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New Methodist minister come to Fort Stockton
"Jonah spent three days in the belly of the Whale. I spent three decades in the belly of the world," said Joel Barrett, new minister at the Fort Stockton First United Methodist Church.
Joel is the son of a Methodist minister, and grew up in small towns all around the state of Georgia. He felt the call to be a minister as a youngster, and when he graduated from high school, but he kept putting God off. Barrett explained, "God would ask, 'are you ready, Joel,' and I would say, 'not yet, God."
Barrett wanted to finish his accounting degree and achieve some degree of financial security before he gave in to his calling.
Finally, in 1986, while living in Florida, Barrett was asked to preach a Sunday sermon, and he agreed. "I took about three steps and then thought, "what did he ask me? And what did I agree to do?" said Barrett. "I heard as clear as day a voice ask, are you ready now, Joel?"
Barrett preached that sermon.
"I realized I would never achieve the financial success that I sought," he said. He and his family sold everything and moved to Kentucky where he entered Asbury Theological Seminary in 1986. He graduated in 1989, and was assigned to his first church in Ludowici, Georgia. "Ludowici has an international reputation for being a speed trap," Barrett said. "When our oldest son was stationed in Germany, the international telephone operator there on the base had received a speeding ticket in Ludowici, and she remembered it," he said.
Barrett has been married to Pat Hurst for twenty-seven years. "I have four children and she has two and together we have five," Barrett said.
The former accountant explained that he had three children by his first marriage, Pat had one child, and together they have one child.
"They are all grown and gone," said Barrett. The youngest graduated college this summer and is working in Nevada." All five have earned college degrees and are scattered across the country. There are eight grandchildren. "Now that we are the grandparents, they can come to us," Barrett laughed.
Pat has been an enthusiastic supporter of the ministry. However, she was plagued by severe asthma. The Barretts spent some time each summer in clinic in Mexico so that she could receive treatment. They decided to seek an appointment in the western part of the United States to be nearer to her medical care. The church at Iraan was in need of a pastor. They accepted the assignment there. "Once we were in this dryer climate, Pat's asthma cleared up completely," Barrett said.
The Barretts spent from 1997 to 2001 in Iraan, and then went to Grace Methodist Church in El Paso for five years. They have been in Fort Stockton since June.
Barrett himself has faced some health challenges. Some months ago he suffered a stroke, and lost the ability to speak. With the help of a speech therapist, he has learned to talk again.
He is enthusiastic about First United Methodist here. "I am still learning about the church," he said. "I want to take things one step at a time."
The congregation has been declining, and Barrett hopes to reverse that trend. Another project of the church that he wants to nurture and grow is the day care program, "Mothers' Day Out."
He's ready, now.
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