Remembering Rev. Dr. Charles L. Houston
October 21, 2024
Last night I found out my good friend and mentor Charles Houston passed away yesterday. Pastor Charles was the pastor at Statesboro First Methodist in 2006 when I was the interim youth director. I remained on staff as an intern and worked with Pastor Charles for another year.
Charles was the first pastor I saw up close as I considered what it meant to be a good pastor, leader, and preacher. It was by God’s providence I got to learn so much from him and his wife Elizabeth.
While I still have a ways to go to be refined it was even more so as a teenager working on the church staff. Charles was always graceful with my shenanigans and willing to look for opportunities to pay me back. There was one youth scavenger hunt he still owes me payback for.
I had talked briefly with Pastor Charles several weeks ago after I saw on facebook he and Mrs. Elizabeth had been in a car accident.
In a recent staff meeting at the church I pastor, we recently had prayed for Charles’ ministry as he was at Apalachee High School as the teachers returned after the school shooting there.
The past couple of days I reflected on some of the important moments I will remember about Pastor Charles.
He was there for me in one of my toughest moments
In late summer of 2006, I found out one of my parents was moving out and my family was going to look a lot different. Even though I was at college this was still very distressing.
I found this out on a Saturday afternoon. I don’t remember talking to anyone until I went to church the next morning.
The church had a prayer and communion service before we began the regular worship service. I went early and Pastor Charles was the first person I ran into. He could tell I was upset and asked what was wrong. He listened. We held hands and prayed. He served me communion. I don’t remember what he said. I do remember he was there and a means of God’s grace for me in a very hard moment.
Charles preached for me the day Luke was born
Even though I worked as a staff person for Charles for around 14 months I was around often in Methodist circles.
Early on in my pastoral ministry I was going to need someone to cover the Sunday my son was born. I was honored to have Pastor Charles fill my pulpit that morning.
The closing hymn this Sunday was Because He Lives. The bulletin prescribed the congregation to sing the first and the last verse. However, He made sure they sang the middle verse on the day Luke was born.
How sweet to hold a newborn baby,
And feel the pride and joy he gives;
But greater still the calm assurance:
This child can face uncertain days because He Lives!
It was a sweet touch to a special Sunday.
Charles Loved Serving Law Enforcement
As part of my time as a divinity student at Asbury Theological seminary we had to take a class called Mentored Ministry. We were to serve in an area outside of our church. Charles let me help serve at the International Conference of Police Chaplains conference he was helping lead. Charles lit up at this conference. He loved seeing pastors learn how to better serve law enforcement.
Charles really enjoyed serving law enforcement. He particularly enjoyed serving the Georgia State Patrol, Georgia Bureau of Investigation, and the Department of Natural Resources. He had a very strong, vibrant, and fruitful ministry called Caring Connection Chaplaincy.
Later on, while serving as chaplain for a local fire department, Charles was a resource I would lean on and call when I had questions handling tough situations. He helped me to get proper denominational credentialing so I could serve as a fire chaplain well.
Charles Loved People
Charles loved people. While his work with the police allowed him to serve law enforcement it also allowed him to come into contact with the people law enforcement served. Usually this meant some of the people were having the worst day of their lives.
One day at Statesboro First Methodist another youth staff member and I were called and told there was someone threatening they had a bomb with them inside the church. The other staff person and I were ready to go down stairs and combat this intruder. While we were creeping up behind the individual, Charles came around the corner and said hello to the person. Charles took them outside to talk with the person and the police. It was smooth, loving, caring, and Christ-like. He moved the person away from everyone and got them the help they needed with dignity.
I’m sad I will not see my friend again this side of heaven. I am grateful for the time we had together. I also realize these few snapshots are just a small part of the decades of years and thousands of people he came in contact with.
Thanks be to God for the life of the Rev. Dr. Charles L. Houston.
