By Herman Kauffman
The Early Years
My early years were spent in Millersburg, Indiana, a small town of nearly 500 persons. Our home was located 1 block south of the school and 1 block east of the downtown. The town, as I knew it 45 years ago, had 3 east-west streets and was probably 10-12 blocks long.
Our home was a 2-story house that at times included an upstairs apartment and lower living quarters. The front room of the house had also served as a funeral parlor. At the time of my birth, I lived in the upstairs apartment with my parents while my grandparents lived downstairs.
Shortly before my 3rd birthday, my grandfather died. Soon after his death and before the birth of my brother, we moved downstairs and my grandmother moved upstairs. Later, after grandmother moved into her own mobile home, my aunt and uncle lived upstairs for a period of time. As our family grew to include two sisters, we utilized the entire house with our bedrooms upstairs and living quarters downstairs.
Outside, we had a fenced-in side yard and a backyard that stretched from the house to the garage and driveway. This backyard would become our "baseball field" for neighborhood ball games. (The slate-sided back of the house became our back stop!)
Our two-car
garage had plenty of space with only one family car. An
upper level above the garage had once been used by
Grandpa Kauffman to raise pigeons. My brother and I
raised rabbits in the garage for a period of time.
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I attended the Millersburg School (which housed grades 1-12) for 6+ years until we moved the fall I was in 7th grade. |
Our move took us to an 80 acre farm in Harrison Twp on CR 17. There we raised chickens and hogs. With 10,000 chickens we were kept busy gathering, washing, and sorting eggs. The move also resulted in new schools -- Harrison Twp for 7th and 8th grade and Wakarusa High School.
Travel to and from high
school meant an hour bus ride each way. This, combined
with chores on the farm, limited participation in
extracurricular activities. Nevertheless, high school was
a positive experience with many memories of events that
were both positive and negative.
Participation in two high school dramas. I was a "prompter" for the Junior Class presentation of "Pioneer, Go Home"; and the role of Bob McGinnis in the Senior Class production of "The Remarkable Incident at Carson Corners".
I remember well the Palm Sunday tornado of 1965 and the evastation to the community but also the opportunity to participate in cleanup work.
Likewise, I remember well Agriculture Class on November 21, 1963 when we received word that President Kennedy had been shot in Dallas.
Our Senior Class trip to Washington D.C.
Wakarusa HS has since merged to become Northwood High School
Visit Manchester College
I lived on 1st floor Ikenberry Hall during my four years at Manchester, rooming with Rick Flickinger for the first couple of years. I was an accounting major and have fond memories of the college experience (even as I am glad to forget how tough some of the courses were.
Life on the college campus was in turmoil during the late 60s and early 70s. The country was at war in Vietnam while many students opposed both the war and the draft. Who can forget the tragic deaths at Kent State and the night LBJ announced he would not run for re-election. Martin Luther King came to speak on campus shortly before his assasination and Bobby Kennedy campaigned near campus shortly before being killed in California.
While there are many positive memories of these years, one that stands out is Ikenberry Hall setting the world record (at the time) for a contiuous touch football game (78 hours as I recall.).
The move to Bethany Seminary after graduation at Manchester came as a surprise as I felt a call during the second semester of my senior year to ministry. So rather than entering the job world as an accountant, I was back in school in the fall of 1971 in Oakbrook, IL at the Church of the Brethren seminary. The study and sense of community was different from the college campus but a real joy. My understanding of scripture, especially the Old Testament, was stretched as I found myself growing spiritually. The summer of 1972 found me gaining practical field experience and sharing my faith as a summer chaplain at Gifford Pinchot State Park in Pennsylvania.
Feeling a sense of burnout, I set out the 1972-73 school year to rest and evaluate my call before returning to Bethany in the fall of 1973. After a second year of seminary studies, I felt that if I were serious about a calling into ministry, it needed to be tested in a congregational setting. This led to a 15-month internship at the Lincolnshire Church of the Brethren in Fort Wayne, IN working with the congregation and its pastor, Olden Mitchell. This experience confirmed my call and I returned to campus for a final year of study, graduating in 1976.
