.....I believe, that I had to pick one thing that I could say about Brother Underwood, it would be, “He taught me about God’s Grace.” Until the fall of 1976, when I listened as Brother Underwood expounded on the book of Romans, I was under the belief that I “had to carry the entire load.” At the Charleston Church, I had carried a load that was too much for my scant experience with just the aid of youthful exuberance. As you might expect, this situation led straight down the road to a disastrous fall. And, the fall was great indeed with at least three years of tribulation during which I was out of the reach of the church in which God had chosen me to serve. Finally, God narrowed my options and I found myself back in the IPHC Church and in the Class on “Romans and Galations” on the way to becoming a licenced IPHC Minister. But, without Brother Underwood leading me to a beginning of an understanding of the “Grace of God,” it would have all been for naught. So, as you can see, this little page is more about me than Brother Underwood.
.....I first met Brother Underwood around 1963-1964 when he came to the Caldwell Church to the quarterly meetings. He always had his stack of books and drove his Buick. It was during the meetings that I fell under his “spell” and realized that, here, was a special person indeed. I learned that he would not hesitate to “set someone straight.” More than one deacon or “mama or daddy rabbit” had their sails deflated by his no-nonsense directness. As I a deacon in the Charleston Church not long before by voluntary departure brought on by exhaustion, I experienced being “sat down” by Brother Underwood when I stood to voice my objections to some things that were being unwisely undertaken by the congregation. Brother Underwood related to me very clearly that it was not “my decision” and that I was a servant of the congregation. Although I knew that I was correct in my objections, which caused me much frustration, I held no ill will toward Brother Underwood. I know that, if I had understood grace then, I would have, with the help of God, been able to weather the storm.
.....The times, that I was able to “set” under the teaching of Brother Underwood, were some of the best times of my life. I would listen with rapt attention. When he gave his fair well address before leaving the Virginia Conference to take up his post at General Conference, I cried. I would like to weep now, but I know that he has been promoted to the “General Board” in Heaven.
.....It would not be an overstatement to say, for a human being, that, “Brother B.E. Underwood had done more than any other man or woman to bring the International Pentecostal Holiness Church to the forefront in the battle against the “strongholds” of Satan by helping God’s Church to claim the “Gifts of the Spirit” and to use them for the Glory of God.”
.....All that I can say in closing this feeble attempt is, Thank you Lord for your gift to us of Brother Bernard E. Underwood. We praise you Lord for that and are humbly grateful for this gift of Grace.