Lee Douglas

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

From Airline-Rated Pilot to Pastor to Poet; Sales Executive to Computer System Designer; School Teacher to Sales Trainer; Construction to Consultant; Inventor to Innovator - Lee’s varied background has given him experiences with people from many walks and ways of life.

As an inventor with five patents on products he caused to be manufactured, distributed and marketed; and as presenter of the products in stores and on television shows across the country (inclucing QVC and HSN shopping networks) as "Dr. Douglas,” he sold over 1.5 million products in the US and England.

Lee has written/produced/directed and served as on-camera personality (assuming a different character in each episode) in 15 training videos for the Panasonic and Tandy Corporations. Each one incorporated his unique blend of wisdom and humor.

He has produced and hosted a TV show, "Morning Poetry Time" on Channel 33 KDAF (WB), a Dallas station. His show featured his own poetry and also showcased student poets from high schools in the Dallas Metroplex.

Under Lee's direction, his company, aLeDoProduction completed its first feature film, "Roy n' the Rev." Based in part on experiences in his own life, the movie revolves around a small church (but it’s not a religious film) and centers on a boy's youth baseball team (but it’s not a sports film). "Roy and the Rev" premiered in 2004 at the Angelica Theater in Dallas, Texas. A romantic comedy, it’s a story/character/dialogue-driven film without sex, violence or profanity, so it’s appropriate for family entertainment.

The story chronicles changes that often occur in people's lives when they find there is someone else who shares their experiences and still believes in them. As in all his work, the film contains much humor and poignancy. In true Indie fashion, the film was shot on location, and the cast and crew all came from small towns in East Texas. (See - www.RoyandtheRev.com)

● His career in life insurance sales gained Lee useful skills in the art of leading people to see beyond their current circumstances to bring their future into focus.

● His career in computer system design taught Lee to give attention to the minutest detail, to make sure all the elements fit together and function correctly.

● His position as director of operations of the data processing department for a large national company contributed to his organizational skills.

● Dealing with people in a variety of situations cultivated his talent for leading them to recognize and perform to their full potential.

Successfully promoting his products, ideas and dreams gave Lee the opportunity to become an accomplished storyteller. Even at age 82, most people find it hard to keep up with him throughout his daily activities.

Lee’s fifty years in business provided four opportunities for him to dedicate himself to working with small churches during their lean times when he gladly served as their pastor.

Getting to know Lee Douglas is ab experience quite like peeling an onion. Just when you think you know all there is about him, there is another layer.

The following is a short version of his pastoral adventures.

Frank Lelin

 

My Pastoral Days

By Lee Douglas

(as told to Frank Lelin)

As a young boy growing up in a small town in East Texas, there was not much in the way of social activity to be had outside of the functions and activities of our church. The pastor of my church was a real hell-fire-and-damnation native of Georgia, by the name of Bob Taylor. I was much impressed by him, and during one his sermons I made a commitment to become a preacher.

When the opportunity presented itself for me to preach my first sermon, I was anxious to prove I was worthy of the trust he placed in me to preach when he was going to absent.

However, our annual trip to the State Fair of Texas was to be on the Saturday before my preaching debut. It was the day all the kids from our school were scheduled to travel the 85 miles to Dallas in a flat-bed trailer with 3’ sideboards and filled with hay to cushion the bumps on the rough surface of US Highway 80.

We left early that morning, and after a long day at the fair, we got back around eight o'clock in the evening. After all the excitement of the fair, I did not get much sleep Saturday night.

I don't remember what I was going to preach on or where I got the information I was going to present, but the result of the sermon was that about 90% of the audience came forward at the invitation. Admittedly, it was a rather different invitation.

About five minutes after I began my message, I fainted.

Now the lectern was a rather heavy piece of furniture, but I managed to push it forward, spin it around and fall face down on the floor with it coming down across my back. Don’t ask me how, but it actually happened that way.

I was quickly surrounded by a large number of the men and women, lifting the pulpit off me, loosening my tie, undoing my belt and calling my name. As all this was taking place, I began to revive, but quickly decided to keep my eyes closed, because my first thought was "If I wake up, they're gonna put me back up there…AND I AM THROUGH!"

I let them carry me to a car to take me to see Dr. Farrington at his home, and on the way, I realized that Dr. Farrington would know I was faking, so I decided to wake up. Although I was not seriously hurt, I came to the decision that the preaching line of work was too rough for me, and so I let the idea fade from my plans for my future.

After a stint in the Navy, I returned to enroll in North Texas State Teachers College and began to frequent the Baptist Student Union. That’s when my interest in preaching was revived. My first real religious involvement was as Song Leader at a Church in Lake Dallas, which was located about fifteen miles from the campus. I was not a musician or much of a singer, but it didn’t bother me to stand before a crowd and lead them in singing. I remember well being paid as “the singer,” $20.00 each Sunday.

Dr. Bill Coble was the chairman of the Bible Studies at the Student Union. I took one of his courses, and he and I played a lot of ping-pong between classes. I was probably the only one who could give him some competition, so he took a liking to me. He was also the pastor of the Gribble Springs church about 7 miles north of Denton.

That year he had to resign from the church due to the restrictions placed on him by the Convention who paid his salary. He recommended me and the church asked me to be their pastor. My best recollection is that there were about 17 members regularly attending the church.

It was my privilege to be there when the Lord decided to increase that number, and we began to use every classroom in the back building, as well as the auditorium for Sunday School classes. The number of members attending regularly had grown to about 95.

