In 1964, as an eighteen-year-old college student, I received my first appointment as a Methodist pastor from Bishop Walter Gum. He didn't just give me a church; he gave me three churches (the Ewing-Ruddles Mills-Clover Hill Charge), and I entered the wonderful world of being a Methodist circuit rider. I drove a 1954 green and white Chevrolet, and was a young shepherd to three flocks of people over a two county area (Fleming & Bourbon). The churches were very small, and so was the annual salary -- $1,550. The smallest of the three churches was the Clover Hill Methodist Church. On the second and fourth Sundays of every month, I would drive out to Clover Hill and preach to Miss Ollie Spencer (the only member) at 2:00 o'clock in the afternoon. I was 18 and Miss Ollie was 81, which means she was born in 1883. Not only would I preach to her in my youthful enthusiasm, but I would also sing to her, as she chose not to join in the robust congregational singing by the pastor. At our first Quarterly Conference in the fall, our District Superintendent (Robert Anderson) asked Miss Ollie how she liked her new preacher. "He can really sing!" was her response.

We grew and learned during our pastoral experience at Clover Hill, the smallest Methodist church in the world. Many wonderful things have happened to us since Clover Hill, and one of the best coming 25 years later was the privilege of preaching at the Kwang Lim Methodist Church. In the spring of 1989, Judy and I made a mission trip to Korea. In Seoul, Dr. Sundo Kim invited me to preach at Kwang Lim ("Burning Bush" in Korean), which is the largest Methodist church in the world. It is a long way from Clover Hill to Kwang Lim! It is a long way from the smallest to the largest Methodist church in the world; from 1 member to 35,000 members; from rural Kentucky to urban Korea! But all along this wonderful journey of almost 40 years in ministry, the Lord has given us some sure things to live by, and they are true all the way from Clover Hill to Kwang Lim and beyond!

First, God is bigger than our personal experience of Him!

The Lord is real and the Lord is personal, but His depth and richness are far beyond our human understanding. The Apostle Paul writes: "O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments, and His ways past understanding" Romans 11:33. Knowing the Lord is much like experiencing the Atlantic Ocean, which is much deeper and broader than our personal experience of it. We can't even begin to know all the people who live along the seacoast, let alone the variety and vastness that make up the life of the ocean. We are not talking about a "watered-down" theology that denies the purity and power of God, but a true acceptance of other people who have found Christ in a different way than we did. This is real pluralism that is firmly founded on Christ, and finds unity in Him with room for difference in experience and expression of faith. When we realize that God is bigger than our personal experience of Him, then we are free to live the "communion" of the saints and express what Wesley called the "catholic" spirit. Some of us found the Lord on the campus, while some of us experienced His divine love at the camp meeting, and all of us who know Him can truly accept one another.

Second, Jesus loves people that we don't like!

Will Rogers said that he "never met a man he didn't like." Mr. Rogers must not have met very many people. Every veteran preacher has personal "war stories," and knows full well that not everyone who attends the church (clergy and laity) is a splendid example of Christian behavior. As we serve the Lord, we are going to encounter some "wolves, goats, and dogs," to use Biblical expressions. But since when do people need our approval to be loved by God? Agape love and amazing grace are the themes of our ministry, and not our personal likes and dislikes. We don't deserve to be in the ministry, nor do we decide who is worthy to receive our ministry. We don't wait until people measure up to our standards before we reach out to them. God doesn't act that way, and neither should ministers of the Good News.

Third, the Holy Spirit really does lead us!

We learned early at Clover Hill that "when 2 or 3 are gathered in His name, the Lord is always present." This is true even on cold and dark winter afternoons while preaching to one person. Clover Hill was a wonderful experience for me. All the churches that we have served over these last 40 years were under divine appointment -- all the way from small rural beginnings (Ewing-Ruddles Mills-Clover Hill, White Oak-Boyers Chapel), small town (Midway), mountains (Williamsburg & Middlesboro), county seat (Mt. Sterling), urban (Lexington), town/gown (Wilmore), and 12 years (1991-2003) at La Grange, where we led in the uniting of our black church and our white church, and together built a New Church for a New Century.

The Lord continues to "enlarge our territory," as Bishop James King appointed us to his cabinet and assigned us to serve as the Corbin District Superintendent, which includes 63 local churches over a 9 county area in southeastern Kentucky. We moved to the Corbin District in late June of 2003, and began our new ministry. As we have walked this itinerant road, we have been keenly aware that the Spirit of God has directed our steps. Doors were cracked, opened, shut, and slammed as the hand of God moved in our lives. We can truly trust Him, Who has called us into His ministry. Yes, it is a long way from Clover Hill to Kwang Lim and beyond, and the journey is not over! The best days are always ahead because of Jesus, Who is the Alpha (A) and the Omega (W), the Beginning and the Ending, the First and the Last!

(This article was first written by Dr. Terry Faris in August of 1989, and revised over the years, with the latest revision being written in September of 2003)