The Rev. Cliff Feeler has spent the last 25 years in Denton doing just about everything with the oldest members of First Baptist Church of Denton.
Being the minister to people ages 55 and older at First Baptist is a mixed bag of joys and sorrows.
He’s painted the walls of Habitat for Humanity homes alongside retired guys who’d rather swing a hammer than a golf club. He’s grinned over photographs of brand-new grandbabies. He’s listened quietly to women who worry about the grandchildren they’re raising. He’s held the hands of longtime church members as they do their darnedest to look on the bright side of chemotherapy. And he’s visited still others — vertebrae in the backbone of the great big church on Malone Street — who can’t seem to place him as they succumb to dementia.
Feeler, who has been in the ministry for 61 years, is retiring this weekend. He served his first church with a half-time ministry at Mission Ridge Baptist Church in Urbana, Missouri, in 1953. The last quarter of his ministry has been in Denton, in one of the city’s largest churches.
The pastor doesn’t hesitate to share the most satisfying part of the work.
“People. I have a love for people,” Feeler said. “Even before I got into the ministry, back when I was working in a store, I always loved people. When I’m visiting people in the hospital, or in the nursing home, I’m always there for the people.”
Feeler came to First Baptist on Mother’s Day 1989, and he officially started his ministry the following Sunday. His job description was simple: Serve the members of the church ages 55 and older and plug them into the church through discipline — Bible study and worship — and help them make their faith in Jesus a living kind of thing by involving them in ministries.
Ministering to seniors takes a resourceful pastor. The younger members of his ministry are still working full time, and some have children in college or graduate school. The oldest members of his ministry are often puzzling through big questions about where they’ll live the rest of their life: Will they stay in their homes? Move to retirement communities?
Feeler said First Baptist members between ages 70 and 90 are keen to travel together.
“They want to get on a bus and take a trip,” he said.
And the ministry plans them. The seniors of First Baptist will take a recreational trip to New England — where Feeler said they’ll brush up on American history. They’ve traveled to Rome. A group goes to Branson, Missouri, every year.
“Branson loves the seniors,” Feeler said. “They’re good to them.”
Branson’s nostalgic entertainment appeals to the age group, Feeler said, and gives them a more wholesome place to socialize without alcohol.
But the heart of the ministry is challenging the older members — and there are more than 700 of them on the church rolls — to live their Christian faith more deeply. Seniors have traveled to Israel six times, Feeler said, to see the place where Jesus became Christ.
Feeler said seniors are as important to their church as it is to them.
“They make a really good resource for younger people in the church, young families who might be struggling through things the seniors have lived through,” he said.
He considers the seniors among the most biblically literate members of the church.
“They’ve been studying the Bible their whole lives, and the church has been a part of their life for a long time,” he said. “They live their faith day by day. They are really engaged in the ministry.”
Feeler thinks of the members as two groups. There are the baby boomers, men and women who have raised families, who are either retiring or thinking about it and concerned about their aging parents. Those aging parents are represented by the second group — those members ages 70 and older.
Feeler said the boomers are hungry for information that will help them care for their parents. The church has conferences and workshops that guide them through the bureaucracy of getting older: estate planning, power of attorney and medical power of attorney planning.
The seniors minister to each other, too. About 20 members visit homebound and shut-in members of First Baptist.
“When I go out to the Vintage, Primrose and Good Samaritan [retirement communities], the first thing they ask me is, ‘What’s going on at my church?’ And they really do consider this their church,” Feeler said.
And before he leaves, many of them press envelopes into his hands.
“They’ll tell me, ‘This is my tithe. Can you see that it gets to the church?’ People in this age group are serious in supporting their church financially. They grew up with that idea and it’s still important to them,” Feeler said.
When the church asks its members to give their time, talent or money to benefit children and youth, Feeler said the seniors answer the call with enthusiasm.
“I say that because, every year, when we have youth camp, they are very generous,” he said. “If there are children who need help to come to the camp, they give. And they volunteer. One of our members volunteered in our preschool program. She was still volunteering with the program at 84. And that’s not easy, getting down on the floor with those kids.”
It’s tough, though, when families ask him to officiate the funerals of members who’ve died.
“I average about 30 a year,” he said. “It’s tough. It hurts to lose people. And it’s tough on the families. But it’s part of the ministry.”
It’s also hard to see members laid low by health problems.
“There was a guy who painted [Habitat for Humanity] houses with me. He got sick, and it was hard to see him go downhill so fast,” he said.
Faith has helped Feeler and the members of the seniors’ group weather the loss of loved ones.
“I’ve been blessed with a positive attitude,” he said. “I’ve always been able to bounce back from the hard times. I’ve been blessed to be able to encourage people, and love them when they need it.”
After retirement, Feeler said he and his wife will both celebrate their 80th birthdays in December. They plan to travel to the churches they’ve served. They’ve also booked a cruise with their family. The boat leaves on Monday.
Then, Feeler said, it will be back to Denton.
“I’ll find some place to plug back into the church,” he said. “I’ll find some way to help.”
LUCINDA BREEDING can be reached at 940-566-6877 and via Twitter at @LBreedingDRC.
RETIREMENT CELEBRATION
What: Celebration honoring the Rev. Cliff Feeler of First Baptist Church of Denton
When: 3 p.m. Sunday, with a reception following at 4 p.m.
Where: First Baptist Church Worship Center, 1100 Malone St. Reception will be in the Family Center.
