Live Oak Co., TX - Clegg Baptist Church 1954-55 ***************************************************** This file was contributed for use in the USGenWeb by: David R. Brumbelow USGenWeb Archives. Copyright. All rights reserved http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm ***************************************************** Clegg Baptist Church, Live Oak County, TX 1954-55 Wit and Wisdom of Pastor Joe Brumbelow, Clegg, Texas (Live Oak County) 1954-1955. Joe E. Brumbelow (AD 1930-2002) was pastor of Clegg Baptist Church, Clegg, Texas in Live Oak County in 1954 - 1955. During that time he was a student at the University of Corpus Christi (UCC) and lived on campus. He would make the approximately 75 mile drive to Clegg early Sunday morning and drive back after church Sunday night. Most of their trips to Clegg were made in a 1949 Ford (pictured on the front cover of The Wit and Wisdom of Pastor Joe Brumbelow). Toward the end of their ministry at Clegg, the 49 Ford wore out and they purchased a used Ford Fairlane. Joe was married to Bonnie and at that time they had one son, Stephen, who was born September 12, 1953. They later had two other sons, David and Mark. Some of the Clegg church folks back then included: J. T. & Jimmie Horton, Mr. & Mrs. Barnes, Albert Lindblom, Mrs. Hendricks (mother of Mrs. Barnes), Mr. & Mrs. Passmore, Mr. & Mrs. Davis, and Mrs. Flood (mother of Jimmie Horton). Clegg Baptist Church was a part of the Southern Baptist Convention. According to “The Handbook of Texas Online” Clegg Baptist Church was founded about 1913 and disbanded in 1958. The church building is no longer there but was apparently in front of the Clegg Cemetery. Remembrances include the several years long drought. Ranchers were struggling to survive. They would burn thorns off prickly pear cactus to give the cows something to eat. Joe and Bonnie would tell about how the ranchers would light propane torches and the loud noise the torches would produce. The cows knew the sound well. When they heard it they would come running, knowing they were about to get something to eat. One Sunday night storm clouds were gathering; the people had been praying for rain. On the way back home the storm broke in fury. Joe, Bonnie, and Steve were driving the caliche road from Clegg to Orange Grove. Folks had told them that lightening struck worse on caliche roads. They prayed for protection as lightening struck all around them. Suddenly a lightening fireball directly hit the hood of the car and exploded. Terrified, they thought they were done for. Amazingly it did no damage and they arrived safely home. Few lived in the community. Attendance at Clegg Baptist Church was usually 11 or 12, sometimes up around 15. A mother with several girls occasionally visited; they would always significantly help the attendance. Steve, at age one or two, was fascinated with the outhouse at Clegg Baptist Church. It was a two holer. Steve always wanted to visit the outhouse since they did not have one at home. Little Steve was enthralled with windmills excitedly saying “win-will” each time he spotted one on the way to Clegg. It seemed he could spot them miles away. Clegg Baptist Church did not have a nursery and Bonnie maintained a nursery was not absolutely necessary. With the aid of taking Steve outside church a few times and giving him a light spanking, she taught him well to sit quietly in church. As well as being a pastor and a student, Joe worked during the week at Cagle’s Service Station in Corpus Christi. The Wit and Wisdom of Pastor Joe Brumbelow tells how he would give his tithe (10% of what he made) to the church offering. It had been the church’s policy to give the pastor half of their Sunday offering. The offerings were small because the people were few, were poor, the drought had been long, and ranching was near impossible. Joe and Bonnie’s weekly tithe to Clegg Baptist Church would be about six or seven dollars. Joe’s pay as their pastor would be about the same amount! The exception would be on a fifth Sunday. On that Sunday the half that would have been given to the preacher was instead sent to the South Texas Children’s Home at