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Reedley, Calif.
Retired pastor keeps on serving the Lord


Henry Dick of Reedley, Calif., knows first-hand how hard it is to ignore God’s call to full-time ministry.

“When I was 18,” Dick recalls, “a deacon put his hand on my shoulder, and said, ‘Henry, you’re not a Christian yet . . . When you become one, I believe God is calling you to be a minister.’ ”

Dick, who as a young man had his sights set on a career in business, says that the “yet” got to him. When he did accept Christ, all he could think about was following the call, and he prayed, saying “OK, Lord, I’ll commit myself.”

And that’s what Dick did for 51 years. He served as an MB church planter, college administrator, pastor, seminary president and US district conference minister. Now that he’s almost 80 years old, he also knows how hard it is to “retire” from a commitment to do the Lord’s work for a lifetime.

Dick’s life of service began at the time of his conversion, the third month of his four-year stint with the Royal Canadian Air Force. An Anglican chaplain encouraged him to memorize Scripture and held him accountable while a Baptist minister taught him how to preach. Dick also began a radio broadcast in which servicemen shared their testimonies. After his military obligations were fulfilled, Dick embarked on a career in church work. His ministry partner has been Erica, his wife of 55 years.

“I have a wonderful wife,” says Dick. “I tell pastors if you have a wife who doesn’t always agree with everything you say, you are a fortunate person. I affirm [Erica] for not always making a second to my motion. It has been a very good balance.” The Dicks have three children, six grandchildren and one great-grandchild.

Dick began his pastoral career as a pioneer church planter in Ontario and followed that with a one-year stint as business manager for Tabor College, Hillsboro, Kan. He went on to serve five years at Vinewood Community Church in Lodi, Calif., 12 years at Shafter (Calif.) MB Church and seven years in Fresno, Calif. For three years beginning in 1969, Dick was the US Conference executive secretary. He left that position to serve four year as president of MB Biblical Seminary and then spent the next 12 years as senior pastor at Reedley MB Church.

Dick, who always considered himself a pastor first, retired from the pastoral ministry in 1987, after serving for 36 years. He describes how he talks with God about his retirement and his commitment to ministry.

“Lord, I’ve committed myself to serve you for a lifetime. So now, here’s that commitment,” Dick says of his decision to retire in 1987. “I’m going to put a nice wrapping around it and a ribbon on it and give it back to you. I’ve fulfilled my commitment. If you have anything else for me to do, I’m still alive, and I’m still healthy, and I’m still committed to you.”

And that’s when Dick embarked on a 14-year stint in denominational administrative work. For 18 months, he worked for MBBS in constituency relations. Then he was contacted by the Pacific District Conference to serve as the district minister on a half-time basis. He retired from that position December 31, 2001, completing 12-and-a-half year of service to the PDC, a term of service he hadn’t anticipated when he took the assignment.

“I hadn’t planned it that way, but every time [the district] got a new moderator, he would say, “I’ll do it if you stick with me,” says Dick. “I’m not quitting because I’m not enjoying [my work]. I think that at 79 and a half its time to lay it down.”

Currently, Dick works as full-time secretary, a half-time treasurer and a half-time associate district minister for the PDC. “I’m supposed to be half-time, but that hasn’t worked out. I’ve gone full-time.”

Dick’s lifelong devotion to ministry has also included a commitment to serve MB agencies and conferences. Congregations, working in consultation and cooperation with one another, can build schools, do mission work and plant churches, he says. He chaired the General MB Conference for two terms and was the binational conference secretary for two terms. He was board chair of MBMS International, the North American MB mission agency, for eight years and has been on the board for a total of 20 years. He chaired the US Conference Board of Education, which gave oversight to Tabor College, Fresno Pacific College and MBBS. He also has served on a variety of PDC boards.

Dick also gave his energies to the broader Mennonite and evangelical communities. He was on the board of National Association of Evangelicals for 10 years, was on the Mennonite Central Committee executive board for 10 years and served with MCC as a civilian chaplain during the Vietnam War for three weeks.

Dick, who tried once before to retire from full-time ministry, isn’t discounting the possibility that God has another ministry opportunity for him. In fact, he will be serving as interim district minister on a month-to-month basis for the Pacific District until a new district minister is found. He is committed to living with the joy of the Lord.

“I don’t want to become an old man that has all the answers. I used to dislike that about older fellows,” he admits. Citing his life’s verse, John 10:10, Dick says, “I want to conclude my life, God giving me the grace, smiling. That doesn’t mean everything is OK all the time. But I want the joy of the Lord as part of who I am.”

 – adapted from a report in the Christian Leader

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Last modified June 14, 2002.

© 2002 Mennonite Brethren Herald.
Published by the Canadian Conference of MB Churches.
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