It was 1892 when James Earl Mead was born in a one room log cabin on the banks of Barren Creek, Missouri. He was born a leader and a chicken farmer, but he soon felt the call of God pulling him to serve the church and not the family business. At a young age, he served as the music director at Fall Creek Encampment. Then Mead felt God calling him to Texas—the First Baptist Church in Beaumont, in particular.
In Beaumont and in Sheveport, in the Baptist Churches there, Mead found his true calling: to build a strong Baptist religious education program. Through dedication and hard work, he eventually became the leading education director in the Southern Baptist Convention. But even in the most focused religious life, there are inevitable trials.
From Chicken to Churches is a memoir that looks back upon one man’s life of faithful service. As a leader, Mead felt responsible for Christian flocks all across the nation. He used his God-given talent to motivate others to do their best for the Master—to teach and witness to the entire world. He inspired countless Christians on their paths to salvation. His emotional memoir will inspire all who read it.
I was born, James Earl Mead, April 27, 1890, in a one room log cabin on the banks of Barren Creek, three miles east of Fairplay, Polk County, Missouri. This put my birthplace in the foothills of the Ozarks. It was a timbered, rocky country of spring-fed streams, timothy and clover meadows, and orchards. It was in this outdoor environment that I got my love for nature. I became a student of the birds, wild flowers, trees, shrubs, and vines.
In speaking of my birth, I often tell of winning my first race with Father. It was on this wise: On the day of my birth, Father was plowing in the field. Knowing the birth of a child was imminent, Father arranged with Mother to hang a white sheet on the line if she felt the pains of coming birth. In the course of the morning, as Father came to the end of a row and turned his horse, he saw the white sheet waving on the line. Hurriedly he unhitched his horse and went to the house, checked with Mother, then mounted his horse and trotted away to the village to get the doctor....As Father passed Grandmother's home, he stopped to inform her of the approaching birth. Grandmother hurried over to be with Mother. In due time Father and Dr. Hopkins arrived, but not until after I had been born. So I always tell this story of my birth and add, "I beat my father in our first race."
About the Editor
John Clinton Shanks is a Dallas native who, early in life at a Baptist encampment, felt a call to vocational Christian service. After graduating from Baylor University, his first full-time call was to Cliff Temple Baptist Church in Dallas. It was his privilege to serve under Dr. Wallace Bassett and to work daily under the mentorship of J. Earl Mead. It was a “match made in heaven” to learn from and to work with this incomparable servant of the Lord. Shanks’ second son was named for him ---Drayton Earl Shanks.
While serving in churches full-time or in a bio-vocational position, he received his Master’s degree from Southern Methodist University and his PhD from the University of North Texas. He served in churches in Dallas, Wichita Falls, and Longview, Texas, and spent several months in England, preaching and serving as a supply pastor and in other endeavors. He also served in positions with the Annuity Board (now Guidestone) and with Seminary Extension work throughout the state.