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TRIBUTE TO DON AND MARTHA FINTO (April 6, 2008)

In 1961, Don and Martha Finto were living in Memphis while Don did graduate work at Harding University. While in Memphis, a lifelong friendship began between Don and Martha and Al and Ira Jaynes. They worshiped together at White Station Church of Christ where Don was Associate Minister. They were in a Sunday school class together where Don taught the book of Romans. In 1963, the Finto family moved to Nashville where Don taught Bible and German at a local college and continued work on his doctorate. In 1968, the Jaynes moved to Nashville and once again connected with Don and Martha. They, along with Bob and Mamie Mason started a prayer group that began to meet regularly at the Mason’s house on Shy’s Hill Rd. They called it the Shy’s Hill Church. And inside the hearts of these believers, the fire of the Holy Spirit began to burn with a hunger for more of Jesus.

In 1951, my grandparents Walter and Golda Wyckoff moved to Nashville and began worshiping at a place called Belmont Avenue Church of Christ. Soon, my grandfather was serving as an elder. But by the late 1960's, it was a small and struggling church of around 80 people. My grandparents had started a neighborhood outreach to bring inner city children into the Sunday School program, feeding them a meal when they came to church and providing clothes for them. Some members of the church were not happy about this and decided to leave because of it. Membership was in serious decline. My grandfather told my parents he was afraid the church was dying.

About this time, the Lord had led Don and Al Jaynes to start Alpha House down at the corner of 20th and Charlotte. It was a place to minister to drug addicts and alcoholics. Don’s teaching abilities, his passion for Jesus and his growing belief in the current work of the Holy Spirit had also gained him popularity with students, hippies, addicts, the troubled long haired element of society. Those who favored the status quo did not like it. At one point, the leaders of Alpha House were in the newspapers for being down at night court at 2 in the morning, singing hymns and holding hands with drug addicts. Don’s current places of employment were not happy with this. The ultimatum came: stop rocking the boat, or you’ll be looking for a job.

One evening during this time, my parents, Bud and Bernie Arnold went to a small dinner party at the Masons on Shys Hill Rd. The guest list included the Fintos and the Jaynes. The dinner conversation centered around the topic of hungering for more in Jesus. This was a group of people who were discontent. They knew there had to be more to following Jesus. They were hungry for the Holy Spirit. They talked of their desire to start their own church where they could pursue the Spirit and not get in trouble for it. They wanted a place to step outside the box and grow. At the time, they were actively looking for a storefront as a possible meeting place.

The next morning, my mother woke early and called her dad, my grandfather Wyckoff. She told him of the conversation at the dinner party the night before. She told him these were people who were hungering for more and needed a place to worship. She encouraged Papaw to call Bob Mason. She said, “Daddy, it sounds like you need each other.” Now my grandfather was known as being the kind of person who was famous in our family for proceeding cautiously, asking a dozen questions before making a decision. We referred to it as “Papaw is digging in his heels.” This was one time Papaw didn’t do that. He called Bob Mason. Then Papaw and Bob Kendrick, another elder at Belmont at the time and who also happens to be Phil’s Dad, made a plan. They found out that Don was preaching for a gospel meeting in Ky at the time. They drove up to this church and attended the meeting. They came back inspired and excited.

Then my grandfather called Don and said, “We’ve got the building and you’ve got the ministry. Let’s get together.” And so Belmont Avenue Church of Christ hired Don Finto to be its new pastor and on June 6, 1971 he preached his first sermon on this corner.

At the time, the struggling church didn’t have the resources to pay a full time minister so the members of the Shy’s Hill prayer group agreed to underwrite Don’s salary. They never had to. From that first Sunday in 1971, contributions were so generous, that Don’s salary was always covered.

God was truly at work. Revival was beginning. So many people came, they were in the aisles, on the stage, and sitting in the window sills.

Within the first 90 days, Belmont had a healing service on a Sunday night. At this first healing service, a woman with back trouble came down front and asked to be anointed with oil. This was new territory for this spiritually hungry group. Bob Kendrick left the auditorium and searched the building for oil. In a few moments he came back to Don and handed him the best thing he could find: a can of 3 in 1 oil. Don went ahead and prayed for the woman and used it. I’m sure there had to be some spiritual significance in the 3 in 1!

The prayer group that started at the Mason’s in 1968 met regularly for 27 years. In can truthfully be said that all of us today are reaping the benefits of the prayers of that faithful group.

Now Don, we all know that the Lord deserves all the credit and all the glory for everything that has happened in your life and on this corner. But for these next few minutes, please give us permission to tell YOU how thankful we are and how much we appreciate you. We need to do it because it does us good to express our gratitude.

When I was interviewing Al Jaynes this week so I could get all my facts straight on this history he said, “We don’t pay attention to legends until they are gone. We’ve got a legend among us. It’s a Bear Bryant kind of deal.”

We don’t want to make the mistake of waiting till it’s too late to say it.

Thank you, Don, for being a risk taker. That includes you, Martha. Husbands don’t take risks without the wife taking them too. Thank you for stepping outside the box. Thank you for showing us what it means to follow hard after God. Thank you for fanning the flame in your heart and in ours. Thank you for showing us how to finish well.

Thank you for stepping in these last 2 years when we’ve been in a time of transition. Thank your for having a tender shepherd’s heart for the flock of God. As His sheep, we have grown and flourished under your care.

God gets all the glory for everything here and we thank you with all of our hearts for the vessel you have been for the outpouring of His grace in our lives.

(c) 2008 - Nan Gurley