Faithful

"Noooo waaaay!" I said. "What are you guys doing? Are you trying to join a cult?"

Days turned into weeks as my husband, Jeff, and our newly adopted teenage daughter, Ella, continued attending a Revelation Seminar at the Ladd Springs Seventh-day Adventist Church in Cleveland. I kept thinking they would soon come to their senses, but they never missed a night! Finally, I had to check it out for myself. In the spring of 2000, I attended the very last session. It was there that I met Pastor Jerry and Karen Arnold. Little did I know how God was about to change our lives—especially mine, the least deserving of His children.

Pastor Jerry was the first pastor whose sermons I could truly understand. Having been in the U.S. for only a decade, I had attended Pentecostal churches where the fast-paced speaking left me confused. But Pastor Jerry’s message was clear; his "spiritual food" was plentiful. I had a ton of questions, trying to prove his theology wrong, but he wasn’t taken aback by my bluntness. He never argued; instead, he encouraged us to study for ourselves and stay in God’s Word for clarity. For many months, he made weekly visits to our home for powerful Bible studies. Less than a year later, all three of us were baptized by Pastor Jerry and became charter members of Collegedale Community Church in September 2001.

Pastor Jerry and Karen were our solid support as we adopted our special-needs daughter, Katherine. They often called to pray with us and visited during our many stays at T.C. Thompson’s Children’s Hospital, bringing food and reading the Bible to us. Katherine was even dedicated by Pastor Jerry at the Eastwood Church, the space we rented before our church was built.

In the spring of 2006, the Arnolds called with a request that would change my life again: they asked me to be the church secretary. I was hesitant, feeling unqualified due to Katherine’s medical needs, my limited computer skills, and my status as a new Adventist. But they asked me to pray about it, and it became the best decision I ever made.

When a severe family crisis hit in 2007, I asked Pastor Jerry to find a replacement for me. They refused to give up on me. They called regularly to pray with me for months. Thanks to our Heavenly Father and Pastor Jerry and Karen's steady faithfulness, I survived the crisis and kept my job. Later, in 2010, when I was diagnosed with cancer, they were my cheerleaders and spiritual supporters. I’ll never forget when my car got stuck in the snow while I was recovering from surgery; Pastor Tom and Pastor Jerry came down and each held me by an arm to ensure I didn’t fall. I will never forget their kind gesture.

Over nearly two decades as church secretary, Pastor Jerry was my pastor, boss, mentor, encourager, teacher, brother, and friend. I saw him handle insults and threats with dignity, and I witnessed him show up for families in their darkest hours—after suicides or at deathbeds—regardless of the time of day. I had a hard time understanding when an unannounced or unscheduled visitor demanded to see Pastor Jerry and would dare ask, “What does he do anyway?” when he wasn’t in the office at that moment. I knew he was out responding to people's deepest needs.

Pastor Jerry and Karen remained steady as associate pastors and ministries came and went. Today, I want to thank Pastor Jerry for allowing God to use him. Thank you for the flexibility to work from the hospital, for taking the blame for my mistakes, and for not letting me resign in 2012, but instead offering a sabbatical. Thank you for preaching at Katherine’s funeral and for always pointing us to Christ.

May you have a very long and wonderful retirement! We will miss you as our Senior Pastor at CCC, but we look forward to seeing what God has in store for you next. May our Heavenly Father keep you both healthy and safe!