John Arthur, pastor at Eureka First Baptist Church near Aiken, South Carolina, will pass the six-decade mark Jan. 1 — and he still preaches every Sunday.
His call to preach first came when he was 14 years old during a revival at First Baptist Church Graniteville in 1958. While the evangelist was preaching, he said, “I heard five words that changed my life forever. I heard the voice of God say to me in very deep, clear tones: I want you to preach.” He was ordained by the church in February 1963.
The call was an answer to his mom’s prayers, he later learned. If God would give her a son, she had promised she would dedicate him to the ministry. “It’s a call to preparation,” she instructed him. “You’ve got to go to college and seminary, and get all the education you can and preach the gospel.”
So that’s what he did.
After graduating from North Greenville Junior College in 1963, he earned a psychology and Bible degree at the University of South Carolina. He then commuted a 600-mile round-trip every week from Eureka to Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary in Wake Forest, North Carolina.
His first service as a pulpit supply preacher at Eureka First was in August 1963. He was officially called as their pastor on Jan. 1, 1964.
‘New beginning’
As a young pastor, some of his greatest challenges were due to his inexperience, exuberance and youthfulness, he said.
“When I began at Eureka, I was 19 years old, totally inexperienced, and had to learn things the hard way,” he added. “Most of the people there then probably knew more about the Bible than I did.”
But by 1994, Eureka First was growing rapidly and was featured in a Baptist Courier article. He had started a campaign there called “So Much More in ’94,” and the once-struggling church had experienced “a new beginning,” exploding in attendance and offerings and even relaunching Sunday school. “We just went gangbusters,” Arthur recalled.
Although attendance has waned a good bit since then, and today’s congregation is far fewer in numbers, “We have some sweet people. Everybody’s pulling together. Everybody’s working together and trying to make a difference,” he said.
Eureka is “a small, out of the way” ministry, he acknowledged, but some pretty distinguished names have visited there in former years. Rick Stanley, Elvis’s stepbrother, once served as associate pastor and music director there for five years, Arthur recollected. He also has fond memories of J.D. Sumner and the Stamps, Hovie Lister and the Statesmen, and other famous gospel quartets singing at Eureka.
Greatest blessings
But the greatest blessings, Arthur said, have been the people he’s been able to minister to along the way.
“I’ve seen people born at Eureka, grow up at Eureka, accept Christ, get married, and just go on with their lives,” he explained. “I’ve seen some who were born, lived and died under my ministry, and I did their funerals.
“That’s one of the advantages of a long pastorate. You get to see people grow through the entirety of their lives, not just a part of it,” he said. “And I think it’s great that you can just be friends with them and have them as part of your family all of your life.”
So, after 60 years in pastoral ministry, what advice does he offer young pastors?
“When you’re having a bad day, get a good night’s sleep. Don’t try to deal with it at that point. Get some rest. Get some food. Get with someone who loves you and maybe a fellow pastor whom you trust that you can talk with,” he suggested.
Three things to remember
“The bottom line is three things: Don’t give up. Keep on keeping on. It will get better,” he continued. “It might get worse at times, but it will get better.
“God didn’t call you to a picnic or a party. He called you to sometimes struggle,” he said. “But God will give you deliverance and grace, if you just hang in there.”
As for himself, he just turned 80, and he’s planning on sticking around a while longer.
“Somebody said, ‘Preacher, when are you going to retire?’ I said, ‘When God puts me in a little flip-top box, six feet under, I will consider retirement,’ ” Arthur said. “I enjoy what I’m doing.”
When he turned 75, Arthur said he asked God if he could keep on preaching somewhere until he was at least — if not more than — 100 years old.
“I never got a definite answer on that,” he chuckled. “But five years later, I’m still here!”
EDITOR’S NOTE — This story was written by Todd Deaton and originally published by Baptist Courier.
