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| Brinkley Chapel |
The thing I remember most about Easter service when I was a kid at Brinkley Chapel was singing Low in the Grave. It was a horribly slow and depressing hymn, especially the way our small congregation sang it. Even the uplifting chorus of the song “up from the grave he arose!” sounded like something from Night of the Living Dead. I’m pretty sure at least that section should have been happy and full of joy, a celebration of the most important Christian holiday. And maybe expressed with a bit of pep? We sang it likeย Jesus the zombie clawed his way from the dank dark ground with his fingernails instead of miraculously arising from the tomb into the glorious gates of Heaven.
Although there were some great old hymns in the Baptist Hymnal, we may as well used them as booster seats. Brother Brown was stuck on the same old songs which we knew by heart and sang like funeral dirges.ย
Although there were some great old hymns in the Baptist Hymnal, we may as well used them as booster seats. Brother Brown was stuck on the same old songs which we knew by heart and sang like funeral dirges.ย
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| Brinkley Youth Group 1967 Front: Karen, Monica, Staci, Jamie Back: Lesa, Talya, Lynn |
Momma was the pianist. To no avail, she sometimes tried to speed things up a bit, but sadly we only knew one speed. Snail. From the piano bench, her neck bobbed back and forth like a chicken as she tried to will everyone to pick up the pace. Sometimes she just played ahead of everyone. Singing was clearly not our strong suit.ย
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| Staci, Lesa, Talya, Jamie, Karen, Monica Christmas Brinkley 1971 |
But those members of the church were strong and faithful. SaltOfTheEarth. This congregation of friends and family who surrounded us growing up, would give their eye teeth and right arms to help anyone. In the moment, spending time there and living life, you don’t realize the influence and importance of a place or people. I wish I could spend one more Easter service at Brinkley Chapel with that same congregation, but the building was sold and is no longer a church and many of the people are gone. I bet if we had one more chance to sing that song it would sound a little better to me now.
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| The “Girls” of Brinkley Chapel 2011 |
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| The Ladies of Brinkley Chapel 2011 |
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Happy Easter!
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Grace Grits and Gardening
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Musical Pairings:
The Old Rugged Cross, Alan Jackson
The first Easter service I conducted was in a town that will remain unnamed to protect the innocent. We sang Because He Lives and it was accompanied on piano by a 70 plus year old faithful member and on organ was her mother. We barely finished the song before next Easter. I hear you loud and clear!
That’s a good song but we sang it at a snail’s pace too.
Love me some Brinkley! I did not know it had been sold. Some memories, mostly musical: Because of Dad’s strong bass voice, many times when we showed up the song selection would change to feature his part. I thought cousin Sue Groeteke and I might be called to the altar to repent for laughing at Aunt Virgie’s single note alto……we had been called down once by Uncle Roy from the pulpit for laughing….we were out of control partly because we had started to giggle and I had passed gas which sent us into hysterics…..I loved to hear your mom play the piano and Uncle Reven sing his tenor part. I thought he was so debonaire in his fedora. Thanks for stirring up so many good memories!
Brenda
haha Yes Aunt Virgie did not inherit the musical gene! I don’t remember Papa Creecy ever singing there. I guess that was before my time and before he got sick. I do remember your dad’s voice though. You all didn’t visit enough… lol. Staci and I always got in trouble for giggling with Nana.
Brinkley Chapel, I loved that ole church and all the teaching we received from Mama, Barbara, Marilyn, Ramona, Joy, and Randy. Boy did we have fun. We always got in trouble for giggling either at the tree growing through a hole in the floor or looking at the back of our Bible and imitating the pictures. HAHAHAHA. All those Christmas and Easter plays we did. We sang in “perfect” harmony How Gret Thou Art. When we were small we would crawl under the church house, or play hide and seek in the yard. Brinkley Chapel will always hold a special place in my heart, and those God fearing women who taught us the word will always be special to me too. Randy taught us when we became teens. He had us reading the Bible for points, and we decided to read during preaching, and was told to listen to the preacher instead us reading Bible verses. I can remember when all 6 of us were baptized on the same night. WE all came back from church camp SAVED!!! Never understood why Me, Tayla and Staci went to Ravenden Springs to church camp and the Davis girls went somewhere else. Nevertheless, thank God we came to know Jesus. I know our songs were slow and our sermons were boring, but I have roots there that have carried me through many trials. Thanks Talya for writing these wonderful memories aout Brinkley Chapel. FYI: Brinkley is for sale….Love ya…
Lesa, I was baptized before all the other girls. The rest of you were baptized after church camp:) I remember being in that little room by myself with Brother Brown – haha. I didn’t know if anyone remembered how we always crawled around underneath the church in the dirt. I remember that very well. But I had forgotten about seeing that tree through the hole in the floor. Thanks for reminding me! Love ya! T.
I always loved coming to Brinkley to attend Bible School with you girls. Great pics you posted Talya.
I remember one time when Mother & Mrs. Smith got tickled during preaching, and Aunt Rena “called them down” like they were teen-agers. That just made them laugh that much harder.
Happy Easter and love the pics:)
Love reading this every time!
Thanks for the re-run! Perfect post for the season and I love Alan Jackson!
Enjoyed this so much. We all have some wonderful memories of that place. I was SAVED on an Easter Sunday morning when I was nine years old. I was singing in the choir with first cousin Betty Gail Kennedy sitting beside me and first cousin Shirley Jean Johnson sitting right behind me. We marched into church from a back room singing “Holy, Holy, Holy” every Sunday morning. I got married at Brinkley Chapel Baptist Church August 21, 1959. Lots of memories in that little church on highway 140.
Loved reading about your Easter memories and seeing the pictures. I had to giggle a bit about how you described the song and Jesus clawing his way out of the grave. HA HA HA
I love this post.. It brings back so many good memories. Cute little girls are now beautiful ladies.
I am reading this again on April 20, 2016, mother’s birthday. You brought back many sweet memories of Brinkley Chapel and you girls growing up there. I was in my early 20’s and still had lots of learning to do. Brinkley Chapel was a friendly, loving, caring, and praying church. It still has a place in my heart. Thank you for your beautiful writing.
Thank you Joy!
Just proves the scripture about where two or three gathered together God is in their midst. ?
Yes ma’am!