From the time he was in high school, my husband Dick wanted
to be a pastor. However, the idea of all the schooling involved was a huge
deterrent and he enlisted in the Air Force instead, hoping to be trained as a
chaplain’s assistant. Somehow that never materialized and he became an Arabic
linguist instead.
However, the Lord kept tugging on his heart. Dick went to work full-time for the National Guard after his four years in the Air Force. We joined a local United Methodist Church and led the youth fellowship. Within a year the leadership in the church recognized God’s call on Dick’s life. He was encouraged to take a lay speaker’s course and was appointed to speak at a church every other week.
At the end of a year, Dick was asked to quit his job and begin the process for ordination. In the UMC, that meant college, seminary, and a three-year internship—all while serving as a student pastor to at least two churches and sometimes three.
Although the educational requirements were daunting, the real challenge was trying to pastor while not knowing Jesus as Savior! Our relationship with God was distant and based on our efforts to be good enough. But God was at work! During our first pastorate, He led us to a couple who helped us understand salvation by faith in Jesus alone. (read the full story here) It was the pivotal point in our lives as we truly understood the sacrifice Jesus made to forgive our sins. We spent the next 47 years in pastoral ministry within the United Methodist Church.
After Dick retired, doctrinal changes within the UMC led him to resign his ministerial credentials. We joined Greencastle Baptist Church and began serving as laity. However, once again, the church leadership recognized God wasn’t finished calling Dick Williams and asked him to consider ordination.
Dick meets with the ordination board this Saturday. Your prayers are greatly appreciated as we begin this next step on our journey.
We never know how and where God will use us as His followers. May we all stay open to His call!
Be encouraged!