When the deacons began to pursue the idea of a badly needed increase in space, I was graduating from college and had accepted a teaching position in Monahans, Texas, which was too far to commute. Besides, I thought Gribble Springs needed someone else to take them to the next step in their growth.

So after three years, I resigned.

My next pastorate was the Crestview Church in Denton. Located between a Negro community and the city dump, there was not a wide area to draw from. Begun as a mission of another church, their first pastor had a stroke, the second pastor had a nervous breakdown, and the third died of a heart attack.

When they asked if I would consider becoming their pastor, I figured the worst was over - so I responded affirmatively, agreeing to work with them until they could get a real preacher.

They were undecided, and the first vote was 7-6 to issue the call. I came back the next Sunday, accepted the call, presented the morning message, and promptly resigned.

I told the congregation I had no problem in splitting a church by my presence, but didn’t care to come into one that was already split. They re-voted, and it was unanimous to invite me to serve as their pastor.

Again, it was my privilege to be there when the Lord decided to increase the congregation size. The attendance went from 13 to just over 130. An unfinished educational wing, incomplete for many years, was finally completed, and every classroom was in use. The rectangular auditorium was reconfigured with a choir loft, a song leader was hired, a baptistery was completed, and a covering was installed over the church bell.

During the last year of the three I pastored there, five men were chosen and ordained as deacons. Additionally, the $9,000.00 note for the materials to complete the building project was paid off.

I finally figured out they were not looking too hard for another preacher, so I resigned and enrolled in Southwestern Theological Cemetery… I mean Seminary!

The best friend of my life, Bill Yount, one of the deacons from Crestview, was working for a wholesale grocery company at the time. Bill called on the owner of a grocery store who was one of the deacons at the Pleasant Run Church in Colleyville, Texas and learned they were having trouble getting a preacher.

They had an interesting history. Every two years for the previous eighteen years, the “old heads” that were on the board of deacons would decide they didn’t like the preacher and run him off. This was a fact I learned after I had been there for about a year.

Once more it was my privilege to be there when the Lord decided to add to the congregation, and the average attendance went from around 35 to over 140, with every available classroom in use, a class in the choir loft and one in the back of the auditorium. We raised the money and re-painted the whole building, installed a new roof with a tower to cover the bell that had been exposed to the weather since the building was built. The pulpit area was re-designed from a flat space to one with sloped walls, creating two additional rooms, and a raised choir loft was installed.

And right on schedule, after two years, the “old heads” decided it was time for the preacher to go. But, four new deacons had been ordained, and they took it upon themselves to meet with me and let me know they were tired of this and would take care of it.

I told them I would take no time in the pulpit to defend myself, so if there were to be any defense, they would have to do it themselves. And they did! (An amusing story too long to relate here, except to observe that when the deacons of any church take their responsibilities seriously and perform their duties, the atmosphere of the whole body improves immensely.)

Though they solved the situation well, and the spirit of the body healed, and the attendance continued to grow, I decided I needed to earn more money. With three growing children, there was a need for more income than the church could provide.

Another interesting fact is that there were 8 other churches within a radius of 6 miles, and though we were the only one that was not air-conditioned, we consistently drew more people than any of the others.

By now, another 3 years had passed, and I resigned to go back to work in the data processing industry.

From that time up until 1976 I was involved in the business world, holding many positions within various companies, in several states, with varying degrees of success. And all the while I was teaching classes in the churches we attended, in the cities where we lived, and I was doing public speaking to various organizations.

Arriving back in Texas from Oklahoma, we settled in Plano and attended the First Church there. Across town, the attendance at the Second Church had fallen to a low point. The Savings & Loan that held a note on the property was getting ready to foreclose. The first Sunday I was there, only eleven were in attendance, including my 3 children and me.

You knew this was coming…3 years later, we had raised the money and re-modeled the unused educational wing, and all of the 16 classrooms were being used. And yes, once again we installed a choir loft and hired a song leader. We raised the money and put on a new roof, remodeled the nursery and changed the name to Hillside Church. Also, we paid off the note to McKinney Savings & Loan.

When I left, 3 years from when I arrived, the Sunday morning attendance was upwards of 170, the evening services, (at which I rarely preached) attracted around 140, and the Wednesday evening services drew in around 80 people.

I know that God, for reasons entirely unknown to me, chose me to be in these places at these times and allowed me to be part of the good that was accomplished for His purposes. I am sure there were many other pastors He could have led to these places, to achieve these things, so why me? Though I have long tried to come up with an answer, it continues to evade me.

All my times have not been good, or easy. God has often let me feel alone, wandering and frightened, often finding it hard to believe He was even listening to my prayers.

But through all of my adult years on this earth, I have continued to trust that He has my best interests in His heart, and if changing one thing would change everything, I would not change a single thing.

But there is one thing I can honestly say I did contribute, of which is I am convinced, and that is, “Everyone should feel better when they leave the church than when they got there.” This was the guiding principle behind every message I have ever presented.

One thing common to every church I have been involved in is this - I have told them up front, “I’m not here on my way to something bigger and better so you may have chosen the last pastor you will ever select.” In every situation I was privileged to be a part, I can truthfully say the Lord blessed us all, and they were in better shape when I left than when I got there.

Of course, there might be those would say it was because I left. (For example, after I left Gribble the road got paved, and community water was installed.) And after I left, the Hillside congregation bought property in another area of Plano and build a larger facility.