The Rev. Norman L. Gardner, Lewiston, is borrowing a trick from the entertainment world these days to jam his small church to capacity each Sunday.
Mr. Gardner, pastor of the Assembly of God church, 27th and Main streets, especially catches the interest of children as he perches a ventriloquist’s dummy on his speaking stand during his sermons.
The dummy, arrayed in bright red and known to the congregation as Elmer, is a whizz at telling the story of David and Goliath in a squeaky falsetto voice. More than one child, enthralled by Elmer, has interrupted the telling to climb a bench in front of the pulpit to investigate the dummy at close range.
“I use Elmer mainly in Sunday school classes,” Mr. Gardner said. “The kids love him. A lot of them think he’s alive. He’s created as much interest as I’ve seen in Sunday school for a long time.”
Mr. Gardner launched a small-scale publicity campaign before introducing Elmer to the congregation. He placed a series of advertisements in the Tribune with the phrase “Elmer’s Coming.” Later, at Sunday school services he read a telegram and a special delivery letter both supposedly from Elmer.
Another device Mr. Gardner borrowed from the entertainment business is an electric base fiddle he plays during services. The instrument looks somewhat like an electric guitar, except that it lacks a bridge. It booms out tones that are surprisingly bass for the size of the instrument.
Mrs. Gardner plays the organ and accordion to help carry out the church’s emphasis on the singing of hymns.
Mr. and Mrs. Gardner and their three children, Duane, Darrel and Dean, came here Aug. 12 after completing an evangelistic tour of 47 states and parts of Canada.
He was formerly president of the Assemblies of God Youth of Washington and northern Idaho. He was pastor of the Assembly of God church at Ridgefield, Wash., for a number of years after being graduated from the Northwest Bible college at Seattle.
This story was published in the Nov. 19, 1951, edition of the Lewiston Tribune.
