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It is my privilege to serve the people of Centenary during this interim time before a new pastor is appointed. I am grateful to have this opportunity.
Fifty-five years ago this summer I was sent as a student supply preacher to six churches on the Danceyville Circuit near Brownsville, TN. (I learned in those two years that I did not want to be a student pastor while in divinity school.) That was in the Memphis Annual Conference. In that conference I had eight cousins and one uncle who were pastors. My grandfather Gilbert had two brothers and one cousin who were members of the Tennessee Conference. I suppose being a Methodist preacher was almost like going into the family business.
I am a native of Jackson, Tennessee. I have one brother and one sister who are twins and eight years my junior. I graduated from Lambuth College, also in Jackson. In the fall of 1959 I entered Duke Divinity School from which I received a Bachelor of Divinity and Master of Theology degree. I also completed two years of Clinical Pastoral Education, one year at NC Memorial Hospital and the other at Duke Hospital. In June 1965 I transferred my membership from the Memphis Conference to the Western North Carolina Conference. I have served churches in Wallburg, Charlotte, Winston-Salem, Morganton, Elkin, Asheville, and Greensboro. I also spent five years directing an ecumenical urban ministry in Winston-Salem.
I am married to the former Patti Colliver Hudgins. We have two daughters, one from her previous marriage and one from mine. Patti's daughter, Elizabeth, husband Patrick Cronin and son Aidan live in Raleigh. My daughter, Eliza, has returned to UNCG to complete her degree.
The way things work out in life is often amazing. My own active ministry ended with my taking a leave because I had burned out. The church, both local and extended, made it possible for an interim pastor to come and finish out the year. Now this opportunity of being at Centenary to serve in a situation of similar need gratifies me. It also places a capstone on my active ministry. I have felt bereft of such completion until now.
