By John D. Pierce
This month Jack Causey wraps up his good work with the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship of North Carolina. In that role since 2007, Jack has assisted churches in times of transition and has been a trusted mentor to scores of ministers.
A mentor is defined as “an experienced and trusted advisor” — and Jack personifies that definition. He encourages, affirms and envisions with a tremendous amount of insight and experience but not an ounce of arrogance.
Jack has a clear understanding that the cultural context of his many years of competent ministry is no longer the norm. So he encourages today’s ministers — and the congregations they serve — to face current realities rather than to foolishly try to relive a time gone by.
As a director for Nurturing Faith, Jack is also a trusted advisor and friend to me. I’ve caught up with him in recent years in many places including a Starbuck’s near his home in Statesville, N.C., where was longtime pastor of the First Baptist Church.
Also, we’ve connected at various meetings — including one in Waynesville, N.C., where Jack assembled a panel of gifted young ministers leading traditional churches through times of unprecedented transition.
We have stood together by the charred remains of the historic sanctuary of First Baptist Church of Biscoe, N.C., where he so ably ministered to a congregation feeling the double blow of the retirement of their trusted pastor and an early morning blaze that turned their beloved place of worship into rubble.
Jack is an investor — giving his wisdom, support and guidance as ministers and congregations hand off leadership and move through times of significant change.
Blessed by his wise counsel, congregations have greater realizations of their missions and the vital role of healthy relationships with their ministers. His openness to new ways of the Spirit has been infused in others — congregations and ministers alike.
Mentoring matters — and no one has made the important role of mentoring more of a ministry than Jack. Far and wide, young ministers are better prepared, more fully affirmed, and clearer in their callings because of his investment in their lives.
As a young associate minister in Greensboro in the 1960s, Jack has recalled asking his experienced pastor how to be successful in ministry. The response he received and cherished was: “Surround yourself with good people.”
Jack has done that through decades of remarkable ministry — both leading congregations and, in retirement, being a positive guiding force in the lives of many ministers and churches.
Above all else, Jack is one of the good and faithful people that many of us are blessed to have around us. Thanks, Jack, for your good and guiding ways.
Director of the Jesus Worldview Initiative at Belmont University in Nashville, Tennessee and former executive editor and publisher at Good Faith Media.
