A Call to Serve

The generational linkages that help define who Hayes Barton Baptist Church is are many.  There are many families here who have three and some that have even four generations attending.  Some ties go back to the very founding of the church.  The person in today’s story has such ties and in fact is tied to the first pastor, Dr. J. B. Turner.  The person is Jim Turner.

“My granddaddy was the first pastor here,” says Jim Turner at the beginning of our conversation.  “So I see this as my church.”  That tie is, for Jim, a blessing.  “I am proud to have the connection.  It gives me a sense of ownership and a call to serve.”

In fact, the call to serve brought early mention in our conversation of Scripture.  “Luke 12:48 has the line “’For everyone to whom much is given, from him much will be required’,” says Jim.  “Much of my focus on serving has been on the church family.”

Except for his time at Wake Forest University where he earned a degree in business, Jim has been attending and serving in some capacity at Hayes Barton Baptist Church since 1955 when his family moved back to Raleigh.  “There are three areas that I have focused on here since coming back from Wake Forest,” says Jim.  “The first is church recreation, the second involves the kids, and the third is missions.  All three strengthen the church family.”

“I’m blessed through church recreation to meet people,” says Jim who participates in softball and basketball.  “I’m blessed to be able to play, and playing helps facilitate the church family.  Recreation is tool that can be used by a church.”

As for the kids, Jim’s involvement includes teaching Sunday School and coaching. “Second grade Sunday School is great as the kids are old enough that I can teach them and young enough that I can keep them in line,” he says with a smile. “I have fun, and they have fun.” 

The kids, for Jim, are “itty bittys” who grow up and become the youth he knows and continues to interact with in our youth ministry and on missions.  “I’ve watched the itty bittys grow up and become young adults,” says Jim even as he continues to refer to the now young adults as “my kids.”

Mission trips have taken Jim as far as Prague, Czechoslovakia, and as near as Moore Square with the youth.  As a home repair/remodeling contractor, Jim has much to offer on foreign missions that involve construction, of which there have been eight for Jim.  “They are really rewarding experiences as I can show people how to do things,” says Jim.  “And missions are learning experiences for me, too, as I’ve found that sometimes all the materials we would have here aren’t available on these trips.  I have to figure out how to do with what we have.  My favorite thing is trying to get done what we need to get done with the resources we have.”

With all the talk of materials and resources, the best part of mission service for Jim is the human impact he sees and experiences.  “I’ll never forget the faces of the people who we built houses for in Honduras,” shares Jim.  “Or the glowing face of the pastor preaching his first sermon in a church we helped construct in the mountains of Honduras.”

Similarly the human impact is what keeps Jim motivated with the “itty bittys” and kids. “Starting with second grade and moving into middle school, the kids get to know me,” reflects Jim.  “I think that it is important for the kids to have relationships with a variety of adults at church.”

“We want them to come to church, and we want them to look forward to coming to church,” says Jim.  “There are so many distractions and temptations in their worlds.  We need to try to give them a foundation that hopefully they can fall back on.  You never know when the seed you plant in them is going to grow.”

Through the years, Jim has planted numerous seeds in the youth.  He tells Bible stories to them and, for a time, even gave the children’s sermon during Worship.  “Ask some of my kids, the older ones, what they remember,” says Jim.  “They’ll remember the time I cut off my mustache during a children’s sermon.  My point was to say that we can’t wear disguises.  We can’t hide from God.  And we don’t have to hide from God even when we mess up because God is about forgiveness.”

Perhaps more than most, Jim sees Hayes Barton Baptist Church with reference to the three H’s which comprise the theme of our 85^th anniversary celebration.  He has a heritage at the church that connects him to the church’s founding.  He sees the people of the church, especially the kids, as part of a church family where the church serves as a church home, and he notes that the hope of the church lies with the kids. 

Taken together, these create a connection to the church that calls Jim to serve.  “If people would feel more connected to the church,” says Jim, “their lives would be richer, fuller.”  Jim has that connection and, as he puts it, “I’m called to give back.” That is a call to serve that has benefited many, from the “itty bittys” to adults to Jim himself.  It is a call to serve that for Jim Turner goes back in his family to the very beginnings of Hayes Barton Baptist Church.  It is a tie that connects and helps define who we are as Hayes Barton Baptist Church.