A Voice from the Past...Rev. V.A. Guidroz

 

    A few days ago, Shirley and I were enjoying some reminiscing and visiting with our good friends, Reverend Ronny and Jerry Guidroz.  Actually, they are more than just friends.  Shirley and Jerry are stepsisters which I guess makes Ronny and me stepbrothers-in-law.  We have all basically grown up together. In our visiting on this particular day, Ronny

Rev. V. A. Guidroz

mentioned he had several old reel to reel tapes of his dad, Rev. V.A. Guidroz, preaching many of his memorable sermons.  Two tapes that he presently had with him were two morning devotional services that Brother Guidroz had conducted in August 1961, at the Texas District Camp Meeting of the United Pentecostal Church in Lufkin Texas.  Even in those early years, Brother Guidroz was known for his powerful morning devotionals.  

    Ronny expressed a wish that he could find someone to update those tapes to a CD, and, since I happen to have that skill and computer capabilities, I quickly volunteered to take on the task.  For the next couple of days, in the quiet of my den sitting at my computer with Brother Guidroz’s tapes running, I listened to a voice from the past.

    Brother V.A. Guidroz was the pastor of my childhood.  My parents joined Peace Tabernacle in 1950, and Brother Guidroz became our family’s spiritual leader.  (See “In Memory of Pastor V. A. Guidroz” https://www.bobdowning.blogspot.com/2010/07/in-memory-of-pastor-va-guidroz.html)  His influence on my parents and us kids was immense, because those were the days when pastors took an intense interest in the spiritual well-being of their church members, and in turn the church members actually listened to their pastors and followed their guidance.  

    The two tapes I converted were the Thursday and Friday morning devotionals of the camp meeting.  In 1961, the main tabernacle of the camp meeting was a round-roofed large structure capable of sitting approximately two thousand people. By today’s standards, it was rustic: no air conditioning, NO WALLS except front and rear of the building, sawdust floor, and wood plank seating.  During times of shouting and excited praising, a light cloud of fine sawdust would rise up from the floor.  At the end of night services in those days, if you didn’t have a light coating of dust on your clothing and a little sweat to match, you must have been sitting quietly.  This was old time camp meeting.  People stayed on the campgrounds in tents, campers, cabins (upper class!) and even in backs of cars and carrying a web-shaped fan to give one a little breeze in the stifling day-time heat was the order of the day.  Restrooms were small buildings a fair walk away from the tabernacle.  And yet no one complained…contemporary Christians would probably refuse to attend such primitive facilities.

    Brother Guidroz’s morning devotions at camp began at 6:30, so it took hardy souls to even make the services.  However, even at that early hour, several hundred saints (members) would be gathered.  As I listened to the tapes, it was brought to me so forcefully how our churches, and in particular the United Pentecostal Church in general, have changed over the last 55+ years.  Please be aware, this blog is not going to be a rant concerning how the church has lost its direction or how I feel about the music: I have made my opinions concerning such subjects in other blogs.  I will simply describe what I heard and felt on the tapes, and you can draw your own conclusions.

 

L-R: Revs. Ron Guidroz, Steve Galloway, Milton Ford, V.A. Guidroz, Lloyd Moreau

   I was struck by the simplicity of each service. Brother Guidroz was the only speaker for the entire nearly hour and a half.  He led the prayers, led the singing, taught the lesson, and preached the sermon.  Behind him, furnishing the music, was an organist…that was it.  No “praise” singers, no song leader, no other musicians at all.  A couple of days after I converted the first tape, I called Ronny to tell him how I had enjoyed the devotional, and he told me that the person on the organ was none other than my future mother-in-law, Anniedeen Creel.  At that time, she was Sister Anniedeen Bateman, another member of our Peace Tabernacle church in Baytown, Texas.  In the mid-fifties she had attempted to teach me how to play the piano, but she gave up after a year or so when I discovered the guitar.

    The Thursday service began with a timeless hymn, “Sweet Hour of Prayer.”  Brother Guidroz was not a singer, but he led the song and set the tone for the service.  His words thereafter created a spirit of deep worship as he discussed “Your Desert Place.”  He spoke as befitting his position as the District Superintendent of the Texas District.  He encouraged, cajoled, admonished, and advised saints, sinners, preachers, and pastors in his audience.  He, as many ministers of the day, did not mince words; he was direct and clear in his admonishments.  A noteworthy quote to the ministers: “Do not spend all your time preaching to those who will not listen…preach and be a pastor those who will.”  

     Brother Guidroz was representative of many ministers of those days.  With limited education and no finances, he began preaching at an early age because he felt God’s calling on his life.  He did not go to Bible college to get his license to preach, nor did he have a license bestowed on him because he had church influence.  He and Sister Guidroz traveled and preached with only their faith in God to depend on.  He told of the time during the depression days when he preached for weeks in an area where the people told him up front they had no money, but he felt the need to be there.  Early ministers were determined to spread the gospel, not amass a financial estate.  In 1959, when Brother Guidroz resigned his church in Baytown to become full time district superintendent, he walked away from a church he had spent over twenty-five years building up from scratch…no financial compensation, no retaining a financial interest…he left it all.

   Reviewing to the tapes, I noted that 

Peace Tabernacle, 1956

as the audience sat and listened, there were moments during the sermons when Brother Guidroz would call everyone to worship, and a chorus of hundreds of voices would rise up in a season of prayer.  There were no calls to “give God a handclap of praise” as is so prevalent today...because it was not done.  In those days, applause was what you gave performers and actors; it was not in the church.  Oh, there was handclapping during singing and when praying, but not applause.  Applause became prevalent first via the television preachers whose studio audiences were encouraged to applaud every singer and every time the televangelist said something profound.  When Shirley and I moved back to Texas in 1991, we were surprised to see the practice had infiltrated even Pentecostal churches.

    After over an hour of ministering, the audience had moved into a deep worshipful period, and Brother Guidroz invited those who desired to come to the front and pray.  The sound of a great number of people praying lasted several minutes…no screaming, no yelling, no singing, no blasting drums or music…just deep, powerful prayer.  By this time, I was praying with tears in my eyes right along with the folks on the tape.  It was the type of prayer that is rarely heard in churches today.        (Read “An Unusual Church Service” https://www.bobdowning.blogspot.com/2014/02/an-unusual-church-service.html) 

     After listening to the two devotionals three times apiece and putting over forty other Guidroz sermons on CD, I am a little nostalgic for those uncomplicated days of yesteryear.   Things were simpler then.  Life was uncomplicated and even trying to live a Christian life was less...challenging.  A pastor told you how to live based on his following the scriptures, and saints believed and followed willingly without challenging every detail.  We put faith in our leaders and faith in God.  And we were happier.