I have been very blessed to have four consecutive weeks off in a form of spiritual sabbatical renewal leave from my local church. This time has been a gift for my family and I. It has been a fruitful time of rest where I moved outside the normal demands of pastoral leadership in order to make space for God to bring renewal. During my time away I worshiped each Sunday in a different congregation. My family and I traveled extensively spending time with family and enjoying God’s creation.
Here are the top six lessons I learned on sabbatical.
#6 A Deeper Appreciation for the Long View of Preaching.
When I played high school football I was obsessed with the team we were playing that Friday night. I would think about them, study film, and even write the opponent’s school name at the top of my class notes so I could focus on them. Preaching can be of a similar intensity. The “term paper” is always coming each week. Even more than the pressure of a good grade is the responsibility to preach God’s word faithfully.
Sitting with the congregation for weeks in a row was a reminder that Christian worship is deeper than the sermon (although please do not interpret this as a diminishing view of the sermon). Sermons absolutely have a role to play. Yet, there is so much more going on during worship. There is community, there is worship through song, there is confession and pardon, there is rhythm of gathering and sending out.
My hope as I return to the pulpit is fresh, relevant, faithful preaching. I also hope to have a renewed confidence in how God is working in so much more than just the preaching.
#5 A Clearer Vision for My Calling
This season of pondering the future of Methodism and Christianity has given me plenty of time to consider my calling. There has been a renewed understanding of how I am called to cheer on people for what God is doing in their life. I also have a clearer understanding of my role as someone, like all Christians, called to share the Good News of Jesus Christ. Specifically, how the Triune God who created the world and everyone in it loves the world and everyone in it. This God cares deeply for everyone and provided a path to eternal life, here and now, through Jesus Christ’s sacrifice for our sin. It is a free gift. No matter how good, smart, pretty, successful, or friendly you are, you can not earn it. It is the greatest gift you can ever receive.
#4 An Extending Gratitude to the Local Church
While I have gotten clarity on my calling I have also grown in my gratitude for my local church. To all of our knowledge no one has ever been given a sabbatical leave like this before. It was new for me and for them. The Christ-followers at Glennville Methodist Church were very encouraging.
A few years ago I had a very traumatic church meeting where some trusted friends blindsided me and unloaded some frustrations on me again and again. That night I went home literally shaking. Even though it was over ten years ago, I still think it is going to happen again.
Nothing could be further from the truth in almost all other ministry contexts I have served in. Particularly here I have received a bounty of prayer and encouragement. I wish everyone had a chance to serve and live in Glennville.
I also realize having a sabbatical is a privilege most churches and professions in America do not enjoy. I am extremely grateful to have had this unique benefit.
#3 Being with God vs Doing for God
This is not a new theme for me. I discovered it a couple of years ago from Rev. Pete Scazzero. The time away showed me how I can turn almost everything into an act to please God or even worse a chore to be done.
I am not really sure I have come to a clear answer on how to combat this. There are a couple of ways I hope to experiment with this through some questioning.
The first question to ask myself is this: Am I trying to do too much for God?
Do not get me wrong, the Lord calls us to do great things that stretch us personally. However, for me, this question points to my inability to be happy for what Christ has for me today. This question is a reminder that if I have so much on my to-do list that there needs to be two or three of me to get my tasks done then I am probably trying to move at too fast of pace. I am probably not trusting God’s timing but trying to usurp God’s will by achieving in a way that is subtly trying to earn my own salvation.
The second question to ask is: Am I enjoying God?
This one is more straightforward. Am I enjoying God and God’s blessings in my life or am I obsessed with my own pleasure or comfort. Surely there will be days that are not enjoyable. Yet, even in those days we can enjoy God’s presence and comfort.
#2 There are Piles of Beauty and Heaps of Sadness in this World
One of the blessings of my time away was the privilege of travel we experienced. We hiked in the Smoky Mountains in Tennessee. We saw the beauty of waterfalls in the Pacific Northwest. We played in Beautiful public parks in the State of Washington. We felt the thrill of rushing to make a connecting flight in the Houston George Bush International Airport while the air conditioning was out in the airport on a hot June day. We experienced extreme generosity from my family who hosted us in Portland. For the first time, we saw the West Coast and put our feet in the cold Pacific water at Haystack Rock on Cannon Beach.
