111 - The Church In Dallas

The Church In Dallas
By Lewis Chamberlain

Visitors want to see where John Kennedy was killed
Natives would rather forget it
I could show them where Jack Ruby's old night-club is
But I never mention it
It's enough trouble getting them to the Kennedy place.

We are not natives
Or the power-structure either
We have moved in from little towns
To taste the affluence and glamour of the city
We sell nuts and bolts
Stationery
Insurance
Lumber
And all sorts of stuff
We shake test tubes
Practice law
Build roads
Teach kids
Nurse
Type letters
File files
Fly planes
Run computers
And stuff like that.

The church seems a little superfluous in Dallas
Like opening a small dress-shop in the lobby of Neiman-Marcus
Dallas is a good town
It is a tolerant

Lewis Chamberlain was graduated from Dubuque Theological Seminary after many years as an active church layman. He is the minister of the Christ United Presbyterian Church, Dallas, Texas.

112 - The Church In Dallas

Second chance
Take a man at face value-kind of town
The City Fathers have initiated a program called
Goals for Dallas
It covers everything worthwhile
Health and welfare
Better government
Parks
The whole bit
Doing good is a commitment of the whole city.

We are meek
Anything we do together is somewhat subdued
Now and then we get a little steam
Usually about politics
A conservative sermon will bring a flaming liberal
Out of hiding
And a liberal sermon
Will raise the ire of a conservative
Sometimes you even get a little venom
Not much
just a dribble or two.

We watch the Dallas Cowboy football games
And yell our heads off
The good guys usually win
And send the forces of evil to the benches
In humiliating defeat
It's satisfying someway.

We are a restrained fellowship
The people are inclined to keep their guard up
I'm inclined to keep my guard up
We have a guarded fellowship.

God is very big in Dallas
just about everybody talks about
God
I don't think you could ever amount to much

113 - The Church In Dallas

In Dallas
If you went around bad-mouthing God
There isn't much Jesus
But there is a lot of God.

I asked another pastor
When I first came here
What the people thought about
He said they thought about
What geniuses their children are
And the next car
And the next house.

I visited a meeting of religion teachers
It was held at the Statler-Hilton
They raced through wordy little papers
That blasted the culture in four languages
Then they ran out and lapped up
Dallas.

We act as a way-station
For many people
They are here awhile
And then leave
Sometimes it is just a matter of a few weeks
I wish the people who design long-term curriculum
Would think about that.

Dallas is a very prosperous city
If you're white
And can read
Write
Tell time
And walk forward
You and your wife can earn twelve-thousand plus
Without much trouble.

Don't lean on that word white
This is no bad town for a black man.

114 - The Church In Dallas

It is awfully quiet in the parish till Sunday
Then the teachers do their thing
And the choir does its thing
And I do my thing
And the people linger at the door
After worship
Then it is very quiet again.

We get lots of shoppers at the church
Dallas is a shopping town
Sometimes they stay
Sometimes they leave us
We have One Pearl we won't knock down on
And some people are irate
At our price
Considering that we are such a modest establishment.

Death
Is neatly swept away in Dallas
It is handled by highly competent
Usually ethical
Funeral homes
They are very considerate
Their chapel speaker-systems
Have a device that automatically lowers your voice
If the sermon becomes too fervent.

We didn't get too worked up about the Confession of '67
We thought it was like Jello
Not the sort of thing you"" search the countryside for
At mid-night
But something you'd eat
If it was put in front of you
O. K.
Like Jello.

The Baptists and Pentecostals
Do a good job here
They are prejudiced

115 - The Church In Dallas

And nourish some terrible attitudes
But they are warm
And meaty
We're not meaty
And rarely generate any warmth.

We do keep a little flame of discontent going
And that's our secret.

If that flicker of discontent
Ever goes out
We will be able to show visitors to this city
Not only the place where Kennedy was shot
And Jack Ruby's old hang-out
But the exact place where the church died.