Doris Arnett
Brother Stewart, as I called him, was appointed to Schoolfield United Methodist Church in 1977 where I was a member and also the Church Secretary. Brother Stewart was a well liked minister and could be quiet funny on some occasions. We also had Harry D. Durbin appointed to our church in 1978 as associate minister working with the children and youth and then there was Wilson Mount as our Choir Director which brings me to my memory of Brother Stewart and Wilson. I had to type the newsletter on a stencil and then run this off on a mimeograph machine. Wilson would help me in the office some. This particular day Wilson said when I finished and had the newsletters ready he would take them to the Post Office. When he got to the post office he didn’t have the mail. He started back to church to tell me what happened (he didn’t know how I would react to this) but as he was driving he noticed newsletters all up and down the street. Still not knowing what I would do, he told me he had put the box of letters on top of his car to unlock the door and then forgot about them driving off. I could have cried but I dug the wrinkled stencil out of the garbage and rerun them and he went back to the post office. Brother Stewart had been to Bartlett and I told him what happened when he came in. When Wilson came back Brother Stewart told him that he saw newsletters all over Bartlett. That got to be a joke and we laughed for weeks afterward. We had serious times but we had fun too. Brother Stewart would always take care of his staff and see that they got raises and vacations. He preached my father’s funeral in 1978 and my mother’s in 2004. Of all the ministers I worked for during the 34 years as Secretary/Financial Secretary he was one of my favorites. He was known as the “Marrying Preacher.” He could recite the marriage vows and never open a book. Sometimes a couple would walk in and want to get married and the custodian and I would have to be witnesses. These were good years for our church. Chuck, I have so many memories of your father and mother. May God Bless you and your family in your loss. Doris Arnett