The Private Was a Preacher
By Hal Haralson
[Hal Haralson practices law in Austin and contributes frequently to Christian Ethics Today.]
The first thing Judy does when we get home from work is turn on the answering machine.
She is a psychotherapist. The calls are usually her clients. My law practice doesn`t generate many calls at home, so I`m seldom the subject of the request.
Today was different…very different. The voice on the machine said, "If you are the Hal Haralson who lived in Las Cruces, New Mexico forty years ago, please call this number."
I called the next day and the lady who answered the phone identified herself as the secretary for Westside Baptist Church in Las Cruces.
"We are planning our 40th anniversary celebration. The church records indicate that you were our first pastor. Can you come speak for us?"
I told her I would talk to my wife and call the next day. (That`s how you stay married for forty-four years.)
I called the next day and told her we would be there.
Talk about past history…40 years ago.
Following graduation from Hardin-Simmons University in 1957, I volunteered for the draft. We had been married six months and Judy followed me to Ft. Riley, Kansas, Ft. Leonard Wood, Missouri and then to "advanced individual training."
The wisdom of the U.S. Army placed me in Ft. Gordon, Georgia where I went to MP school. I learned how to shoot a 45-caliber pistol and direct traffic. I can still make it flow with the best of them.
Our permanent station was White Sands Proving Ground, New Mexico. We lived in Las Cruces because there was no base housing.
We hadn`t been there long when there came a phone call one Saturday night.
"My name is J.W. Ray. I`m a member of Westside Baptist Mission. We are sponsored by First Baptist Church. There are twelve members. We meet in a Oldfellow Hall. Could you come visit us in the morning?"
I assured him we could. This was exciting. I had been preaching for about five years and we hoped to be involved in a mission.
When J.W. Ray introduced me the next morning it was obvious he meant more than "visit." He intended for me to preach!
All of us who have preached have two or three "sugar sticks" we can deliver standing on our heads. So preach I did.
They called us as pastor and wife at a salary of $25.00 per month. This was later doubled before I was discharged.
There was only one problem with this arrangement. My military police duties called for three day shifts. I wasn`t off on Sunday but 1/3 of the time.
I went to the Colonel (base commander) and explained the situation and asked to be assigned to an 8-5 job. He was not sympathetic at all and said emphatically that he would not make an exception on my account.
I did some research. (Probably my first legal research…and my last.)
Army regulations said if an enlisted man`s duty assignment interfered with his worship, he must be reassigned if there is an opening.
I found an opening. An MP was making security badges and was about to be discharged. It was an 8-5 job.
I typed a memo to the Base Commander that cited the regulation. I attached the letter from the associational missionary that authenticated my claim to being an ordained minister.
Also attached were letters to two Congressmen and a United States Senator. (I didn`t have to mail these.)
The Colonel read this as I stood at attention. He was furious. The transfer was made.
What we needed was a revival! I called my mentor, Leonard Hartley, and he agreed to come.
I took the information about the coming revival to the base newspaper. I was in my MP gear and the man at the paper asked what I was doing bringing this story about a revival. I told him I was the pastor of the church.
He asked some questions and took notes. Then he asked if he could take my picture in the pulpit of the base chapel…with a 45-caliber pistol on my hip.
Two weeks later the story came out in daily papers in El Paso, Albuquerque, and Alamagordo. "White Sands GI Pastors Church." That was the boost we needed. The revival was a success and we were off and running.
When Judy and I left Last Cruces on June 11, 1959 with my DD214 (discharge papers) in hand, Westside Baptist Mission had become Westside Baptist Church. We had baptized 75 people and bu8ilt a building that would handle 200 in Sunday School. It was full. All of this in 18 months.
We called a full-time seminary graduate as pastor. He stayed 17 years.
When I met the lady who called, I asked her how she found us. "Through the Internet."
After being introduced as the first pastor, I spoke to the congregation. I told them that some of them would be very disappointed, and some would be elated.
I wasn`t going to preach a sermon. I have not been a preacher in 35 years. I`ve practiced law for the past 27 years.
It was a memorable occasion for us. There wasn`t many things I helped begin 40 years ago that still exist.
This is one Military Policeman who is thankful he was given more to do than direct traffic.
