Ezra Devane

Dr. Blair

WRDS 1103, 045

Becoming Ezra DeVane through Discourse Learning

As a child, I moved around North Carolina a lot. I met a lot of different people and had a

lot of different friends. Throughout my life, however, there has seemed to be one constant thing

about me that has stuck with my peers. It was very distinctive and personal to me, and I would

always get called out for it. The one thing recognizable with me was that I was a church boy. The

way I held myself, the way I spoke, and the way I sang all pointed to the church. I never minded

it, because I believe that discourse has been one of the most important things in my life that

made me who I am today. The bible does say in Proverbs verse 22:6 that you should “Train up a

child in the way he should go” because “when he is old, he will not depart from it.” I feel like

this verse has been absolutely true in my life, and I would not have it any other way. My path to

God through the Baptist church has definitly had many stages, however, and they all have

contributed heavily to who I am.

I was brought to church for as long as I can remember. The church I attended was a small

one down in the country. It was mainly family. We attended the same one every Sunday, it was

red with three rows of pews. There was a concrete slab in front of the church and a huge green

grass parking lot. There was a cemetery in the back. The hurricane a couple years ago ruined this

however, but they got it rebuilt blue. I have heard stories of it before it even had a bathroom
inside though. There is not one time in my memory where I wasn’t up on a Sunday morning

getting dressed in my Sundays best, even if I was sick.

I remember the times that I would have a stomachache, and instead of sitting in the

congregation, I would sit right behind my dad as he was on the piano. As a child, I could do

things like that. In this period of my life, a lot that I did in the church wouldn’t be acceptable for

me to do now. I remember there were times that my older cousins would give me a massage

during the message to keep me still. I also remember asking to play games on their phones. I

even went as far as taking a nap on my grandmother's lap. There wasn’t much expected of me

other than to attend. This is how my family helped me build the platform of what I value so

much today. It wasn’t all futile, however. It was here that I learned different terms such as: the

pastor, or the one who leads the congregation in activities of the service, praise and worship,

which is the musical portion usually at the beginning of the service used to usher in the spirit,

ministry, which describes the area of service you partake in to win over souls to Gods kingdom,

baptism ,or the total submission of one into water that shows a physical change offering yourself

to God, and more terms that outlined what it meant to be a part of the church.

Once I got older, I began to become immersed in the church. This was necessary because

my whole family was immersed, so there was no choice for me. This was a natural progression

for me, however, just because of the things that were beginning to be expected of me in church.

For example, I remember there is a picture of me at like 3 years old with a full suit on because I

was part of my Grandads deacon appreciation service. My grandad heavily stands by his church.

He has been president of the deacon board for 40+ years. I have never seen him without a

collared shirt or some sort of dress shoes. I have seen him get up at 3 AM to read the bible. He

truly embodies a southern Baptist man in my eyes. It was in this stage that I began to sing. I was
immersed by music ministry which Is something I still due to this day. My father is a minister of

music and has been on the piano leading bands for as long as I have been alive, so he was

definitely very influential in my musical journey. I have had multiple church encyclopedias to

answer any questions my young curious brain had about church and what it was. I am blessed to

have had these men in my life because they were able to teach me a lot of things that I have used

to this day.

As I would continue to grow in my gifts, I got to experience a lot of new things. One of

these experiences was sunrise services. These were usually held coming into the new year. They

were held to “bring in the year correctly/ with praise.” This is where I learned more about the

church leaders because these services were usually long, allowing pastors more time to speak to

the congregation. Some pastors speak very calmly and prophetically, which means they are

blessed to see into the future of Gods plans to help his people progress. Some pastors are

extremely high energy and like to “hack” which is a vocal technique that is very throaty and just

sounds like a croaky siren but has a remarkably high impact on the people.

I also got to go to many music programs. Musical Programs were put together so that

many diverse groups and choirs could come together for a night of singing and fun. I love music,

so I was at a lot of these. I learned a lot of what moved me as a Christian, and what kinds of

music made me who I was. I learned what things other Baptist Christians liked and what the

gospel sound really is. It is characterized by old school foot stomping, hand clapping, and some

of the grooviest melodies possible. The main instruments are keys, bass guitar, drums, and lead

guitar. This can be supplemented with things such as click tracks, auxiliary keys, and brass

instruments. The vocalists are usually extraordinarily strong singers, and background parts

surround the three-part harmony in music theory. I do believe that gospel has some of the best
musicians and vocalists this world has ever seen. This has had the most impact on my life over

anything else I could have experienced in a discourse.

I also observed things like the fact that ushers dress in all white before Labor Day, and all

black after Labor Day. Pastors wore long robes garnished with crosses, Then the congregation

was expected to wear their Sundays best. It was supposed to be genuinely nice and professional,

easter was the day everyone dressed colorfully. Finally, I got to experience- funerals. It was here

that I learned how much Baptist churches value form and tradition. I sat through funerals where

they read every card sent to the family of the lost aloud just because it had always been done. |In

my eyes this was just unnecessary, but as I started to pay increased attention, I started to see how

much the Baptist allowed tradition to reign over their ministries.

A sort of catalyst in my learning this discourse that aided this process happened when my

parents left the Baptist Church. This was like a cannon event for me because we left what they

had known their whole lives up to that point. It was here that I started to ask questions, but every

answer they gave did not really make sense to me up until I experienced some of the things they

had firsthand. Before coming to college, I played piano for the same family church my father had

played for. I had been in that church my whole life, but now being in a position of leadership, I

got to see things from a unique perspective. I saw how things were behind the scenes. I saw how

a lot of things were just money grabs. We had two offerings throughout the service, which was

unnecessary. I've been to different services where the pastors hand out the plates again because

they did not reach a specific amount of money. I have seen people get kicked out of choirs

because the other members did nott like the shine they were receiving. Traditions and how things

have always been done took precedent over saving people's souls and doing the best you can do
to do what God has called you for. I was beginning to see why my parents left, and needless to

say, it was my last time considering myself Baptist.

Overall, I learned so much in this discourse that I would self-proclaim myself as a master

of it. I am extremely glad, however, that I was able to recognize the good without being

overtaken by the bad. I am now a nondenominational Christian, and I am so happy that God has

opened my eyes to see what fit would be best for me. At the end of the day, I will always

appreciate what the Baptist faith has done for me, and I will always recognize how much of me it

has shaped!