Typically, the pastors who came to serve the small church were either older pastors on their way to retirement, or younger pastors needing an entry-point into the pastoral ranks to qualify for a better future assignment. Few, if any, of the pastors had formal seminary training. At that time the theology book for pastors was the Bible, and the approach was a quite literalistic interpretation. To their credit they placed a premium on the Word of God above all other books or sources for doctrine--a heritage that I appreciate and continue to hold.
