Even as
I write it, it seems impossible . . . thirty-five years ago, on Halloween,
Donna and I moved from Mount Eden, Kentucky, to Eminence. On November 1, 1979, I officially became the
pastor of Eminence Baptist Church.
Conversation
with the church had begun in the summer of 1979. In the prior months, I had talked with and
had contact with several pulpit committees.
None had been a good experience.
Issues of heresy within the Southern Baptist Convention were once again
being raised. Pulpit committees had key
questions they used to sort out the “liberals.”
Smart “liberals” were using double-speak—say what the committee wants to
hear while remaining true to your own beliefs.
I had played the game, thus skirting issues about biblical inerrancy,
salvation, Communion, and women in ministry.
Double-speak was not my way. So I
quit, deciding that a church would either take me for who I was or I would find
another way to minister and live. It was
the best decision I ever made.
When
the pulpit committee from Eminence Baptist Church contacted me, I was
honest. That committee was chaired by
Bob Moore. He was joined by four other
men: Ben Coomes, Andrew Johnson, Edward Mitchell, and Doug Payton. As conversations continued, it became obvious
to the committee that their view of Communion and women in ministry differed
significantly from mine. They also suspected that they were a bit more
conservative regarding biblical inerrancy than I was. In our last meeting, Bob Moore raised those
issues noting our differences. Having
done so, he said, “We think we want to recommend you to our church; but given
our differences on these issues, we want to know how you will handle that
should you become our pastor.” I told
them that whenever it was appropriate to speak to those issues, I would be
honest about what I believed to be the teaching of Scripture and the leading of
God; but that any decision about change would be the church’s decision.
This
long journey of a people and their pastor began with honesty. The journey has not always been smooth; and,
in the early years, both the people and the pastor occasionally had doubts
about their future. Today, the doubts
are long gone. We still find ourselves
on opposite sides of some issues. Actually,
we now have a congregation composed of members who hold a wide variety of
beliefs and interpretations. The result
is that we often disagree among ourselves.
What binds us together is our openness to each other, a commitment that
each member has a right to be heard, and our common commitment to Jesus.
I never
expected the journey to last this long.
It has and it continues. Today, I
am not so much celebrating thirty-five years as I am celebrating the beginning
of my thirty-sixth year as this congregation’s pastor.
I have
been and am blessed to be pastor to the people of Eminence Baptist Church and
our community. Donna and I can’t imagine
being anywhere else.
How
much longer will the journey last? The
Lord knows . . . and that is enough.
