A real farmer shares an earful!

Corn experts say a perfect ear of corn has about 800 kernels. And, what if a perfect ear – cloaked in bright green and tightly wrapped against the cob – is a perfect metaphor for an expertly crafted sermon – real teaching wrapped tightly with abundant worth and value. Then how many kernels of wisdom can you count in 15 minutes of brilliant preaching?

Readers can answer that question for themselves in Reverend Gary Walling’s debut collection of his prized sermons, kernels from a farmer’s pulpit – a dozen messages freshly picked from acres and acres of sermons across more than a decade in the pulpit at First Christian Church, Wilson, North Carolina.

Why the title? Gary serves up blue-ribbon jams and jellies, sauces and salsas, and sauerkraut from his home kitchen, and he’s always farmed his backyard. So he fancies himself a weathered farmer. Maybe that’s the reason why a farmer’s perspective has always been one of his favorite homiletic frameworks for packaging and presenting distinctive and bountiful Sunday sermons. His farmer’s gift for plowing from the pulpit long, deep, straight rows in rich spiritual soil is the mark of a master preacher who knows the land and the fruits it will bring to life.

 A limited-run, author-signed first edition of kernels from a farmer’s pulpit will be available this spring. You won’t find your copy searching the Web or prowling the finest book stores. Here’s how to get yours. There’s only one way.

“On Gary’s first trip to the farm, I had no idea he wanted to be a farmer. He didn’t even know how to measure an acre. So we got in my truck and just drove my fields and looked around and talked like farmers do. The next time he came, I put him in a tractor, and he planted beans. His turns were too wide, but he learned. At harvest, I put him in a combine, and he picked what he had planted. He came to see me again and again but not always to work.

​Once, after a long string of funerals, he called, and I met him at Bridgersville Grill for breakfast and laughs  and stories. Then we rode the farm the rest of the morning and went back to the grill for lunch. I think his trips to the farm refreshed him. I’ve really enjoyed my relationship with Gary. He’s mentioned me in his sermons from time to time.  And I smile.  Gary is good company, a great person and a great preacher. I’ll miss him. Even though he’s never plowed behind a mule, I know now that he and I are simply farmers.  I’ll be proud to have a copy of his book.” ​

Days on the Farm
with Gary Walling

by John Glover, farmer

A capital campaign for the soul!

As a permanent and departing legacy, First Christian Church has established the Gary and Linda Walling Endowment for Pastoral Leadership as a testament to Gary’s consequential ministry that concludes with his retirement. The endowment will underwrite new and creative endeavors in congregational ministry at First Christian. It’s a capital campaign for the soul! Those who make a gift or pledge to the endowment will receive a signed copy of kernels from a farmer’s pulpit upon publication this spring as a most grateful acknowledgement of their generosity.

Simply use the accompanying A Capital Campaign for the Soul card (in the attachment below) or the submission form below {more eco friendly!} to announce your immediate gift or to promise a contribution that may be paid in installments over periods of one to three years. When your card or submission arrives with a gift or a promise, First Christian Church will reserve your book so you can look forward to searching for kernels of wisdom in Gary’s finest sermons. 

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