Bob Clare
Deacon Emeritus
February 13, 2022

Well… what is there to say about Bob Clare. I’ve been wanting to get him up here, to call him out in public for a very long time! And that’s the truth. Bob was first eligible to be named a Deacon Emeritus maybe 5 years ago, but he has steadfastly refused the honor. What he doesn’t realize is that when you honor someone for serving, and make them an Emeritus Deacon… they’re still a deacon, and the word itself means “servant.” So, congrats, Bob. For all of your years of service, we now recognize you with the honor to… keep on serving!

If anyone that I know is worthy of being called a Deacon Emeritus, it’s Bob Clare. For years, if there’s been work to do, Bob has been willing and able. A few notable points:

Bob loves to recognize birthdays, and many of you are on his list. It’s a simple, short call… I’m thinking of you. Happy Birthday. It’s a wonderful ministry. A couple of years ago, our oldest son called, laughing. He had just picked up a message on his cell phone that say, “Well, if you’d answer your bloomin’ telephone, I’d tell you happy birthday. This is Bob Clare.”

But Bob’s specialty in service has to do with hands-on labor. The blood, sweat, and tears of construction and landscape. Every project we’ve done in the last decade has Bob’s fingerprints on it. He has led our Master Landscaping Plan since its inception. Many of the trees and shrubs that enhance our campus are there as a result of Bob’s care.

He volunteered for our mission trip to the eastern shore of NC a few years ago when the storms dictated a need for help – and about that same time we put out a call for chaperons for our summer youth mission trip and Bob signed up. I’ll have to admit that I took a deep breath… Bob might just kill some of our youth if they’re not really working, I thought! But he was great… hard-working as usual, patient and compassionate with our kids. A lot of fun.

Just like every good servant should be.

I leave you with this memory of Bob, which is the one I’ll remember long after he’s gone. We were adding bathrooms to the Children’s Building and Bob said we could do the plumbing ourselves, which involved trenching a long ditch from the Community Center into the SS rooms. I came out one day looking for Bob and he was nowhere to be seen. And then I saw the dirt flying out of the trench, and realized that Bob had dug a trench that was about 6’ deep, and he was standing in the bottom of it.

What I know about Bob Clare is that he will not rest on his laurels today. He’s been in over his head with us for a long time. He’s already making plans for more landscaping, and he’s working with one of our youth for a Boy Scout Eagle project you’re going to hear more about. No rest for the weary, Bob. And thanks for being weary.

Well done, good and faithful servant.

Gray Clark
Deacon Emeritus
February 13, 2022

When we moved here, the Clarks were a young family. So were we. We’ve grown up together in so many ways – raising our families together – having random sort-of-like-family connections in SC. In those early years of our time here, my memory is that Gray was on every Mission Action Committee that ever was and in every meeting about missions that came along at Park Road. With a heart for all things Mission – caring for those in need, putting his hand to the plow as the Scripture puts it, with a heart for serving and a commitment to offering himself for that service, you always found Gray in the thick of it – at least in the thick of visioning and planning stages even if he couldn’t go himself because of work or family commitments. Because when you are a young man, you have work and family commitments that don’t always allow you to be on the front lines. But Gray has always been a driver of sorts – pushing us and keeping us on track to make sure that our hands and feet actually do what our mouths say we believe in. Gray has helped Park Road over these many many years to actually practice what we preach.

I could name all of the committees on which he has served and all of the ministries and missions in which he has been involved (from taking care of the nursery himself to serving and providing drinks at the Urban Ministry Center lunches – starting a whole new ministry for a time with that effort). But I’m not going to name them all – it’s like most of them – but rather than the list, I’d like to say two more things about Gray after having noted his heart for missions. Gray loves most checking in on those who have accumulated more years in their living – the senior adults. Gray has done this in quiet but consistent ways – even asking that his Deacon Family lists every year be front-loaded with the elderly if possible. Without flash or show or recognition, Gray has honored the on-in-years and wise among us by tending, visiting, listening – often sitting at the feet of those he respects and learning from them, and then serving them with his presence and care.

Finally, it must not go unnoted that every church needs its own personal Guru of Mindfulness. Gray is ours. I remember when he was Chair of the Diaconate, Gray introduced us to a simple gong (we didn’t sit cross-legged and “om”) but we sat in silence around our tables as he called us into mindful meditation – a silencing of mind and an opening of the heart – that ushered us into any business that needed to be conducted. Over the years while Gray has dedicated his own life to health – body, soul, and mind – he has offered us his wisdom in seminars and on retreats. A true gift to many. I know that Gray has made so many connections in this place with people who are seeking a calming of spirit and an enlightening of mind. Those two callings bring people together in significant ways – folks that might not normally come together have found Gray to be a connection – with others and with God.

It seems to me that Gray is too young to have reached this status, and yet he generally takes a year or two off from Deacon service as is required and somehow finds himself right back in the circle of service. Mission, caring for the elderly, mindfulness and spiritual intention over many years . . . that sounds like Deacon Emeritus qualifications to me. And I think you are being recognized today in a young body because you started young, you served young, you started your family young in this place, and the years add up to a life of service.

Thank you, Gray. Well done, good and faithful servant. May your tribe increase. And let us remind you – this is NOT retirement. It could be that the best you have to offer and receive is just ahead. May it be so. Amen.

Linda Hefner
Deacon Emeritus
February 13, 2022

Linda Hefner is a person about whom it can be said, when it comes to serving the church and participating in our ministries, she has done it all! Linda, I did think of one thing that you maybe haven’t done – I’m going to go out on a limb and guess that you haven’t preached. Well, maybe it would be safer to be more specific and say that you haven’t preached from the pulpit on a Sunday morning.

But she truly has done just about everything else! Linda has been a part of the church since she was a child (so, not that long ago) she grew up in the church and is now our go-to person for anything related to the church’s history and who’s who among long ago members. She has been on just about every committee, even back when we had lots of committees, and has chaired most of them at one time or another, including chairing the deacons. She has kept the nursery, been a part of the Care Team ministry, helped to organize youth fundraisers, prepared food for our homeless neighbors, been in charge of almost every church reception for celebrations and bereavement, and directed almost every wedding. Speaking of celebrations, Linda chaired the huge 50th Anniversary Celebration and did so in the way that she does everything – planning ahead, carefully thinking through all the logistics and making sure that every detail was taken care of.

Linda was at the origin of what has become – Support Our Schools – our ministry to local underserved school children. She initiated and headed up the snack packing program for several years and was the first among us to be an Augustine Literacy tutor. Linda has also been the primary recruiter for the 4 or 5 others who have since signed on to help.

If a group is going to Cuba, Linda is always among the first to reserve her spot! I’ve been with her on several of those trips and I’ve found that it’s a good idea to stick close to her – not because she speaks Spanish – she doesn’t. But because she knows the name of every person in the church and can even tell you the names of the local farm animals! She continues to be one of the Cuban pastor’s faithful correspondents and keeps me up to date on what’s happening there.

Linda even puts her family to work for the church. If a pipe bursts or we have other plumbing needs, her husband Bill is the person we call. Her son Rob, even as a child, knew where all of the paper products and table linens were stored – and I didn’t discover that secret until I had been here for a couple of years.

Linda has her own set of keys to the church because you can never tell when she’s going to want to get in to clean something up or organize a closet or set up for an upcoming event.

Linda has served Park Road Baptist well. She is honest in her feedback, always wanting what is best for the church. She is loyal, and I love that she looks for ways for the church to be relevant and invested in the things that matter most.

Thank you, Linda, for your good and faithful service!