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Show Circuit Rider Travels 954 Miles Weekly To Reach Parish KANSAS CITY, MO. Traveling nearly a thousand miles every weekend week-end to preach to his congregation, the Rev. E. V. Johnson, 33-year-old former army chaplain, ranks as the modern version of the old-time circuit cir-cuit rider. A train, however, supplants sup-plants the horse as his mode of transportation. trans-portation. Every week from Tuesday through Friday, Mr. Johnson attends classes t Central Baptist Theological sem inary here. On Friday he hops a train for his pastorate at Locust Grove, Tex. Leaving Kansas City at 9 p. m. Friday, he has a 12-hour train trip before reaching Canadian, Tex., where his wife and two children, chil-dren, Sharon, 8, and Mary Vesta, 4, are waiting to take him the 16 miles to Locust Grove by car. On the return trip, Mr. Johnson leaves Locust Grove on Monday to catch a train back in time for opening of classes Tuesday morn tag. The round trip Is 954 miles. A railroad pass is a big lift for Mr. Johnson's weekly trip. Locust Grove is a small community commu-nity where church services are held in a schoolhouse, but the young minister min-ister is spearheading a movement to build a church. Before entering the army as a chaplain, Mi. Johnson was pastor of the Boswell, Okla., Baptist church. |