TRUMAN

I first met Truman Spring when I interviewed with the Garden Oaks church in Houston in 1963.   Truman was a strong supporter of our work in Jamestown, New York.  He had recommended me to the Argentine church in Kansas City.

While I was waiting to see where the Lord might be leading me after the decision was made to leave Kansas City, I got a call from Truman.

I guess you could say that Truman was a mover and a shaker.  He usually elicited one of two responses from people.  Either they deeply loved him, or they couldn’t stand him.   I was one of those who loved him.  We formed a deep friendship that lasted until his death in 2008.  In many ways he became my mentor, and virtually my father in the faith.  Truman and I had our disagreements, but I never questioned his integrity or the depth of his faith.  Besides that he was fun.

Truman was loud, confrontational, and some people would say that he was egocentric.  He had such a booming bass voice that he could get the outfielders rattled when he watched a major league baseball game.  He loved the Astros.

 The first time I heard an elder thank God for Truman’s humility I almost laughed out loud during the prayer.  Eventually I came to believe that he was indeed a humble man.  There was a gruff exterior, but underneath it there was a heart of gold.

When Truman called he didn’t beat around the bush.  He asked me to consider becoming the educational minister for the Sharpstown Church of Christ in Houston.  At first I wasn’t interested.  I knew I would be in his shadow, and I really didn’t want to leave pulpit responsibilities.   I basically blew him off and told him, “Thanks, but no thanks.

  I’ll never forget his response.   He said, “Norman, you can’t make a decision like that until you’ve prayed about it.”   I certainly felt chastised.  Within a week I called him back to say that I was interested.   Every other door seemed to be closing and this one was wide open.   Then there was Ann to consider.  Being the “back up” to the “quarterback” would take Ann out of the spotlight and I thought it would be more to her liking.

The elders invited Ann and me to fly to Houston for the purpose of discussing the possibility of moving there.  I remember sitting in the meeting, which was the total opposite of my meeting with the elders in Tulia.  They had only one reservation.  They weren’t sure I would be happy if I had to sit and listen to someone else preacher.  

I told them that there were three reasons Truman and I would get along.  (1) We were friends. (2) I liked to hear him preach. (3) I wasn’t afraid of him.  Truman intimidated a lot of folks, but his bark was worse than his bite.  Many people didn’t know that, but I did.   He loved it when I said that.  I think that’s one reason we got along so well.  He knew intimidation wasn’t going to work with me, which is strange because I’m normally easily intimidated.  But I wasn’t afraid of Truman because I knew his warts and still thought he was a genuine person.  He knew mine and never hesitated to get in my face, but when it was all said and done we liked being around each other.

The meeting with the elders went on for a good while, without any kind of commitment. Finally Truman said, “I think you’ve got an offer from the elders if you want it.”  When Truman died in 2008, I helped with the funeral, and afterwards I sat down at lunch with Buck Harvey, who had been one of the elders in that interview.  I told him that I remembered what Truman said.  Buck said, “Truman had a way of understanding what our intentions were.  We just needed to take the bull by the horns and make our offer formal, so he spoke what we were all thinking.”