The Sheerers Move to Chickasha

Sometime during 1966, Jim Sheerer told us that after a great deal of soul searching he felt like he needed to find a pulpit position with an established church.  We never questioned his motives, but we were sad to see the Sheerer family leave our team.

I’ve always respected Jim’s integrity, and scholarship.  We cherish the relationship with the Sheerer family.  A few years ago Jim wrote a commentary on the entire New Testament, and I had the privilege of proofing and offering editorial comment on certain portions of it.

Jim was a great preacher and teacher, but he wasn’t much of a singer.  During his high school days, Jim sang in the high school choir until the director found a way to kindly tell him that music wasn’t one of his gifts.  Actually, I don’t think it was that kind.  As Jim remembers it, the teacher said, “Jim, I’ve heard some bad singing in my lifetime, but that’s the worst I’ve ever heard.”

In Jamestown I was the designated song leader.  Charles was my backup.  We had other brothers who could carry a tune, but for some reason didn’t want to take the responsibility of leading congregational singing.  On one occasion Charles and I were both gone.  That left Jim in charge of everything.  He solved the problem by announcing the numbers and asking Ann to start the songs.   After a few of those services, the reluctant brethren decided it was time to volunteer for the song leading assignment.

Jim was first and foremost a preacher, and he felt he needed to be where those skills could be fully utilized.  I remember him saying, “I think I need to go somewhere and preach for about thirty years.”  In a few months, he was invited to take the pulpit in Chickasha, Oklahoma.  However, he didn’t stay there thirty years.  He preached there for forty years.   Just recently he and his wife Nona Sue, moved to Norman, Oklahoma to be near their daughter.

I’m not sure how the football part of that is working out.  Jim is a big fan of the University of Texas Longhorns.   When he moved to Oklahoma, he formed a “club” that he calls the “all but one club,” which means he root for Sooners in every  game they play until they go down to Dallas in October to do battle with the Horns.