Marshall Keeble's ambiguously grace-full role as "defroster" of the great white "frigidaire," otherwise known as the Churches of Christ, is nowhere more ambiguous than in his relations with the powers that were in Nashville--A. M. Burton, David Lipscomb College, the Gospel Advocate, and especially, after 1939, with the GA's editor, Benton Cordell Goodpasture. Julian Choate recounts more than once, with obvious relish, how Keeble would present himself to Goodpasture annually, at Christmas, for the ritual gift of a suit. It is the indemnity of a feudal lord to his vassal; but implied in the continuing interplay between these two men is a recognition of the vassal's unique powers. They are in the service of one another, and as long as they both are alive it is not always possible to know who is serving whom.

In the 1940s Keeble was briefly designated the editor of a short-lived, small-format journal called the Christian Counselor, published by the Gospel Advocate Company. We may suppose that Goodpasture and the McQuiddys saw in this project an opportunity to extend the influence of the GA directly into the black churches--at the immediate expense of G. P. Bowser and the Christian Echo. Perhaps Keeble saw an opportunity to employ the considerable resources of the GA in the service of black churches--an account that only he could draw on; power that Bowser and his colleagues could not muster.

When the Christian Counselor ceased publication, one might have concluded that not even Keeble could sell what the GA was willing to offer to black churches. But neither Keeble nor the GA gave up. Instead they revived an occasional offering of the past, the "colored page," and continued to present it well past the point when the painful anachronism should have been evident even to those who were blind and deaf.

This announcement appeared under Keeble's byline at end of 1950. Craig Churchill has graciously provided "a faithful rendering of the text as it appears in the GA." i gratefully acknowledge his good work, for i had in my files only the citation. i do not believe that Keeble wrote or dictated this text as it stands, but it is probable that he did approve in some way the association of his name with it. The more likely author of this statement would be Goodpasture or his long-time associate, John Roy Vaughan. Keeble may have uttered some of these words, but they are surely responsible for the final redaction. They have had more than ample time to absorb the cadences and diction of the master.

The door of opportunity is now open to the colored brotherhood of the church of Christ by the Gospel Advocate. For a few years the Gospel Advocate Company published the Christian Counselor [794] for the colored brotherhood, and on account of not being able to get it out regularly, I asked Brother Goodpasture to give us a page in the Gospel Advocate, which is published each week, and he has gladly consented to give us a page each week. Now we can let the whole world know what the colored churches are doing to spread the pure gospel among the colored people of America and throughout the world.

I am sure that all of my brethren and sisters in Christ will rejoice to hear of this great favor granted us by the Gospel Advocate. I hope every preacher of the colored brotherhood will write short articles regularly and send in reports of the work so as to keep plenty of news for our page. Do not delay your reports, but send them in at once and mark them "For the Colored Page" and address them to the Gospel Advocate Company, Nashville, Tenn. Many white and colored friends are anxious to know about the missionary work among us and also about our schools. The Nashville Christian Institute is depending on our friends in a financial way, and on this page I mean to keep all of our friends aware of our needs and accomplishments.

When Brother Goodpasture called me and told me that they had decided to give us a page, my heart was made to rejoice. This will mean much toward the salvation of the colored people of America and the whole world, because this paper goes to almost every country in the world. Brethren, please keep good articles in the office so our page will be filled with power and inspiration. The Gospel Advocate will be sent to every Counselor subscriber for the whole month of December free, and after that we hope you will subscribe for the Gospel Advocate for one year. The subscription rate is $1.50 per year in clubs of five or more subscriptions; $1.50 to gospel preachers and widows; otherwise $2 per year in single subscriptions. Brethren, make your articles short and to the point so we can get all of your articles in on our page. I believe all of my brethren will appreciate this page in one of our greatest papers in the world, a paper that has encouraged and promoted missionary work among my race for over fifty years. Let us show Brother Goodpasture and the Gospel Advocate Company our appreciation for this great favor by working as never before to put the Gospel Advocate in every colored home possible.

When Keeble died in 1968, Goodpasture preached his funeral in the auditorium of the Church of Christ in Madison, Tennessee-- one of the few buildings of the Churches of Christ that could then begin to seat all who wished to attend. Keeble and Goodpasture had by then been associated for 40 years. Goodpasture had produced Biography and Sermons of Marshall Keeble from stenographic transcriptions of the 1931 meeting in Valdosta. Keeble, 17 years older than Goodpasture, had long since requested that the younger man preside at his memorial. Whether Keeble should have performed a similar service to Goodpasture, we may never know. Had Goodpasture died first, we should have learned something more about what they really thought. Certainly now the ambiguous relations between them demand careful, critical investigation.

May God have mercy.

dhaymes, his mark +