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Be Prepared: The Holy Spirit is at Work! by Jim Autrey |
My wife, Marsha, and I are the same age (61) and a year or so ago. she began making noise that she would like me to retire earlier than I had planned. I was going to stay in the active pastorate until 65 or 66, and then retire - but somehow, the thought of calling it "quits" as early as 62 filled me with dread and fear. Her reasoning was that her father retired from the railroad at the age of sixty, and her parents had a great time together. But he died when he was seventy from cancer, and she saw her mother be alone for nearly twenty years. Marsha is also aware of my workaholic tendencies and she did not want to be left alone. As I said, I was filled with dread because I am a very scheduled person and the thought of months and years of unscheduled and no-ministry time brought to mind visions of an early grave or insanity. Needless to say, I was dragging my feet.....big time!
We had also decided to retire in Council Grove, Kansas - that is where our three grandchildren live, and our daughter who resides there is probably more likely not to move than our other two children. One night, Marsha and I were sitting in our home in Hutchinson and Marsha said, "I don't want to downsize. We did it when we moved here, it's no fun, and I don't want to do it any more." I then said, "Wouldn't it be neat if there were a big old house in Council Grove in good condition, and priced really cheap because it has the reputation of being haunted? After all, we know the Holy Spirit is more powerful than any ghost or goblin." We chuckled and continued with what we were doing.
Two weeks later we were in Council Grove for our son-in-law's birthday party and I was sent to the grocery store to pick up some last minute supplies. On the way back, I decided to go home via a route I seldom, if ever, go. I got a block off Main Street and saw a big house on the corner with a “For Sale” sign in front. There was also another sign which read, "Kendall Funeral Chapel." Because the realtor was out of town, we couldn't get in to look it over, but we did walk around the perimeter and peeked in the windows as much as we could. That was on a Saturday. On Sunday night, our daughter called to tell us that she and her husband had just taken a tour of the building and were going to fax us a line drawing of the place. The house has 5200 square feet and an attached three car garage (1700 square feet) with a built-in wash bay. On Tuesday, we made the almost two-hour drive to Council Grove and looked over the property.
On the way home, I asked Marsha if she felt like the Lord wanted us to have the place, and she replied, "All I know is that ever since we saw it, I have been thinking how we could use it for sewing retreats, couples' conferences, and other retreats.” The facility could never be used again as a funeral home and the city was changing the zoning to residential from business. The next day, I called in an offer to the realtor and even though the place had been vacant for over one year, three offers had come in that day! Ours was the high offer, but the second one was pretty close and the third one was a long way off. The funeral corporation that owned the property wanted us all to resubmit our bids, so I raised my offer and the other folks raised theirs a little more, and we both submitted the same dollar offer. Now I had mentioned to the realtor we were planning on financing locally, and that proved to be to our advantage: even though the facility had three bathrooms, there was no tub or shower, and it would take a long time for FHA to approve a loan. So we got the bid and
now are the proud owners of a former funeral home!
What are we going to do with all that space? I recently read that 49.6% of churches in America have fewer than fifty in attendance on Sundays. That means there are a lot of pastors who can't afford to get away, even to Branson, for conferences or retreats. We are going to offer clergy couples’ conferences at a really reduced rate, one or two day pastors' seminars or times of encouragement, sewing retreats, and church choir directors' retreats (I used to be a high school music teacher for nine years and have a master’s degree in music education). We have a vision of being able to minister to the Church in a broader way than what we had been able to do while serving in the local pastorate. And we are certainly looking forward to seeing how God is going to use us and our former funeral home for His glory! I'll tell you what: after all the “God sightings” I witnessed in seeing this thing come together thus far, I am not dreading retirement at all, but really anticipating a new sector of ministry.
Jim Autrey is Pastor at First Baptist Church, Hutchinson, KS.