Thursday, November 9, 2006

Lewis takes sad route to pastor job

by Kenneth Lassiter

A sad trip to the county for Kirk Lewis has resulted in a more permanent stay as the new pastor at Countryside Baptist Church along Wellman Road in rural Oskaloosa.

Lewis, 65, had spent the last 10 years as associate pastor at Beth Haven Independent Baptist Church in Oklahoma City, Okla. Prior to that he started and/or worked at churches in Harper, Kan., as well as Texas, Oklahoma and Idaho.

He resigned his post at Beth Haven in June with the urge to be a head pastor once more and unfortunate events would lead him to that job.

In September, Lewis’ brother-in-law, Terry Farmer of Oskaloosa, was killed in a one-car accident along K-4. Kirk and his wife, Janice, came to Oskaloosa for the funeral to comfort his sister and Terry’s wife, Barbara Farmer, and Kirk and Barb’s mother, Polly Powell. Another sister, Virginia Pemberton, and brother, Glen Powell, also live locally.

While he was in town, Kirk found Countryside Baptist at 10328 Wellman Road and paid a visit to Sunday services on a whim. The church’s last pastor had passed away a couple years ago and elders of the church had been handling pastoral duties for the small congregation that averages between 20 and 30 people per week. The pieces fell into place and, soon, Lewis had a new job.

“Usually when we’re up here we go to a church in Lawrence but we didn’t this time,” said Lewis, who is a native of Yates Center. “I had resigned June 4 because I wanted to pastor again. I was actively looking for a church and they needed a pastor. I really felt the Lord brought me here. I had visited others and they just didn’t fit. When I came out here, I just knew it was right. Our house sold in 48 hours.”

He and Janice made a more permanent trip north and have taken up residence in a trailer to the immediate north of the church. Needless to say, the differences between Oklahoma City and rural Jefferson County have been an adjustment.

“It’s not a bad commute,” Lewis joked of the residence next to the church.

He and Janice had four children, three surviving, along with 10 grandchildren and now five great-grandchildren.

“The pace is totally different here than we’ve been used to, but it’s nice in many ways. It’s beautiful country up here. We were both farm kids, so it’s nice to get back to rural life. Nobody gets in a hurry much around here. We got our car tags the other day, so we’re official Kansans now.”

Kirk has a somewhat unique perspective as a pastor as he wasn’t baptized until the age of 26 when he and Janice were already married. He was working in construction at the time and at one point ran his own business.

He began work as a pastor in 1977. Eventually he went through training for a degree in theology and a master’s degree in Biblical counseling at Beth Haven Bible Institute in Oklahoma City.

“I didn’t grow up in the church – my wife and I were both saved when we were adults,” Lewis said. “I think it will always be better if everyone grew up in a Christian home but that’s not always the case. It gives you a little different perspective coming into church like we did.”

His career path in ministry has taken him to both small churches starting out and bigger established churches and he appreciates the differences and similiarities between the two. The opportunity to come to a church of Countryside Baptist’s size is a new chapter in that career path.

“In a church this size, it’s a family,” Lewis said.

The church has Sunday school at 10 a.m. each Sunday with worship following at 11 a.m. The church also plays host to Sunday evening services at 6 p.m. and Wednesday night services at 7 p.m.

“Everybody knows each other. Whoever comes in becomes part of that family.”