banquet at the March Hotel one of Lexington’s business leaders who dared to reach for the stars was in New York City. He was bragging about his hometown and how much he loved Lexington. A textile manufacturer overheard the conversation. He had always wanted to have a mill in the South and the more he heard, the more Lexington sounded like the perfect place. He introduced himself to the Lexington man and told him how impressed he was with what he had heard. By the time the two men had finished talking, Mr. Erlanger had decided that Lexington, North Carolina, would be a place he would like to call home. Erlanger Mills opened in 1914 and played a significant role in Lexington for the rest of the century.

The scripture reminds us that where there is no vision the people perish. Our forefathers had a grand vision for their hometown. My prayer is that we will also reach for the stars and dream great dreams for our hometown. Just make sure we leave the opossum out of it.

Underground Church is not a game in many places in the world

There was subversive activity at the YMCA one Sunday night in February involving almost 75 Lexington teenagers. It took place after dark, after the Y had closed for the evening. The youths were sneaking around the darkened Y searching for a secret meeting place. Guards were on duty. Some of the youths were stopped and questioned. Some were escorted to prison. The ones who did make it to the secret meeting place waited in silence, not knowing who would find them. Finally, the teenagers who had been arrested were brought in to join their fellow trespassers. It was a night that they will never forget.

The events at the Y that Sunday were staged. Six downtown youth groups joined forces to participate in “Underground Church.” The youths are told that they are living in a country where Christianity is illegal, but there is an underground church movement called the Ichthys Society. Ichthys is the Greek word for fish. The fish symbol was used by Roman Christians to identify believers in the persecution of the church.

We had volunteers patrolling the Y as guards. They would stop and question the teenagers and check their passes that contained the figure of a fish. Some of the passes were authentic and some were counterfeit. A counterfeit pass would result in imprisonment. If one stated publically they were a Christian, they would go to jail. A number of the youths were incarcerated. It goes without saying that these young people have a new appreciation for freedom of religion.

While “Underground Church” was a game last week at the Y, this is real life for many Christians in today’s world. There are many places where Christians are persecuted, dispossessed, tortured, and killed because of their faith. North Korean Christians must hide their faith at all times. Just owning a Bible in North Korea is grounds for execution or deportment to a harsh labor camp. Despite this oppression, Christianity is growing and believers gather to sing silent hymns in cramped basements and crumbling buildings.

Radical Islamists in Somalia have stated that they want to purge the nation of all Christians. People suspected of following Jesus are likely to be killed on the spot. Over 700,000 Christians have fled Syria since the start of their civil war. The ones remaining are tortured and some have been executed. In Iraq, Iran, Sudan, Nigeria, and dozens of other nations “Underground Church” is not a game, but a dangerous way of life.

We are blessed to live in a land of religious freedom. Our founding fathers had the wisdom to guarantee every expression of religious faith. While Christianity has always been the predominate faith in the United States, we must be careful not to make Christianity the “favored religion.” Protecting the rights of Jews, Muslims, Buddhists, and those who claim no religion is vital to protecting our own. Once one faith is favored, the door is open for the favored ones to degrade and intimidate the others. All faiths must be protected equally and no one faith should be elevated over the others.

Following Jesus was never supposed to be easy. Persecution was a way of life for the early believers. Gathering for worship is as easy today as gathering for a civic meeting or a ball game. Perhaps that is why we take our faith so casually — because we risk nothing to practice it. We wanted to remind our teenagers that gathering for worship is a sacred privilege that many in the world don’t know. Jesus said, “Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness sake, for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven.”