Don Pollock North American Christian Convention Memories
Don Pollock’s handwritten notebook preserved memories from his family, church, and the earliest days of the North American Christian Convention. He attended the first NACC in Indianapolis in 1927 and returned when the convention came back to the city nearly 83 years later.
- Pollock attended the first North American Christian Convention in 1927, just before his ninth birthday.
- His notebook recorded family milestones, church history, and NACC gatherings across the decades.
- Pollock also served in World War II and wrote for Restoration Movement publications.
By Darrel Rowland
Line after line, page after page, the neat dark handwriting lovingly chronicles the intertwined history of Don Pollock’s family and their church.
A Notebook of Church History
March 1902: Grandpa and Grandma join the church on successive Sundays.
January 1924: Parsonage next to church building dedicated.
And October 1927: “First North American Christian Convention held at Cadle Tabernacle”—P.H. Welshimer, president.
Pollock was there, just before his ninth birthday.
And he was there nearly 83 years later, when the convention returned to Indianapolis last summer.
Remembering the North American Christian Convention
As a youth, it didn’t seem unusual that he would accompany his parents to a church gathering, “Back in those days boys and girls were brought to the church from the cradle on up.”
In fact, the member of Post Road Christian Church in Indianapolis has attended numerous NACCs, all of which he recorded in his notebook: the second one in Canton, then in later years such locales as Dallas, St. Louis, Cincinnati, and back to the now-demolished Cadle Tabernacle several times.
“In those days the children were with the adults,” he remembers. “That’s how we learned to be Christians.”
The World War II infantryman fought against the Japanese in the Aleutian Islands. In June 1943 he wrote “A Christian Soldier” for The Lookout, and the following year penned “What I Owe My Home” for the former Standard publication Christian Home Life.
And yes, those events are dutifully recorded in the precious notebook.
Darrel Rowland is an adult Bible fellowship teacher at Worthington (Ohio) Christian Church and public affairs editor of The Columbus Dispatch.
What a wonderful article of father Don. I will print this and send it to him as he is not too tech savy, but at 92 he can still write a good letter. Thank you. ~Don’s oldest son of 65 years.