A Few of My Mentors

When I think of mentors, I actually think of some who were not officially in that relationship, but of some who had great influences on my life.

The first that comes to mind was my pastor from the thime I was about five years old until I was about 19. His name was Vernell Clark. He was a bivocational minister. One of the things I remember most about him was his sense of humor. Just the stability of having the same pastor over those 14 or 15 years was a great influence on my life. He, along with my wife's pastor, officiated at our wedding. Because of his modeling, I could see myself being in ministry.

The second is Rev. Edward G. Stewart. He was a pastor of a congregation that had an attendance of somewhere around a hundred on Sunday mornings. He was close to sixty years old when he accepted the call to preach. The church I met him at was his first pastorate. He had a vision for a Christian school. A few years before I showed up, he had a representative make a presentation to the church, but there was no interest at that time. Later, though, he had the representative come again, and this time the church was ready. I came to the church when I was twenty-six years old. I became the principal of the Christian school and was the supervisor for the (at that time, very innovative) individualized learning program. A year later, I became the associate pastor. Bro. Stewart appeared to be stern to those who did not know him well. I spent a lot of time with him and saw his wonderful sense of humor. I learned from him to be careful about being too far ahead of your congregation. When the Lord gives you a vision, let Him have time to reveal it to others. Educate, inspire, be patient but don't give up. I also learned the value of hard work. He also was a great servant of the Lord. We spent a lot of time visiting and presenting the Gospel to others. I learned the value of a great relationship between the associate pastor and pastor. I think he had the feeling that anything he wanted (as long as it was not immoral--this was not cultic) I would be willing to help bring about. Because he had that security, he, in turn gave me great liberty in making decisions about running the school.

A third was Dr. Bob Griffin. Technically, he was my boss, but we approached our ministry as co-workers. We just had a good time together. Jake, in our group, could probably understand that because Bob is Josh Griffin's dad. We worked together in shaping and developing a Bible-college ministry.

May the Lord bless you with good mentors in your spiritual journey.