Beeville, TX. It was common back then for someone in the church to invite the preacher to their home to eat and to rest on Sunday afternoon. The Barnes or the Hortons were usually the ones who would invite the Brumbelows to eat each Sunday. There was another couple (unnamed here to protect the guilty!) who invited them once to their home to eat. The couple fussed and fought with each other the entire time. Joe and Bonnie later thought, “If that’s the way they act in front of company, I wonder how they treat each other when no one else is around?” Mr. & Mrs. Passmore had a big Chicken Farm. They produced eggs from caged, rather than free roaming chickens; something new at the time. They knew how financially difficult it was for many preachers. The Passmores regularly gave the Brumbelows eggs and a couple of times gave them a ham. It was a big help to the struggling young family. Joe and Bonnie would often go back to UCC and share what they had been given with the other preachers and their families. Members of Clegg Baptist Church met in a little white building. The only time they had a huge crowd was for Homecoming Day. The church only had Homecoming Day every few years and one of those was while the Brumbelows were there. While Clegg was small, many people had passed through the church and or been influenced by it through the years. That Homecoming Day they had 200 present; Bonnie said it seemed like a thousand. They enjoyed preaching, singing, fellowship, and “Dinner-on-the-Grounds.” The song leader was a rancher named J. T. Horton. His daughter could only occasionally attend (seems like it was because she was away at college or lived some distance away). She was a pianist. The church only had a pianist when she was able to attend. When Joe Brumbelow resigned as pastor and moved away, the church called another UCC student, Ernest Ables, as pastor. At that time UCC was a Baptist school. “Brother Joe,” as he was called, loved the people and faithfully preached the Bible. He preached of the love of God, and forgiveness, salvation, and eternal life through faith in Jesus Christ. Joe often used interesting stories and humor to illustrate his biblical sermons. A biography has been written about Joe, The Wit and Wisdom of Pastor Joe Brumbelow: Favorite illustrations, personal stories, humor, history, folklore, and lessons learned from over 50 years in the ministry, by his son David R. Brumbelow, Hannibal Books; Garland, TX, 2005. It includes a couple of stories about his ministry at Clegg, TX. Between stints in college (graduating from UCC in 1955) Joe pastored in Old Ocean, TX. After Clegg he went on to pastor churches in Houston, Cypress, Dawson, and Corpus Christi, TX. After retiring he served as Minister of Pastoral Care at First Baptist Church, Lake Jackson, TX. He preached throughout Texas as well as in West Virginia, Oregon, Wyoming, Mexico, and Alaska. He was a well known preacher whose ministry reached across barriers of age, race, and social class. Joe Brumbelow was born in Rosenberg, Texas. His family moved to Damon, TX when Joe was an infant and he grew up there. His parents were E. P. (Bud) and Carrie Mae (Follet) Brumbelow. He had a sister, Myrtle, and a brother, Bill. Joe married Bonnie (Galyean) of Old Ocean, TX in 1951. Bonnie’s parents were Tom & Maude (Mincy) Galyean. Bonnie Brumbelow has been known for her singing, teaching Sunday School, and good cooking. She now lives in Lake Jackson, TX and has a best selling cookbook of her personal recipes. The Wit and Wisdom of Pastor Joe Brumbelow contains short stories about hunting, fishing, gardening, history, outhouses, humor, as well as family and spiritual matters. It tells of growing up in the 1930s and 40s in the small town of Damon. It tells fascinating everyday life stories of a faithful, small church pastor. Bonnie Brumbelow wrote one chapter to women and preachers wives. “You will enjoy this book. Some of the funniest stories you will ever read are contained in the pages of this volume. As I read these stories I laughed and you will laugh, too. You will laugh out loud,” so says the Foreword by Dr. John A. Hatch, Pastor, First Baptist Church, Lake