Meeting Dr. Mercer you could see a man of contrasts. He was tall, dignified, an imposing figure, and yet soft-spoken and gentle. He had university degrees yet was a man of great humility. He was leader of one of the biggest churches in the country, yet his roots were a tiny town in Saskatchewan. He was a leader of one particular church denomination but quoted from, admired and worked with other faiths freely. He was a Biblical scholar in the finest tradition yet besides knowing the Bible often quoted from poetry, fiction and newspapers. To meet him was to uncover layers and layers of complexity. He was friendly to strangers and admired by hundreds, but the ones who speak most highly of his memory are those who knew him best - those who knew not only the range of his success by also some of the depths of his personal sufferings and struggles.
To know him was to like him. To know him was to love him.
What made this man tick? And more important for history, what can we learn of this man as an example of a life of church ministry at its finest?
I was raised in Dr. Mercer's church. He arrived in 1962 when I was 12 and left in 1979 when I was married with 3 children. Typical of teenagers, I listened to him assuming all ministers gave this same message, and not always paying attention closely. His voice registered on my consciousness and became as familiar as breathing, a reassuring haven, but taken for granted, as if he would always be there.
When my boyfriend of 5 years and decided to get married in 1970 we consulted Dr. Mercer. I remember well watching Dr. Mercer closely. He knew that my fiance was not a church attender and as he spoke calmly and warmly to us and read us something about marriage, I was amazed. He treated my fiance with great welcome and respect for his intelligence and stage he was at of his religious understanding. There was no lecturing, only encouragement.
At the wedding I was so nervous and struck by the great significance of the marriage that when the Wedding March sounded I was overcome with tears - of happiness for sure but they did put quite a strain on my abilities to say my vows. Dr. Mercer immediately ubderstood all this flood of emotion inside me and so gently led us throuh the ceremony anyway in a calm and ressuring voice.
Five years later I remember meeting with him in the Chapel after church to discuss the baptism of our newborn son. I remember again being nervous and said I hoped the baby didn't cry during the service the next week. Dr. Mercer however looked and said not to worry at all. He reassured us that a baby's cry is a joy and his statement that he is own separate person. He then asked to hold this new baby saying he just liked to hold babies and said "I've had a few of these myself." and there he stood, a huge, strong man, fasinated to hold a tiny child and this image of him made a real impression on my husband and me, way before it was "in" for fathers to take an active role in parenting, that for a man to get along with a baby was a pleasure and in no way beneath him.
When our second child was baptized she was wearing an heirloom gown about 3 feet longer than she was. As my husband handed her, before the full congregation, to the minister, Dr. Mercer took her up and gently performed the ceremony, but when he handed her back, somehow my husband got a little lost in reseaching for what part of this massive package of cloth was in fact the baby, overgrabbed for her and latched onto the sleeve of Dr. Mercer's gown also. There was moment of hilarious confusion as he tried to extricate the baby and gown from Dr. Mercer's sleeve. And Dr. Mercer of course habled it with amousement but great tact.
When one of my daughters was six she was having serious bladder surgery in the Children's Hospital. One day the catheter got twisted and she was in agony and screaming out she was going to die. I stood beside her helpless and calling to the doctor who came and fixed things, but shortly after, Dr. Mercer walked into the room. I can't express the effect it had on me. I remember looking up and seeing him gasping "Dr. Mercer!" and the nurse beside me looked at me if I thought I had seen God. It was just that when he came in, with his calm and soothing voice I felt a rush of reassurance, I was home now and everthing was going to be OK after all. I have spoken with several other members of the congregation who said that he appeared also at key crisis times in their life and that his presence meant the world to them.
In 1989 our family went to Lethbridge for a weekend trip. We had long since relocated homes several times, living in Edmonton, Hull, Quebec and Ottawa and we had lost touch with Dr. Mercer except through Christmas card greetings. We had moved back to Calgary but were living in the suburbs and attending a church there, aware Dr. Mercer had retired but not realy aware of how he was. As is my habit on trips I dropped in on a Sunday service at a United Church in Lethbridge and happened upon Dr. Mercer preaching at Southminster. He was doing interm ministry there and as I sat in the back pews I noticed again the great height of the man, his poise and again that resonant and wonderful voice. After the service I went up to say hello and he acted so happy to see me. It was a memory I will tresure because, even though he may have had lots of reason to chide me or give wise or meaningful criticism his only words were ones of great loy and encouragement as I was raising my four little kids. It is a memory I carry with me - sort of like Jesus did for us - Giving love instead of condemnation, encouragement and pure joy.
When Dr. Mercer died it was not really believable. How could anyone that much an anchor to me be gone? He had been the person I was going to consult if life handed me any more crises, and certainly the one I wanted around for funerals or marriage or baptisms down the road. When I attended other churches I got a sinking feeling of not a greeting with the message sometimes, and more scarily, not really admiring the style of presentation so that the church seemed to be turning people off rather than welcoming them in. I missed him.
When my kids became teenagers, with the ups and downs that phase of life offers, how I longed to seek him out again for advise, not in a public way but just maybe to rehear some of those sermons I had only listened to with half an ear those many years ago. I searched for sermons on tape. I did not find the ones I wanted, but I found many others of great value. There again in my room at home was that magnificent voice. There again was that brilliant mind, speaking to my problems and the world's problems and applicable still. And I though, someone has to collect these sermons to share with the world.
Main (p) 17 March 2001