Nestled into the Kentucky “knobs” down in Caldwell County, at the intersection of Black Creek Road, is Good Springs Cumberland Presbyterian Church. It was my childhood church home.
Sheltered in the hardwoods next to a running crick since 1825, the church has grown some since I was there in my teens. They have added a community room and kitchen. Of course, some of the old churches are now bricked.
Brother Nelson, Ike Nelson’s daddy, took me there each Sunday along with his wife Miss Ruby and two other kids throughout high school.
When us church boys reached our senior year, they expected the oldest senior boy to deliver the Easter service. For me, that was May 1968.
To say it scared me to do this would be an understatement. I had debated in high school, been in four plays, and even won an American Legion speaking prize, but I had never led a church service.
I certainly had never delivered a message in front of a congregation of adults, many of whom were elderly and had been attending this church longer than I had been alive.
Brother Nelson’s advice to calm my nerves still rings true. Prepare, practice, speak clearly and confidently, and loudly. After all, he said, “I am mostly deaf.” Then he smiled and said, “Just remember, son, the best sermons are lived, not preached.”
Black Creek that flows besides Goodspring Church.
L. Darryl Armstrong Ph.D. 