Gerald Palmer Had a Unique Way to Tell If He Was Coming or Going
A Story in a North American Missions Agency Series
Gerald Palmer Had a Unique Way to Tell If He Was Coming or Going
I really enjoyed my years on the staff of the Southern Baptist national missions agency in the early to mid 1980s. I worked in the division that related to Baptist associations with an emphasis on associations in large metropolitan areas.
Numerous people I worked with were a great delight. One was our vice president for Missions—Gerald Palmer.
One thing I really enjoyed about Palmer was that he was willing to tell funny things about himself. Real things that happened to him. (At least he told them as real.)
His doing so never diminished respect for him as a leader. It just humanized him and made him someone you enjoyed working with.
Note: People who did not understand internal processors may have been confused about him.
One story he recounted was about walking down a concourse in the Atlanta airport, rolling his suitcase behind him, and running into a Home Mission Board staff person.
They paused and engaged in a conversation for about ten minutes. I do not know if it was a serious conversation, a sports conversation, or a personal story. I know it could not have been all serious. Remember this was Palmer!
I suspect there was at least one joke and some laughter.
Palmer traveled often, and the concourses at the Atlanta airport took on a very familiar look. When the conversation was over, he could not remember if he was coming or going.
He claimed he opened his suitcase to see if his underwear was clean or dirty. They were dirty. So, he left the airport, went to his car, and drove home.
When he got there his wife was expecting him, so he knew he had done the right thing.
Unlike J.C. Bradley in the Associational Missions Division, Gerald Palmer knew where he had parked his car. J.C. multiple times could spend 30 minutes to an hour trying to find his car at the Atlanta airport when he returned from a trip.
I am sure we have all forgotten where our cars are parked at an airport. I was personally grateful when cellular phones had cameras. I took a picture of where my car was parked as I arrived at the airport.
And Another Palmer Story
During my first two years at the national missions agency our primary team working with metropolitan Baptist associations was Don Hammer, Jere Allen, and me.
We lived in the same neighborhood. Periodically our schedules would match, and we would carpool to work. When we did, we would laugh all the way to work and all the way home.
It was Hammer who kept us laughing.
One day when we carpooled, we were walking through the parking lot toward the office building. Laughing all the way.
We did not at first see Palmer behind us. When we noticed him, his head was shaking with disapproval. We greeted him.
He said, “Just think about it. The future of Baptist missions work in the cities of America depends on you three guys. We are in trouble!”
Then he laughed.
He was not serious, and we knew it. He respected who we were and what we did. He could be tough and demanding of excellence. But that was fine. We knew we had his support.