Today, June 14, will be the last time that I see Pastor Allen Harris of Columbia Presbyterian Church in Columbia, Maryland. After 30+ years of fruitful pastoral ministry, he has retired and will be moving to Cape Cod to seek the Lord's will in the next stage of his life. God often brings people into our lives who make a significant impact on our growth. I can point to a few - most of whom were theologians of the past (e.g. J. Gresham Machen, Geerhardus Vos, Frances Turretin). Pastor Allen Harris was one who taught me to be a pastor. He was a mentor during the most formible times of my pastoral ministry and one that demonstrated the centrality of the Gospel in his life as well as in his preaching/teaching. He showed me how to handle adversity and come to a deeper understanding of both myself as well as the grace of God. His mannerism and values remain within me and directly impacted my ministry...yes, even to this day. He was a faithful preacher of the Word and regularly showed a confidence in Christ during the most difficult of situations. In that sense I came to appreciate how to trust (not just know) the sovereign power of our faithful God.
Moreso, I can call him a friend and his friendship has been a source of trememdous encouragement to me over the years. Knowing that he was around in the area always gave me a sense of stability. I always knew that I could come into his office for a work of advice and definitely prayer.
I thank the Lord for Allen and pray that the time he is away from this area will be short. I will miss our times of dreaming together, vision casting, hopes for the ministry in the church. I will miss his openness and intuitive insight, his ever stable faith in God in all circumstances. I will miss his instruction and his wisdom.
Farewell, my dear friend and mentor. I hope that I was as much of an encouragement to you as you have been to me. Let more times come where we can fellowship together!
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