The Vicar

By Grace Michael

This book is a minute part of the missionary journey of the authors father. Although the journey started in the fifties, the author wrote a part of the journey as far as she could rememberhis trials, triumphs, and travails from one parish to another in the Anglican Communion. His death ends the story.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: Apr 18, 2018
• ISBN: 9781543484519

Book preview

CHAPTER 1

He sat in his study with his elbows on the table, head bowed while reading and jotting in preparation for an upcoming service. Although he looked tired having attended some sessions earlier in the day, his day was not over yet as he prepared for another service. The study was occupied by the same shape and size of shelves. The shelves were fully loaded with different types of bibles and religious history books that one wondered if he ever got to read them all. Some were as old as time while some were relatively new. Obviously, he had a knack for reading; which seemed normal for his profession, or perhaps he didn’t have a choice but to read always. He was in his early fifties, full of energy and had passion for what he did.

The vicar worked in one of the protestant churches, a well-structured communion.

He was at St. Barth’s in the big city, had a wife addressed as "Mama Yard" and five children. Mama Yard is a monicker for all the wives of the clergymen as the vicarage is usually referred to as the Yard. He enjoyed his parish and was friendly with the congregation. This was not his first parish as he had previously worked in different parishes before getting to St. Barth’s. He was unassuming, humble, quiet, generous, accommodating and content. He came from a part of the South West where they are tagged the arokians. His sermons were sometimes vicious with the truth so one could be uncomfortable with his sermons. His mastery of proverbs was unfathomable which usually captivated his audience. He knew when and where to exhibit it. It was not for all occasions.

The vicar’s wife was plump in stature and of average height. She was a professional teacher. She was a valiant woman, very enterprising and had no space for idleness. The vicar met and married her in one of the towns he had worked earlier in his career. They are from different parts of the South West.

A warm evening, having had a very hot afternoon, his boss, The Venerable, sent for him. The Venerable was the most senior in hierarchy at St. Barth’s. He lived in a separate house with his family few metres apart from the vicar’s. The vicar shared the block of his residential building with another vicar. He lived upstairs while the other vicar lived downstairs. The vicarage sat on an acre of land which had numerous buildings and facilities which included the church, blocks of classrooms, a massive football field and many more. It was in the heart of the mainland, a busy and old environment where the early Brazilian settlers lived. He dashed out when the sexton gave him the message to see The Venerable. The relationship between the vicar and The Venerable was a boss-subordinate relationship.

The Venerable was bald, dark and a bit above average height. He wore an expressionless look all the time that made it difficult to depict his mood. The vicar walked into his bungalow and he beckoned him to a seat. He had a letter for him from the Bishop. Before he handed over the letter, he told the vicar of how hardworking he had been in the ministry, which had earned him the Bishop’s confidence enough to transfer him out of state into a remote town to solely be in charge of a parish. Having said this and more, he handed over the letter to him.

CHAPTER 2

The vicar went into his apartment and directly into his study to read the content of the letter. As he opened the letter, the sexton came in again and mumbled something to him. His eyebrows creased in confusion and his mouth was set in a thin line as he took in the contents of the letter. He shook his head and the sexton turned around to take his leave. As he turned, he bumped into Mama Yard who came into the study to ask the vicar about his choice for dinner. She noticed the confusion on his face and probed further. He tried well enough to hide his emotion and picked a new topic for discussion entirely. ‘Oh, you are back from work?’ Her disposition answered the question in a way interpreted as, ‘have I not been coming home by this time?’ He continued, ‘how was work today?’ She replied, ‘nothing new’. She noticed he was not ready to talk any further. She prepared to leave him but remembered the reason she initially came to him had not been mentioned so she paused a bit and asked if he would like moin-moin (bean pudding) and fish for dinner. He stared at her without any response. She left him, though still suspecting there was something he was meant to be sharing with her.

The vicar didn’t know how Mama Yard would take the transfer despite knowing this was part of his calling. He opened the envelope and digested the content. He sat down and tried to figure out how he would share the news. He had heard of the town before, having worked as a young vicar in a bigger church around this new church. He tried to imagine the distance from the cosmopolitan city where he was to the new station in a remote environment. He picked a book from his shelf, started fiddling between the book and the letter. At some point, he packed the letter back into the envelope and flipped it into one of the drawers in the table. He sat back in his chair staring into space.

Mama Yard appeared in his study and gave the are you ready to talk look. She decided to ask questions this time and not let it go. ‘Are you alright?’ she asked. He nodded, clasped his hands behind his head and slouched in his chair. He stared right into her eyes and she took this to be that he had something to say. She stood there staring at him expecting him to continue. There was pin-drop silence between the two for a while. She became restless this time and asked him again, ‘You want to say something?’ He was staring at her but with a smile now and asked, ‘What are you expecting to hear from me?’ She shrugged and replied, ‘You have been acting strange and I should know you well enough to know when something is not right with you.’ He was still smiling and said, "W-e-l-l, it’s not as dreadful as you imagine. It’s an inevitable thing that must happen anyway, someday.’ He interrupted the discussion with another question, ‘is dinner ready?’ She nodded to mean ‘yes’ and he stood up to follow her to the dining table.

