(IN HIS STEPS)- what happened at the beginning of the book (introduction)?

The major character is the Reverend Henry Maxwell, who is the spiritual leader of the town of Raymond. His wife Mary, a person who went to the local kindergarten and was one of the first people who she saw in town believed to be a tramp by the name of Jack Manning who is the person who makes Henry and his family and the town think about how they live physically, mentally and spiritually. Rachel Winslow, Dr. Phillip West, Miss Virginia Page, Edward Norman, the publisher of the town newspaper all of which shares their various ideas of how to use their various talents that could tear the town apart or help the town. They all ask the question 'What would Jesus do?'