My calling to pastoral ministry began on Easter Sunday, 1959. I sat at the end of the family row, all dressed up in a sport jacket, black pants, white shirt, and a red tie. Ooh, don’t want to forget I had a short-brimmed dress hat. At nine years of age, I was in my finest for Easter. This is what we did. My parents were the marrying and burying sort of Christians. We attended when the Christmas program was in the works and at Easter. Once in a while, we made it to church in between those dates.
Unwanted by my mother, I always lived on the outside edge of my family. On this morning, I was accused of everything from robbing Fort Knox to blowing up the world. And this became my time. Jesus sat beside me and quoted part of Jeremiah, chapter one, verse five.
“Before you were born, I called you. One day you will stand in the pulpit and preach.”
Confused, the words came in the right ear, and my brother sat beside the wrong ear. But I thought my brother said something so when I whispered, ‘What did you say?” He made a fist with his middle finger sticking out and punched me in the shoulder. His reply: “Shut up, stupid, you are in Church.”
As I wrestled over this intervention, I did not know what to do with what I heard. With no one I could talk to about this, I buried this experience. I did not know the initial words I heard came from Jeremiah one, and without context, I buried this experience until the same calendar day in 1973.
I was given a Key-73 Bible by a neighboring couple and invited to their Bible Study. Chit-chat turned to the high schools attended, and I discovered this fellow’s cousin not only attended the same high school, but she sat as one of my table-mates in art class for three years. Since she was expected to attend the Bible Study, I accepted the invitation and attended.
My eyes popped wide open. I met up with people who talked about Jesus like he sat in the chair beside them and held their hand throughout the day. The Church I attended on those rare occasions put Jesus on a pedestal as someone too holy to approach. I became intrigued and realized I knew about Jesus, but they knew him. I went home with my insides knotted and asked Jesus to take over my life. Later that evening, Jesus stood beside me and repeated the exact same words I heard 13 years earlier.
I wrestled with this for a week before I told Jesus I would answer his call and become a pastor. It took another four months to get everything in my life rearranged so I could return to college and finish my final two years. This time, I enrolled as a Bible Major, and a year later, on March 1, 1975, I began pastoral ministry at a small country church.
After dipping my toes into pastoral ministry, I attended seminary. For the larger part of my ministry, I worked as a change management pastor. I helped churches turn around and take a new direction, which enabled them to grow. Continuing in ministry, I worked a variety of part-time and full-time jobs. Along the way, I earned an MAEd and Ed.D degrees. Advanced studies has helped me know the direction I chose as a young adult was the right choice, and my approach is founded and supported through research and the Bible.
I pastor an online congregation focused on worshipping the Lord and examining His Word through in-depth teaching.