Along with beauty we also saw despair. While on a day date in Savannah, Brandy and I saw what appeared to be a homeless man going through the trash looking for watered down alcohol beverages that had been discarded. While on a date in downtown Portland, we walked beside a group of gentlemen sharing needles and heating something in tin foil (I do not think the answer is to stop going on dates with my wife). We showed our children the tent cities in Portland and pondered how they handle the colder winters than what we are used to in Georgia. We talked about how each of these people have someone who loves them and is worried about them.
I’ll confess I do not have an easy application to this lesson. This is more of acknowledgement of the sadness in our world displayed in poverty and addiction and call to prayer and action where possible.
#1 Do No Harm… to Myself.
John Wesley, the founder of Methodism, had rules for those striving to follow Christ. They were (1) Do no Harm, (2) Do all the Good You Can, (3) Attend to the Ordinances of the Church.
David Watson has an excellent article about how Wesley saw these rules as external actions. Wesley pointed out how if we only have these outward actions we are pharisees. Wesley taught how we needed inward holiness as well.
My take is this, what if we asked, “How can we do no harm to ourselves for the sake of Christ?”
Ministry is notoriously well known for having a high rate of burn out. Rev. Tish Harrison Warren talked about a recent survey in a piece published in the New York Times. She talked about some of the challenges pastor face:
“The top reported reasons for clergy burnout were the same ones that people in the population at large face: stress, loneliness and political division. But these stressors affect pastors in a unique way. Pastors bear not only their own pain but also the weight of an entire community’s grief, divisions and anxieties. They are charged with the task of continuing to love and care for even those within their church who disagree with them vehemently and vocally. These past years required them to make decisions they were not prepared for that affected the health and spiritual formation of their community, and any decisions they made would likely mean that someone in their church would feel hurt or marginalized.”
Author James Clear in his book Atomic Habits talks about each day being a vote for the type of person we want to be. Clear talks about how we need to have more yes votes for the person we want to be rather than no votes.
If clergy are to have a long, faithful, and fruitful ministry I think it starts with examining if we are doing harm to ourselves. This can be in addiction, neglect of health, being too career focused or some other struggle. I personally need to examine whether I am doing harm to myself in my daily habits, rhythms, or neglect of my health. Am I willing to vote for the person I feel like God is calling me to be? Am I willing to do no harm to myself for the sake of others and love of Christ?
More From David
About the Global Methodist Church
Nothing Last Forever
December 9, 2010
This week Urban Meyer the University of Florida head football coach resigned at the age of 46-years-old. It came unexpected but not necessarily surprising as he contemplated retiring after last season. He has talked about wanting to spend more time with his family and has some personal health concerns.
This is a great opportunity to talk about sustainability. Obviously you can reach a point where it is not possible to keep moving forward at the same speed you are going. Whether it’s in football, education, or ministry we have to keep in mind the race (see Hebrews 12:1) set out before us.
We have to decide what direction and speed is best to manage. We have to
makesure we don’t set the cruise control to high or we will be prone to accidents like forgetting to call a family member back or miss an opportunity to impact someone outside of your “work life”. We can’t go to slow because we only have 1 shot at this life and don’t want to waste it playing video games. We have to find our speed and set it.
Also this week Keith Fitzhugh an undrafted professional rookie football player who is not on a team and is working as a train conductor turned down a chance to play football again. The New York Jets, a team some think may make the Super Bowl, offered him a chance to be on the practice squad. Fitzhugh turned them down. When I first heard this I thought it was crazy. I figured he had probably seem that Denzel Washington movie about trains (Denzel does make everything look cool) and wanted to do that. It turns out Fitzhugh loves his job and said this according to the New York Post, “I wanted job security,” he said. “There was the chance to get a Super Bowl ring, but I just didn’t want to go up there and be a body. I’m thinking long term.”
Sounds to me like he was going for something more sustainable.
David Donnan 