The vicar was blessed with five children, three girls and two boys. Oja, the first child, a girl, had a very reserved personality. She was small framed; her voice was rarely heard in the vicarage. The second child was Aji, a boy, he was full of life, he fiddled with everything he could lay his hands on. Mama Yard gave her younger brother her electric stove when Aji as a child out of curiosity and restlessness would put his hand on the stove to test it’s hotness. She walked into him one day in the middle of the dangerous act. The grace he had on the occasions he’d tested his curiosities was that there was no power in the stove because it had been switched off from the mains. Mama Yard’s generosity to her brother was therefore to avoid any future calamity. Also, on another occasion, he had gone into the manual tabletop sewing machine and tried to sew his index finger. The needle went into the middle of his finger, his scream attracted attention and the help he needed. He was friendly and respectful. He loved playing football. The third child of the family was the opposite of Aji. Jeje was quiet and reserved; he was very close to his brother, he followed him everywhere. Lala was number four, a girl. Mama Yard shared the memories of Oja’s joyous mood when Lala was born, the reason being that she wanted a sister having had two boys after her. Ola, another girl came last.

Despite the mixed feelings caused by the transfer, Mama Yard ensured the Christmas holiday was well enjoyed. She took them on a train ride to visit the Father Christmas at the Kingsway Stores. She ensured they all had fun at Christmas. At the Grotto, Ola cried as soon as she sighted the hefty looking white bearded man seated in all red costume with a little tape of white. She kicked and struggled to go back into the arms of Mama Yard away from the scary looking heavily bearded man in red. It was so much fun for the rest.

CHAPTER 3

The vicar and his family packed their belongings as they continued on their missionary journey into a remote town in another state. The journey seemed far but they eventually arrived in the quiet town and headed straight to King’s Church.

King’s Church seemed like a mistreatment coming from a bigger church and a cosmopolitan town but the warmness of the people on arrival took that off his mind and a new life began.

The church building itself was a standard Cathedral-like shaped but not as big as one. It was on a big expanse of land. On it were, the church building, the church bell tower built in a long and slim structure (the type you would see in any of the old churches) vicarage, the boys’ quarters, a hall, a mini landfill and an orchard. Other things like water tank, parking spaces, plants, flowers, and trees were spread everywhere. The church compound had structures and nature. There was a roundabout somewhere in the middle of the free space between the vicarage structure and the main gate.

The vicarage itself was a bungalow of six rooms. Four were bedrooms, one was a study and the last a kitchen/pantry. The buildings were distinct in architectural designs as it was a common design for most churches then. One didn’t need to be told that this was a vicarage. As years went by, some churches started changing from the stereotype to a more modern design. This was based on the financial capacity of each church. The anteroom was your first point of call as you stepped into the vicarage. It was long and slim, was in-between the study and a bedroom. From the anteroom, one could access the wide living room. The living room had the church safe at the extreme right corner. It was common in those times to have the church safe domiciled inside the vicarage. The church collections were kept in there without fear of it being burgled. It was about three feet tall. It served as a gap between Sunday and Monday when the banks would be opened for business and the money would be deposited. On top of the safe was the black and white television set. As you stepped into the living room on the upper left hand corner was a rediffusion radio behind a collapsible wooden door.

His first day at King’s Church attracted the young and old of the congregation, everyone wanted to take a glance at the new vicar and his family. Some of the parishioners came with food items. It was easy settling down in the new station. They assisted in moving their belongings into the vicarage and were taken on a familiarization tour of the premises. He got to meet some of the Parochial Church Council members that were available. They were the leadership of the church. This took the whole day and in the evening, the vicar settled into the vicarage.

Mama Yard was in the civil service so her movement was not always easy and this came to fore in the inter-state transfer. She stayed back in an apartment outside the vicarage as she continued her work and started making attempts at her transfer to enable her be with her husband. The boys were at a stage where it would appear unreasonable to let them change school again as this had happened about four times within six years. Not disposed to changing schools for the children, she kept the two boys with her to complete their elementary education in the city, took the oldest of the girls, Oja, to a boarding school and the vicar went with the last two girls. Mama Yard shuttled every weekend between the city and King’s Church to see them.

CHAPTER 4

The vicar had been working with volunteers because the church had no sexton at this time. This fateful day, while he was in his study, he heard a knock at the main door, rather than ask the stranger to come in, he got up and went straight to the door to usher in the stranger. A tall dark man stood there looking around the compound, he didn’t notice the vicar had come close to the door. The vicar waited quietly for him to satisfy his curiosity. As he turned to face the door, their eyes met and the stranger pulled himself together quickly, greeted him and was ushered in.

They both sat in the study and he was interviewed. The stranger’s name was Adamu. He got the information about the vacancy in the church for the post of a sexton. He was relatively new in the town having migrated from another state. He lived with his older sister whose husband had migrated into the town many years before. He was willing to take the job if employed. There was something the vicar saw in him that got his nod, he would still refer to the leadership of the church for final approval.

The sexton’s employment scaled through with the Parish Council and he moved into the boys’ quarters. The boys’ quarters was at the back of the vicarage. Adamu, was six-foot tall, dark in complexion, wore afro hairstyle, hardworking; this was notable with the vigor and enthusiasm he started the job with. He cleaned the church well and he did not shirk in any of his responsibilities from the ringing of the church bell, timely opening and shutting of the church doors, cutting of the grasses, trimming of flowers, plants, trees and all other responsibilities expected of him. There was a warm relationship between him and the vicar’s family. He enrolled for the baptismal class because he had decided to convert his faith and do a name change. He picked Adams.

Things seemed to be going right in this small town and the vicar got more comfortable as the days rolled by.

The building of King’s Church was a cathedral-like structure with all the appurtenances of a church physically present. It would compete well with a city church in physical structure.

Typical of this denomination, it had a lot of societies and majority of the members belonged to one society or the other, Youth Fellowship, Oore-ofe Society, Majeobaje Society, Busy Bees Society, Omo-Ogun Kristi Society and OAL Society.

The OAL was different from the rest. It was made up of retired seasoned civil servants who had served the country in various capacities and retired into this peaceful environment. Whenever there was a general thanksgiving in church, they came out differently. While others danced to the altar singing praise songs, they chose to solemnly walk to the