One Foot in Heaven 1941

In Stratford, Ontario, in 1904, William Spence, a medical student on the verge of becoming a doctor, receives “The Call” as he passes a Methodist church one Sunday. His bride-to-be, Hope Morris, accepts his decision to enter the ministry with wholehearted faith, despite the disappointment of her prominent and affluent parents.

Because Canada has no vacancies, he is posted as a circuit minister to a small town in rural Iowa, beginning a life of frequent moves, dingy parsonages, and a livelihood scraped from the poor boxes and the weddings he performs. Hope yearns for a decent parsonage and a sense of permanence for their children, but she uncomplainingly provides them a good life and a supportive home for Will.

Will understands his own nature and moves with a blend of anger and instruction, always leaving a moment of humility and renewal. He sincerely lives by and teaches the Methodist Discipline, yet adapts to his congregations’ needs, learning from them as well. He emphasizes that a pastor’s work is a balancing act between earthly duties and spiritual purpose.

When their third child is born, the couple cannot agree on a name. Hope wants to name the baby William Spence Jr., but Will presses for a middle name, insisting on the Canadian custom his family admires. The child is baptized as William Frazer Spence, and Hope quietly accepts the change.

Oldest son Hartzell, named for Will’s guiding bishop, struggles with the idea that a minister’s son should be an example to other boys. Will explains that a pastor’s family walks a tightrope, balancing with one foot on earth and one foot already in Heaven. After learning Hartzell has been sneaking into the movies, Will takes him to the theater to show that the film’s moral can have value, rather than condemning it outright. The following Sunday, he preaches a sermon suggesting that younger generations may have something to teach their elders.

In the 1920s, the family is sent to a Denver, Colorado church that is old, uncomfortable, and financially strained despite its well-heeled members. Will resolves to build them a decent parsonage and a new church, but power struggles with snobbish parishioners threaten the project. Lydia Sandow, a wealthy patron, stands in opposition after Will refuses to stop ministering to her chauffeur, a choice that costs them her support. Preston Thurston, another influential patron, and his circle also resist Will’s efforts to reorganize the church’s leadership, including a new children’s choir led by the Spence family’s son Hartzell and members of the community associated with the Thurstons.

Hartzell is expelled from school after a gossip campaign falsely accusing him of causing a young girl to become pregnant, which forces that girl’s family to relocate to San Francisco. Will, discouraged, considers a job offer in California that promises the dream church and parsonage he and Hope have long wanted, but he cannot abandon his principles or surrender to the local factions. He returns to Denver, confronts the Thurston circle, and threatens to expose their vendetta in his sermons unless they contribute meaningfully to the church’s future.

A turn comes when Mrs. Sandow, contrite, asks to return and offers a substantial gift: the stained-glass window, a new Skinner organ, and a carillon that can be installed as part of the plans for a recreation center the church hopes to build. With these donations, the project gains momentum, and the completed church and parsonage stand as a testament to renewed faith and community effort. A year later, Will is ready to move back to Iowa to help a small church in trouble, confident that he leaves behind a revitalized congregation, including those who had opposed him, now singing together on a weekday morning.

As the rebuilding nears completion, the community gathers to celebrate renewal and resilience, and Will—now anchored by the new carillon—plays a final chorus that echoes through the halls of the church: a symbol of continuity, reform, and the enduring call to serve.