We Need to Pray

The Riverside Bandshell of La Crosse

There are many things that I have learned from Dave Martin's life as I heard him recount story after story of God's faithfulness in all situations. At every church or in every ministry opportunity that Dave and Carol were given, they gave it their all. Here is just another slice of his life as we remember so fondly his words of encouragement, his tenacity, his vision, and his can-do spirit that was evident in all things he did over his 60 years in ministry.

Sunday nights at the park

“Our little church in La Crosse, Bethany Evangelical Free, had 176 very uncomfortable theater seats. On a Sunday morning we would average around 50 or 60 people the first year I was there. I wasn’t happy or content with that number.” Dave set out to develop some growth.

It was acceptable to experiment a bit on Sunday nights; Sunday morning was off limits: Dave set out to make their Sunday evening better attended through some innovative programming.

The early 70’s was also the beginning of a revival that swept the entire nation: The Jesus Movement. It hit La Crosse also. The Christian Ladies Club began to swell, and it spilled over into Dave’s Sunday night service. With Carol on the piano, and Dave leading music, there was life in the church, and the women of La Crosse loved what they found at Bethany and brought their entire family. People were getting saved every Sunday night, “In spite of me, people were coming to know the Lord. I couldn’t keep up with all the new conversions and the counseling. Everything was moving very fast.” Dave recalls

“After a while, I knew I wanted to try to get our Sunday evening service broadcast live on radio. I contacted the local station KTY: they were willing to try this new format for three or four Sunday evenings. This was another one of the keys of the Sunday night growth; after a short period on the radio, the station manager knew he had a hit program.”

It wasn’t long before the Sunday night crowd of 40 grew until all 176 seats were taken.. Dave declared, “We need to move outside for Sunday nights.” The church board couldn’t argue with Dave; their little church was busting at the seams each and every Sunday night, so they let Dave go ahead with his plans.

Along the Mississippi, there was a park with a band stand and permanent wooden benches. Dave knew this would be a great place to set up his Sunday evening extravaganza. Dave had already had experience with live TV performances, and he knew the results of broadcasting from back at church; the radio station manager agreed to come to the park with his equipment and broadcast the summer evening service.

“The first week we had a good crowd, but as we continued to broadcast, more and more people would show up. Some would not leave their cars, but would park along the Mississippi River, and listen to the evening service on their car radios.” Dave caught on, and would announce live through the radio, “All of you folks listening across the river on the Minnesota side, blink your lights if you can hear us." They heard and they blinked. Dave told the audience, “Sing for the folks across the river… the louder the people sang, the more the cars blinked!”

It was a chore to get set up. Every Sunday afternoon, Dave would take one of his girls over to the church. Dave’s van would be backed up to the lower level and the Sunday school spinet piano would be wheeled out and hoisted into the van. Dave had a system where he needed just one girl, usually Ruth or Bethany to drive the van into place. Dave would lift one end onto the van, while the daughter would put pressure from the back. Dave would then lift the other end up and roll the piano forward. The opposite would happen at the park.

Before long, one of the head men of the church could see that this event was beginning to cost the church a few dollars to put on, so he began to complain. He took his complaint all the way to Superintendent Smith who had recommended Dave to the Bethany Church. “We don’t know what to do with this Dave Martin whom you sent to us. He is bankrupting the church with his $35 expenditure to have his evening services broadcast.”

The superintendent replied, “Arnold, you let him do this, and if necessary, I will pay the $35 myself.” This seemed to quiet the frugal, shortsighted elder.

The evening services swelled. There were over 600 people coming from miles around to this new type of old style tent-type of meeting. The Enthusiastics were regular singers; the Martin girls sang, Carol played the piano, Dave preached and did chalk drawings. Sunday mornings picked up too.

Over the years, the church exploded to over 600 people. By 1976, a new church was built to hold the enlarged crowds.

By 1978, the Sunday evening church in the park was a mainstay in the community. For 7 years, there had not been a rain storm that would cancel the event, until the last month Dave was in La Crosse.

“It was pouring buckets late that Sunday afternoon and early evening. The service was to begin at 7, and it was still raining at 6:30. People were calling and asking, “Is it cancelled?” Dave was adamant, “No, we will have it. We need to pray.”

“At 6.45 the sky parted, light came down, and we unloaded the piano from the van. The evening service was on, and the crowd showed up.”

Dave left La Crosse that year, and the service in the park fizzled. People still remember those great nights and talk about the blinking of the car lights across the river. God is so Good.... to WE!