STILL FRIENDLY AFTER 75 YEARS

The following article appeared in the Tyler Morning Telegraph on October 18, 2003.

"Help somebody today, somebody along life's way. Let sorrow be ended, the friendless, befriended, Oh, help somebody today."
" Help Someone Today" - hymn and theme song for the Friendly Bible Class

By PATRICK BUTLER, Religion Writer

"Help somebody today, somebody along life's way. Let sorrow be ended, the friendless, befriended, Oh, help somebody today." - "Help Someone Today," hymn and theme song for the Friendly Bible Class

What do movie maker Cecil B. DeMille, comedian Harold Lloyd, football hero Red Grange and war hero Jimmy Doolittle have in common? They all made it to the Friendly Bible Class at Marvin United Methodist Church in Tyler at one time or another. And those were just the visitors.

The Friendly Bible Class at Marvin United Methodist Church celebrated its 75th anniversary as a continuous Bible class last Saturday night at a gathering in Berryville. The little Bible class that could has reached a milestone that few others attain: Through a crippling depression, a world war, a society that first turned to rampant materialism and evolved into what was called the "Me Generation," it has managed to stay ... friendly.

What started out as a small gathering of young men for mutual encouragement and Bible study in pre-Depression Tyler in 1928 has turned out to be nothing less than an institution. For the members, who for many years were only men, it was the place to be on Sunday morning. Whatever the felt needs of those early class pioneers, the meeting struck a chord that has resonated clear into the 21st century. There are members who have literally spent their childhood growing up in the class, and now, as adults, still come faithfully. There are many men, such as Reaves Murphey, whose grandfathers attended the class, and now they do too.

In the past, the men of Tyler have met by the hundreds, in whatever spaces were available, sometimes sitting in harsh folding chairs. No matter. The stories are legendary of what class leaders would go through to make sure they were present Sunday morning, including police escorted drives from Dallas by early class president Galloway Calhoun. For many, then and now, the half-hour of the Friendly Class was the highlight of their week.

Today, the class meets in an up-to-date auditorium with stadium-style seating, complete with stage lights and cushy chairs that require no stamina whatsoever to sit in. Women, who decided the class would be even more friendly if they attended, "just started showing up," one female class member said. There was no resistance, protest or controversy, according to various class members. The men, in friendly fashion, just took it in stride and say the class today is as good as it always was. In the late 90's, tradition gave way to progress and Dede Fleisher was named the first woman president of the class.

Last Sunday, a woman sitting off to the side happily did her needlepoint, as the teacher, Dr. David Nichols - the newly named T.B. Butler Tyler Citizen of the Year, and Friendly teacher for the last 11 years - went through First Peter. In the 1949 group photo of the class, there is a single woman in it.

"She's the piano player, I think," said Tressa Hawkins administrative assistant to senior pastor, the Rev. Michael Dent and whose own father, Russell, was the youngest man in the photo, at age 29.

"He still attends the class over 50 years later," she said. "In years gone by, so many people deeply involved in Tyler's community were fiercely committed to this class. Dad was one of them."

Somewhere along the way, long before Hitler, Tel-evangelists, freeways, or men on the moon, someone got the idea of putting the half-hour class on the radio. For decades the members have paid to broadcast the class throughout East Texas and still do today, as part of their mission giving. At 10 a.m. every Sunday, all of Tyler that isn't at a church already, along with the people who now zip by on I-20, can listen and join in the song that has opened the class for years: Help Somebody Today, on KTBB A.M. 600, the station that bears the initials of its founder, the Morning Telegraph's Tom B. Butler. Calvin Clyde jr., chairman of the Telegraph was one of the presidents of the class, as were many other Tyler notables.

Last Sunday, the current class president, Steve Pickett "one of the young ones" in his 40's, introduces Nichols to the radio audience. As the teacher comes to the podium with the red radio light on in the back broadcast booth, a sense of continuity falls upon the room that stretches back 75 years, and into the future. "Hello everybody, and hello everyone listening by radio," Nichols said.

The sense is not imagined. Sitting in the back, the only man in the room without a tie on, is a relaxed young man with his wife. It is Galloway Calhoun III, whose grandfather, Galloway Calhoun was a first assistant attorney general of the state of Texas - and teacher of the Friendly class for over 30 years.

"It's so easy for me to come this class, because I grew up here," said Calhoun, No. 3. "To me, it's just the greatest place to be. The teaching has always been good, and the half-hour format allows me to just sit, reflect and absorb the message."

Calhoun senior, was in demand as a national speaker in the thirties, forties and fifties, on behalf of many charities, and it was he who recruited the more conspicuous speakers to speak to the class.. DeMille, it is said, was onhand in Tyler to premiere a movie he'd made. It was Calhoun who constrained him to come to address the friendly class.

"That came back to me when I began teaching here," said Nichols, laughing, during the 75th celebration gathering, who at 59 is still being called 'the young teacher.' "I was told that I could teach here if I got movie stars to show up at the class."

But celebrity distinction, while interesting, is not the reason given why people come back year after year to the class. In the end, they said, it's the Bible, the teaching, and the genuine support that the people offer each other.

"We've been so fortunate to have had such good teaching all these years," said Christine Bass, a long- time member. "I have the Bible explained to me in ways I can understand."

At the farm retreat of James and Mrs. Bass, where the group met to celebrate and reminisce, a large cake that says reads "Help Somebody Today," is cut up and divided and passed around. In a metaphor, a type of communion is being served around a theme that has endured for 75 years. Through an era of traumas, disappointments and downturns, the class members have been there for each other, said many of them in a time of sentimental remembrance Saturday night.

"When I went through some very difficult times, it was the Friendly class that helped me through it," said Pickett. I can tell you that they really mean it when they sing, "Help Somebody Today," and that's what we still want to do."