It was September, 1978. Benton Street Baptist Church in Kitchener, welcomed a new pastor, Rev. James Reese to their staff. On that same Sunday, the church that is now Eastwood Christian Fellowship welcomed me as their new pastor. That is how long I have known the friend that I lost when Pastor Jim died on July 5, just two weeks ago. Whereas Jim Reese stayed on at Benton St Baptist for 25 years first as Associate Pastor, then Senior Pastor, then Associate once again before retiring, I stayed at Eastwood only 5 years before moving to serve in western Canada, before returning to Ontario again in 1993. Our paths soon crossed after our arrival in Kitchener, as we had fellowship in ministerial gatherings, and planning inter church functions such as the Barry Moore crusade in “The Aud” in Kitchener.
While I was out west, I returned to Kitchener and area often for vacations and other reasons. The church of choice to attend was of course Benton St. Baptist. How could there be any other? – a church that is a beacon of faith in this area, and the church that was on the radio with the sonorous voice of Jim Reese preaching, and sometimes singing and even playing the trombone – occasionally in the same service. (Benton’s evening service was broadcast live on a local radio station for over 50 years). Although the congregational singing was accompanied by the powerful strains of Benton’s pipe organ, I have seen Jim Reese abruptly leave the platform in the middle of a hymn, only to return moments later with his trombone to help the organ and the piano! At other times we would arrive at a service to see his trombone parked beside the pulpit, and we knew it would be an interesting and delightful service. I had this talented pastor in several of my pulpits. In my previous church in Hamilton, Jim Reese preached at my installation, and again at my farewell 13 years later. And in my present church, he stood in the pulpit and sang and spoke words of encouragement at my installation just a few months ago. Now those were all public events, seen and heard by many.
But a pastor does not only shepherd the flock at large, he gives individual spiritual attention, guidance and encouragement to the sheep when they are hurting or when they need guidance. But whom does the pastor turn to when he needs this kind of care? Jim Reese was that shepherd or pastor to myself and our family. Although I wasn’t always a member of the church that he led, my family and I did consider him to be a shepherd and pastor us. When my brother Norbert and Janine were married, Jim and I jointly officiated. When Eric, their first born arrived, Jim and I did the baby dedication together. About 20 years ago I spent about a month in the hospital in Burlington. Although I didn’t request it, he unexpectedly appeared at my bedside. It was a day when there was a freezing rain storm in Ontario, and I asked him why he would risk being out in traffic to travel from Kitchener to Burlington. He replied, “the bond of friendship is very deep, my brother!”
When our family experienced the sad and painful illness and death of our mother in 2010, and our father in 2015, Jim Reese was the “shepherd” at the bedside of our parents, and at our side as a family as well. In fact when my father passed away in the middle of the night, Jim Reese come to the hospice to see us. He sat with us, wept with us, comforted us, quietly sang to us, and stayed with us until the funeral home came to take Dad away. The hospice where Dad died has a very nice practice of escorting a deceased person through the front door, with a procession in which all staff members who are present take part. There was Pastor Jim, leading the procession, with us a family and the staff following the stretcher. Before we reached the door, Pastor Jim paused at the place where Dad had fallen and broken his back a week earlier, and he prayed a prayer of thanksgiving for the salvation that Dad had in Jesus, and which he was now enjoying in the Lord’s presence. Anyone listening to the prayer would have heard the good news of salvation and how they could obtain it if they cared to. With Jim’s help, I was able to jointly officiate at the funeral of both of my parents.
But my pastor-friend Jim was also a gracious colleague and a mentor. Over the years I have observed him, and also adopted some of his practices. Like for example the practice of praying for colleagues on Saturday night. Years ago, he told me about his practice of praying for colleagues and missionaries on Saturday evening and he assured me that I was on his “list”. Part of of my Saturday evening ritual now is to think of pray for my fellow pastors who would be serving the Lord the next day. We also exchanged and shared ideas from time to time. “What are you preaching on these days?” was a frequent question.
While I was ministering in Calgary, I had invited him to spend a week at our church with “Deeper Life Meetings” as we used to call them. How delighted our people were to see and hear someone who could preach, sing, and play the trombone all in the same service! We saw a number of decisions for Christ in those days. During that week, my phone rang late in the evening. It was Dr. Ted Rendal, then the President of Prairie Bible Institute in Three Hills, Alberta. He had heard that Jim Reese was in Calgary, and had tracked him down to me. They were having a missions conference at Prairie, and he was wondering if it were at all possible for Jim to come and sing at one of the daytime services. I said I would ask, and Jim joyfully agreed. As we drove from Calgary to Three Hills, Jim sat beside me with his briefcase on his knees. He shuffled through sheets of music, trying to decide which ones he would sing. He would hum, and sometimes sing a portion of a song. It was much nicer than having the radio on!
Although I considered Jim to be far advanced not only in age but in pastoral experience, I never had the feeling of being “talked down” to. Not only did he never seek to showcase his great talents and ability, there was also a deep sense of humility.
For example, when I was between ministries for a short while, I worked at the funeral home that was diagonally across from Benton St. Baptist Church. From my office window, I could see the church, and the parking spaces for staff. One day I observed Jim Reese pull up, and he crossed the street to the funeral home. He was coming to see me. We sat and chatted, and then he turned to a particular problem that he was facing because he once again had the full load of ministry while the senior Pastor, Bob Parks, was on sabbatical. After outlining the issue, he surprised me with the question, “do you have any wisdom for me?” Well, I didn’t, and I told him that the question was better asked the other way around, but since neither of us had the needed wisdom, we turned to God in prayer.
The one thing that stands out to me the most when I think about Jim Reese, is his amazing positive spirit. I never saw him “down”, though I’m sure he had his moments of trial also. His letters and emails were always signed, “Joyfully in Christ”. I’m sure that he now enjoys the fullness of that joy.