When I handed off the reins to Pastor Mike to lead Jefferson Baptist Church, I went through several years of depression. I started Pastoring the church in 1976, 50 years ago, when the church had 20 people, and I was 28. My life was focused on building and leading the church to be healthy and growing. I have still been involved in ministry at the church in several ways, but it isn’t the same. It was the right thing to do for the church’s sake. I was at the age where the probability of dying was getting higher by the day. Churches like Jefferson Baptist that wait until the founding Pastor dies or is incapacitated before making a leadership change don’t usually do very well. The last thing I wanted was to hang on until the very end and have the church blow up after I was in heaven. The transition JBC has gone through these last years has gone well and has been the best thing for the church’s health and continued growth. But that didn’t change the way I felt. The normal loss of energy and motivation that comes with getting older was accelerated in me by no longer being the church’s leader and visionary. I felt lost, useless, tired, unmotivated, and sad.

I scolded myself constantly for what I perceived as pride, lack of trust, and a lack of dependence on God’s plan for my life. I began praying Psalm 71:9 every day: “Do not cast me off in the time of old age; Do not forsake me when my strength fails.” Then two years ago, God opened up a door for me to become the pastor of Jefferson Evangelical Church. It was a crazy thing to do, but it has been a great gift from God. I am still involved in ministry at JBC; my office is still there; I preach at Wednesday night service, serve in Men’s ministry, attend prayer meetings, teach my leadership class, and go to Sierra Leone once a year as part of our missions program. But my main passion and vision is now down the road, half a mile. I am 78 years old, with lots of aches and pains, but I am having fun and feel very fulfilled.