Jackson, TX. Wit and Wisdom has been endorsed by leaders such as Ed Young, Houston; Adrian Rogers, Memphis, TN; Paige Patterson, president SWBTS, Ft. Worth; and Franklin Atkinson, of ETBU, Marshall, TX. One last story about Clegg. One Sunday afternoon Bonnie was packing little Steve’s things at the Horton’s home. Next week Steve would turn one year old. It was time to go to the Sunday night Worship Service; from there they would drive back to Corpus Christi. Bonnie had changed Steve’s clothes and could not find the shirt she had taken off him. She looked everywhere; money was tight and that shirt would be tough to replace. She finally gave up looking and they all went to church. Jimmie Horton’s mother, Mrs. Flood, lived with the Hortons. Next Sunday Mrs. Flood had a birthday present for Steve Brumbelow. A brand new shirt she had made for him. The Sunday before she had “stolen” his shirt to use as a pattern. Of course, they got the old shirt back as well. Bonnie appreciated that gift so much. Steve wore the shirt till he outgrew it and his little brothers later wore it as well. The Wit and Wisdom of Pastor Joe Brumbelow is available at bookstores or at www.hannibalbooks.com 800/747-0738 (ISBN 0-929292-62-6) $12.95; 12 or more $7.77 each. 240 pages. Autographed copies may be ordered for the same price at: David Brumbelow, P.O. Box 300, Lake Jackson, Texas 77566. 281/705-3433 or 979/299-6535; nsbc77562@LWOL.com ******* Quotes about The Wit and Wisdom of Pastor Joe Brumbelow: “You will enjoy the warmth and emotion that permeate the pages.” -H. Edwin Young, Pastor, Second Baptist Church, Houston, Texas. “His sense of humor was contagious and his seriousness about the things that really counted was remarkable.” -Jimmy Draper, President, LifeWay Christian Resources, Nashville, TN.. “I laughed, I wept, I praised God repeatedly in its reading. I think you will too!…This is the kind of book you can sit down and read from ‘kiver to kiver’ (and many will, too engrossed to put it down), but at the same time it is the kind you can read a little, quit, pick it up later and not miss a beat. Or you could pick it up and start reading any place: front, back or middle. We heartily recommend it!” -Dr. R. L. Sumner, The Biblical Evangelist, North Carolina. “Delightful reading of this book will refresh, teach, and inspire God’s people.” -Franklin Atkinson, Th.D., longtime Bible professor at East Texas Baptist University, Marshall, TX. “Dear David, Thank you, my friend, for the finished product - The Wit and Wisdom of Pastor Joe Brumbelow. I spent much time this morning reading, smiling, amening, and just nodding my head. It is a beautiful book, easy to read, and full of genuine spiritual wisdom. God is love. Jesus is wonderful. In His Dear Name.” -Adrian Rogers, Memphis, TN. June 21, 2005. “It is absolutely beautiful. It came out much better than I ever imagined... Already it has been a source of illustrations for me.” -Paige Patterson, President, Southwestern Theological Seminary, Ft. Worth, TX. Referring to how she laughed, “This book is better than going to a psychologist!” - Esther Cline, DeLand, Florida. “This is a great book not only to read about a pastor’s life but all the real stuff everyone goes through. This book tends to help me have a better understanding in the life of my pastor and others.” -Customer Review at amazon.com; July 13, 2006. “Filled with plenty of funny, down-to-earth, illustrations that will put a smile on your face, a laugh on your lips, and the truth in your heart. The book is perfect for pastors, Sunday School teachers, and all believers because Pastor Joe Brumbelow had a special gift: a knack for relating to people and teaching the Bible in such a way that anyone could understand it. -Jeremy L. Green, Pastor, Waco, Texas; December 11, 2006 “From a barefoot boy causing mischief in Damon, Texas to a preacher of the Gospel.” ~ This will be written for the generation to come, that a people yet to be created may praise the Lord. -Psalm 102:18 (-Submitted and written by David R. Brumbelow with remembrances from Mrs. Joe (Bonnie) Brumbelow, P.O. Box 300, Lake Jackson, TX 77566. March 24, AD 2007.) ~