January 15, 2001
Churches of refuge help fired ministers
___By George Henson
___Staff Writer
___ABILENE--Louis Johnson knows how it feels to be a pastor forced to leave his church with nowhere to go. That is just one of the reasons why North Park Baptist Church in Abilene, where he is now pastor, is a church of refuge.
___The church of refuge program of the minister/church relations office of the Baptist General Convention of Texas seeks to help pastors who face forced terminations by giving them somewhere to turn, much like the cities of refuge noted in the book of Exodus.
___The program asks churches that own houses to make those available for the families of pastors who have been forcibly terminated. The host church is asked to provide rent-free housing for up to a year, utilities as well if possible. The church is also asked to provide a volunteer avenue of ministry, aid in securing secular employment and to sustain a nurturing environment for the wounded minister's family.
___"The thing that is of real value, in addition to having a place to live, is that people who work in the secular world have their church family to turn to," said Sonny Spurger, associate coordinator of the minister/church relations office. "Pastors who are part of a forced termination don't have that church family to turn to."
___Johnson knows how that feels.
___"About 15 years ago, I went through a forced termination," he recalled. "We literally had no place to go. We had to move and uproot. Neither I nor my wife were employed. It was a very stressful time, both financially and emotionally."
___That experience was just one reason why he wanted his church to take part in the BGCT program, he said. The church already had a home to use, one that previously housed the youth minister and his family. When the youth minister moved to a new position, a layperson had taken charge of the ministry. The house was sitting empty.
___"I feel like, and our church feels like, the Lord gave us this house to use for ministry, and this seems to be the door of opportunity," Johnson said.
___His church also has compassion for this situation because the church has been a waystation for several ministers in the past who were forcibly terminated from other churches.
___"The house is important, but it is just as important to have the nurture, compassion and love a church like North Park can give them," Johnson added.
___Spurger emphasized the BGCT is not trying to detract from the housing available to furloughed missionaries.
___"In any given year, there is more missionary housing available than there are missionaries on furlough in Texas," he asserted.
___To learn more about the church of refuge ministry, contact Spurger at (214) 828-5169.
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