A Hobby Horse In Dallas
There is a preacher in Dallas, Texas, named Leroy Garrett, who has recently begun the publication of a little sheet called "Bible Talk." Leroy could be a very capable man and the good he could do for the Kingdom can hardly be measured. His paper could be an effective medium for gospel preaching but thus far, the paper, like Leroy, is full of "talk" and little Bible.
Brother Garrett has announced himself the enemy of all that the churches do in the field of local evangelism. He is against a "local preacher." It is difficult to see how a man can preach without being "located." He is opposed to a preacher receiving a regular salary for his work, He has championed the cause of "Sommerism-Ketchersideism-do-nothingism" which has characterized the "church busters" and dictatorial wrecking crews which have operated under the thumb of Sommer and Ketcherside for many years in a few troubled spots of our nation.
Leroy Garrett, (not to be confused with the Levi Garrett, Snuff maker) is guilty of everything that he charges against his brethren. He is a pastor. He has charge of a group of Christians and preaches his hobby from a small hall in Dallas, Texas. He received and ACCEPTED GLADLY a SALARY of more than ONE HUNDRED DOLLARS a week from a congregation in Dallas, Texas, and was fired from his job about one year ago. He was the "local minister" for the church and was so recognized and accepted in Dallas. He is opposed to Christian schools because they are "preacher factories" but be himself, is a graduate of some of the most corrupt "theological seminaries" of our land. He attended Princeton theological school and has also, I understand, done some work in SMU. He is a graduate of Abilene Christian College, so it comes with poor grace from him to talk about "preacher factories." He publishes a paper called "Bible Talk." This paper is a HUMAN institution and it does the very thing he charges upon ACC. It is a "Ketcherside" "glory stealer." It honors Leroy Garrett is founder and editor.
It solicits and accepts donations from Christians both as individuals and congregations. It prints the following appeal: "A few send an occasional donation to the paper. This is badly needed and greatly appreciated."
Leroy has no school as yet, but give him time and he, like his father in this hobby will be conducting a hatchery in Dallas and little "Leroys" will be swaggering forth to "bust churches" and satisfy their vanity. He charges his brother preachers with working only where the salary is good. He says they never go into mission fields. LEROY" HOW MANY HEATHENS HAVE YOU CONVERTED in the great mission field of Dallas? There are about 40 congregations of the' church there. So far, you have not gone to a mission field. Your mission work, true to your kind, consists of circulating tracts and letters among the church people in Dallas, soliciting their attendance at your little diocese. What a marvelous bit of mission work Leroy is doing in Dallas.
Brethren, if you have never lived in a state where the "do-nothing," "church busters" live, you do not know how heart breaking and devastating their hobby can be. Brother Sommer spent a life time preaching the hobbies that Leroy has now espoused. I heard Sommer in his old days when he spoke with regret of the trail of tears and division he had left behind. His son in this sectarian party, Carl Ketcherside, has sown the seeds of discord, court wrangles, fussing and unhappiness wherever he has an opportunity. G. K. Wallace and Brother McNutt clipped Carl's pipeline into Arkansas last summer and G. K. will meet Ketcherside in St. Louis, Missouri, this fall. If you want to see the fruits of Leroy's doctrine, then visit some of the great mission work that Ketcherside has not done. Visit the hundreds of orphan children which he has not taken in. See the new congregation which he has not planted. Look at him in St. Louis, sitting at his desk, soliciting and accepting money from all over the country. Hear him affirm the right of an evangelist to "have charge of churches"-not one but several congregations. He is a little Pope. If we want one in Dallas, all we need to do is feed the pocket book of Leroy. Let him visit your congregation and divide it. This is the supreme aim of his mission program.
If Brother Garrett is sincere, let him first make a humble confession for his sins in attending a Christian college; accepting a salary as a "located preacher" and practicing all that he charges against his brethren.