While Harold Bell Wright was living in Hiram, Ohio, he was running a paint shop, where he frequently took orders for custom signs, along with other projects. A traveling evangelist came by one day, needing signs to advertise an upcoming revival. Wright did the work for free. Curious, he attended the services but also wanted to see how his signs looked on display.
During the meetings, the evangelist preached on Christian faith in a way that Wright hadn't heard. This led him to join the Disciples Church, which had a department at nearby Hiram College. Entering the school, it was quite similar to high school, it wasn't a true college at all. But, it was a new beginning, a chance to enhance his education and be around other pre-theological students.
Stressed by the entire experience after almost two years, Wright began to have doubts if he should get involved in the ministry at all. So, he returned to the work force, taking a year off from school.
Finding work at a rock quarry, it was short-lived, due to health issues. Wright developed a serious case of pneumonia; his doctor claimed it was one of the worst he had ever seen. The doctor suggested that he not pursue any further education.
And with that, Wright came here to the Missouri Ozarks to spend time with his uncle, father, and other family members. He was made welcome and immediately took up farm work as his health improved. He also returned to art interests and painting. His health improved further.
The family attended church services at a small one-room log schoolhouse in the White Oak community, and it was at a Thanksgiving event when the preacher didn't show up. Wright simply spoke to the congregation that day talking about the spirit of Thanksgiving, encouraging them the importance of giving thanks to God. It was then that Wright became the preacher of this little Ozarks backwoods church. He would conduct the services all winter. When spring arrived, Wright relocated to nearby Mount Vernon, continuing to preach and work on his art.
Wright's work in the ministry took him to the Pierce City Christian Church, and later the Christian Church of Pittsburgh, Kansas, where he was based for five years. It was here where he married and began a family. In 1904 Wright took a pastorate at the Forest Avenue Christian Church of Kansas City. He resigned from this position in 1905 to focus on writing what would be his second novel which would be released in 1907 – The Shepherd of the Hills.
Wright's final Missouri pastorate was in Lebanon. It was here where The Shepherd of the Hills was completed in early 1907 just as he decided to make the move to Redlands, California for health reasons. His doctor felt the Missouri winters were too much, suggesting Wright live in a sunny, warmer climate.
The success of Shepherd allowed Wright to focus on writing full-time, as his new publisher requested he complete a new novel every two years.
Wright made this statement in a 1930s interview that really sums it all up.
"I had said many times during those ten years with the church that if I ever came to feel that I could render better service in some other field of endeavor, I would leave the pulpit as unceremoniously as I had entered it. When I became convinced that, all things considered, writing was the work I could do best, I undertook that job in exactly the same spirit with which I had taken preaching."
The ministry of print would remain with Wright for the rest of his career.
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