When Bethany was at Oakbrook
Today Bethany Seminary is located
in Richmond, Indiana
Columbia City Ministry
I received a call to serve the Columbia City Church of the Brethren, beginning in June 1976. Within weeks I moved from a dorm room into my first house, was installed as pastor, ordained into ministry in the Church of the Brethren, and experienced my first "Family Bible School."
I could not have asked for a better congregation in which to begin my ministry. I felt accepted and loved by the people and challenged by the opportunity to serve as their pastor. When I left 3 years later, I had gained valuable experience which I would treasure in years to come. Many of the friendships made in those early years of ministry continue into the present.
I came to Columbia City as a single pastor and when I left I was married.
Marriage and Family
Connie and I met at Camp Mack where she was working for the summer and I provided a couple of weeks of volunteer leadership. We were engaged in December 1978 and married June 24, 1979 at the Beacon Heights Church of the Brethren in Fort Wayne, Indiana. Our honeymoon included a trip through northwestern Washington State and Vancouver Island in Canada before returning to Seattle for the 1979 Annual Conference.
Connie was a special education teacher in Fort Wayne until our marriage and our move to Lafayette, IN. She was employed for a couple of years after our move until our decision to begin a family and her decision to become a stay-at-home mom. Andrew was born December 4, 1981 and Sara July 4, 1985.
Lafayette Church of the Brethren
Lafayette Ministry
As Connie and I began to plan for a new life together, I received a call to serve the Lafayette Church of the Brethren. We arrived at our new home in late summer 1979 along with the students arriving at Purdue University for the beginning of a new school year. As I reflect back, that seems very appropriate because a unique part of the Lafayette congregation was the students who came and were part of the congregation for several years.
Our first evening in town we were invited to Euchre Fellowship and this monthly fellowship activity quickly became a regular part of our schedule.
I will always remember the Lafayette congregation for their strong commitment to stewardship and outreach. Each fall brought a new stewardship campaign and a new stewardship committee. In fact I have often said their strong stewardship may have come because nearly everyone had the opportunity to participate in stewardship education.
While never a large congregation, the Lafayette church had an impact far beyond their size as they became a church home for Brethren and Mennonite students at Purdue. It is exciting today to find these same students in leadership in congregations throughout and beyond the state.
Ministry in Painesville, Ohio
It was not easy to leave Lafayette, the only home our children had known, but in the fall of 1987 we accepted a call to the Painesville Church of the Brethren - east of Cleveland near the shore or Lake Erie. Here we had the opportunity to purchase our first home with a large, tree-shaded back yard only blocks from the elementary school and the church.
The congregation was organized in 1955 and had known only its founding pastor for 32 years prior to our arrival. We had the opportunity to experience many joys and growing points with the members of the congregation in what turned out to be an "unintentional interim" pastorate. We reflect back on this as a time for that congregation to begin to transition from a well-loved founding pastor into trust and acceptance for future leadership.
We greatly appreciated their love and acceptance and a willingness to try some new ideas. Several of the most meaningful new-member classes I have led were at Painesville. Certainly, a unique ministry of the congregation was their exceptional Nursery School and my opportunity to lead sessions on Wednesday for each of the pre-school classes.
As a family, we also remember some special places including our walks along the beach of Lake Erie.
Everett Church of the Brethren
Ministry in Everett, Pennsylvania
We had never lived in the mountains before moving to Everett. We again learned that each community has its own form of beauty -- both in nature and in the people who live in the community.
Since we had not yet found a home to buy and had not sold our home in Painesville, Herman moved to Everett ahead of the family who would follow several months later. Even then, after finding the house we would purchase, we lived for a time in a rented apartment until we could take possession of our home located up a hill behind the elementary school.
Back Home Again in Indiana - Nappanee
When the opportunity came to return to Northern Indiana as District Pastor for the Northern Indiana District of the Church of the Brethren, it was quite unexpected but the timing seemed right to be closer to family and for me to begin a new form of ministry.
