Former Texas Baptist pastor and new bride commit lives, love to reaching New England_41904

Posted: 4/16/04

Former Texas Baptist pastor and new bride
commit lives, love to reaching New England

By Marv Knox

Editor

CHELSEA, Vt.–H.B. Graves popped two questions when he proposed marriage to Jo Maddox.

Of course, he asked if she would marry him. He also asked if she'd leave Texas and help him start a church in New England.

That's why the newlyweds–she in her 60s and he in his early 70s–honeymooned in Vermont. They went looking for a place to invest their lives.

Their journey started when Graves, a retired pastor widowed for the second time, picked up the Baptist Standard and learned about a new missions venture.

“I read about Impact Northeast in the Standard, and I was touched,” he recalled.

Impact Northeast is a ministry partnership that links six state Baptist conventions in the South–including the Baptist General Convention of Texas–with the five Baptist conventions that cover the Northeast.

Eager to learn more, Graves traveled from his home in Knox City to the 2000 BGCT annual session in Corpus Christi, where he attended a breakfast for people interested in partnership missions.

“Two representatives from New England talked about their work,” he said. “Right there, I committed myself.”

That decision impacted another set of choices they were about to make.

“I talked to Jo about it, and I asked her, 'When we get married, will you come to New England?'” he reported.

She's a widow of a church planter, and missions runs in her blood too. So, she said yes to marriage and yes to missions.

They decided New England sounded like the perfect place to honeymoon in September 2001. Why not get used to marriage while seeking a place of service?

On that trip, they met Terry Dorsett, director of missions for Green Mountain Baptist Association, which encompasses Vermont.

“The minute I walked in and introduced myself, it clicked,” Graves said of their relationship.

The Graveses returned to East Randolph, Vt., in 2002, and he served as interim pastor there for six months. But one tour of duty was not enough, not for a couple who have given their lives to churches.

Graves, 74, has been a pastor since he was 17, and mostly served Texas Baptist churches. He retired from Gilliland Baptist Church in Knox City. He lost two wives to cancer, 20 years apart.

Mrs. Graves served alongside her first husband, Jack Maddox, who was pastor of churches in Indiana, Oregon, Texas and Utah. His last pastorate was Gillespie Baptist church, west of Munday. The Graveses have known each other more than 35 years.

After six months in East Randolph, they felt God leading them back to Vermont. They returned to Chelsea, a shire town or county seat, with a population of about 3,000 people and only one other church, in April 2003.

They had a hard time finding a meeting place but last November signed a lease on a former plumber's shop that had been filled with junk and abandoned for 30 years. “It had sawdust knee-deep,” she reported.

They've worked hard to clean up the building, and other Vermont churches have donated furniture. Now, First Branch Baptist Fellowship's home looks more presentable and inviting week by week.

But the Graveses acknowledge finding and outfitting a building have been the easy parts of starting this ministry.

“This is a hard place; response is minimal,” Graves noted. “In this area, you can hardly visit (with people about the gospel). They'll turn you off.”

According to Graves' study, 97 percent of the population of the Northeast–from the District of Columbia to the Canadian border–is unchurched.

“Nine of every 10 people you meet are lost or unchurched. There are a lot of churches here, but the mindset is 'just be good.' Universalism (the belief that all people eventually will go to heaven) is set up here.,” he said.

“So, the work is slow. What you have to do is get to know these people. If they know you and trust you, the doors will open.”

The Graveses have been “cultivating” their mission field, practicing what they call “relational fellowship evangelism.” They have written the names of about 30 people on a list of candidates for Christianity, and they've worked hard to get to know them, to earn the right to explain why faith in Jesus Christ is eternally important.

“Some are ripe for the gospel,” Graves said. “I've had one baptism. That's like 100 in Texas.”

The Graveses plan to stay in Vermont until September. But that won't end their work. Back home in Texas, they'll be liaisons for Dorsett, helping to recruit others to spread the gospel in New England.

“We'll be looking for retirees,” Graves said. “That's the biggest need–people to get in these churches and be encouragers.”