The Pastor's Replacement Bride
Copyright© 2023 by George H. McVey
Chapter 3
Chicago
Reverend Andrew Jackson looked at the packet of letters in his hand. If not for the fact that his friend, Joshua Bryce, had asked this of him, he would have tossed the whole thing into the fireplace. Asking eligible young ladies of his church to consider becoming mail-order brides went against his sense of decorum. Yet, he knew there were too few eligible young men here and not enough jobs a respectable lady could do. He knew this had become an acceptable way of finding a match and starting a family. He looked at the letter Joshua had sent him.
Andy,
I know this is a big request but, as I’m sure you know, there is a distinct lack of eligible Christian women out west. The same is true for the town of Sanctuary. My Ladies’ Aid Society has asked me to gain the support of some of my pastor friends back east, to help us obtain godly and acceptable wives for several of our eligible men.
Each letter of introduction, included with this request, are men of my church in good standing both in the community and in the church. I would ask that you give them to your wife, Linda, to talk with your own Ladies’ Aid Society.
Please have her encourage any young woman, who thinks she might like the challenge of life out west, to correspond with one of our gentlemen. We can’t offer them the society and shops of Chicago, but we can offer them a chance to find a husband who will love them and a community that will be enriched by them. There will be hard work and adventure, but community and fun as well.
I personally guarantee each young lady’s safety and reputation. They will be housed in a boarding house in town, all together, run by a widow and young lady of our community. The men they write to will pay their fare to Sanctuary and provide for their financial needs during the courting period. They will each be offered return fare as well, if a match isn’t made. All courting will be done with a suitable chaperone from the older women of our Ladies’ Aid Society, as well.
If you don’t feel comfortable about this, then please discard the letters and let me know, so that I can attempt to find somewhere else to try. The need is genuine, Brother, and one of those letters is even mine. It would be appreciated if you or your wife would find a young lady who could stand the unique calling that is a pastor’s wife. I haven’t sent my letter to any of the other two pastors. I’m asking either you or Linda to personally help me with this.
The deacons here insist that I must marry, and the only eligible young lady is without a servant’s heart.
Only wanting to marry me for the social standing she thinks it will bring. I want a helpmate, like you have in Linda.
Anyway, thank you for taking the time to read this request, and I’m praying you will see this as an honest endeavor to meet a need for my congregation.
In Christ,
Joshua Bryce
Andy sighed. He would show Joshua’s letter to Linda and see what she thought about the idea. One thing he knew was that, even if they didn’t allow the Ladies’ Aid Society to handle all these requests, he and Linda would try to prayerfully help Joshua. That man had already been through the fires of hell before he heeded the call to ministry.
One of the Texas Rangers’ youngest lawmen and most ruthless. He’d joined because a gang of outlaws had killed his entire family and left him for dead. Thankfully, the Lord got hold of him through the most unusual servant, Nugget Nate Ryder. The young Ranger had been wounded, and Nate and Penny Ryder found him and nursed him back to health. Along the way, they had shared God’s love with him and helped him see that revenge wasn’t what God had in store for him.
Andy had met him in Bible School in New York. The young man was intense but loved God like no one he’d ever met, except maybe the Ryders, who visited Bryce often.
If any man of God deserved a sweet and godly wife, it was Joshua Bryce. He and Linda would talk about the rest of the letters and if it should involve them, offering mail-order brides to Sanctuary. But for Joshua, they would talk about who would be the most suitable to ask to correspond with him.
*****
Philadelphia
The women of Freedom Community Church in Philadelphia were all a buzz. The pastor had just read them a letter from a pastor friend of his out west, in Montana, a town named Sanctuary. That pastor was writing them to introduce nine eligible young men from his church, who were looking to correspond with good Christian women, hoping to form a marital relationship.
The pastor then passed around the letters of introduction from the men. He suggested that any of the ladies who wished to respond, do so and send their correspondence in care of the Sanctuary Community Chapel. The pastor there would see that the men received any letter sent to them.
Eighteen-year-old Lyla, like several of the women, laughed at the idea at first. But after talking it over with her father and mother, they thought this would be an excellent opportunity for her. Not having enough social standing as the daughter of the local tailor, maybe she should read the letters. See if God had someone in the nine just for her.
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