Glenda and Henry “Hank” Watts of Village Presbyterian Church, Prairie Village, Kansas, were commissioned as Stephen Leaders on Friday, August 2, 1996, at the close of the Stephen Series Leader’s Training Course in Baltimore, Maryland. On August 11, just nine days later, Hank died of heart failure while on vacation with his family. He was 54.
Hank and Glenda had committed their lives and marriage to Christ. Over the years they had been very active in their church, teaching and leading Sunday school classes and Bible studies. Both were seminary students and candidates for ordination at Central Baptist Theological Seminary in Kansas City -- a dream made possible by Hank’s early retirement. Following the Leader’s Training Course (LTC) in Baltimore, they had looked forward to joining the Stephen Ministry Leadership team at Village Presbyterian, a Stephen Series congregation since 1985, and to equipping others to serve as Stephen Ministers.
Hank and Glenda were among 696 participants who completed the seven-day course that prepares pastors and lay leaders to serve as Stephen Leaders in their congregation. “To be together with participants from so many different states and denominations joined in the common purpose of caring ministry really gave us the feeling we were one body in Christ,” recalls Glenda. “Christ’s Spirit was definitely in and among us.”
“Hank and I each kept a journal for the week we were at the LTC,” Glenda said. “He wrote in it again and again how impressed he was by how deeply authentic and Christ-centered Stephen Ministry was, and how warm and caring all the people were.”
“Hank was so excited about being a Stephen Leader,” Glenda said. “He was very interested in the caring ministry, and he saw Stephen Ministry as a way he could put his faith into practice.”
The day the LTC ended, two of Hank’s and Glenda’s children arrived in Baltimore to join them for a week of sightseeing. “It was a wonderful week,” Glenda said. “We saw Baltimore, Washington, and Gettysburg. We spent some treasured time together. Little did we know how precious that time would be.”
Hank’s strong desire to practice his faith through Stephen Ministry was clearly evident to his children. They chose to display Hank’s Stephen Leader certificate and Leader’s Manual at the visitation and memorial service. “It represented what he had just accomplished, and our children wanted everyone to know what Stephen Ministry meant to him,” Glenda said.
Hank’s warm and friendly manner also effected a number of participants at the Baltimore LTC with whom he became friends during the week of training. “He always enjoyed meeting people,” said Glenda, “and he met so many people -- very special people -- at the LTC.”
In an expression of the ministry of presence that Stephen Ministers are known for, a person from a nearby Presbyterian church in Overland Park, Kansas, who had also attended the Baltimore LTC and had come to know Hank and Glenda, came to the visitation. This Stephen Leader had seen Hank’s obituary in the paper and was moved to be with the family in their grief. “It meant so much to Glenda to look up and see someone who had just been with them at the LTC in Baltimore,” said their pastor, Rev. Diane Quaintance. “That was a real and unexpected joy for her.”
And even though he never had the opportunity to serve as a Stephen Leader at Village Presbyterian, Hank has left a significant mark on the congregation’s Stephen Ministry. At the first Stephen Ministry Leadership team meeting after the Baltimore LTC, the congregation’s Stephen Leaders shared memories, tears, and prayers while looking at Hank and Glenda’s photographs of the event. “I told Glenda she didn’t have to come to that meeting,” said Rev. Quaintance. “But she really wanted to be there.”
For their devotional time, the leadership team read through Hank’s journal from the LTC. Some powerful bonding took place among the Stephen Leaders that afternoon. “The way we cared for Glenda and one another -- and knowing the importance of Stephen Ministry to Hank -- will shape Stephen Ministry at Village Presbyterian for years to come,” said Rev. Quaintance.
Rev. Quaintance, fresh from her own LTC experience at Orlando earlier this year, said, “I can’t think of a better way for Hank to have spent one of the last weeks of his life than to be with a group of caring people, deeply committed to sharing Christ’s love and to the ministry of the church.” Glenda echoed this thought: “As one of the last experiences in Hank’s life, the LTC was uplifting, affirming, and positive.”
Glenda said that the commissioning service was the highlight of their Leader’s Training Course experience. As Glenda and Hank sat together, they had heard the words spoken by Stephen Ministries Program Director Rev. David Paap during his commissioning sermon: “The risen Lord is with us -- in this very room -- this evening. His presence dispels our fears. No matter where you go, or what you do, or whatever you may experience -- the risen Lord is with you. With full confidence, you can go out in peace to love and serve the Lord.”
Hank Watts lived, died, and lives again by those words. God grant us all the grace to do the same.
| Central Baptist Theological Seminary | Village Presbyterian Church (USA) | Stephen Ministries | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 741 N. 31st. Street | 6641 Mission Road | 2045 Innerbelt Business Center Drive | ||
| Kansas City, Kansas, 66102-3964 | Prairie Village, Kansas, 66208-1799 | St. Louis, Missouri 63114-5765 | ||
| 1-800-677-2287 | 1-913-262-4200 | 1-314-428-2600 |
Special thanks to Mr. Joel P. Bretscher at Stephen Ministries in St. Louis, Missouri for writing such a wonderful article about my Dad. The article is under Copyright © September 1996 by Stephen Ministries, St. Louis, Missouri and has been used by permission.
© 1997 by KikiKS at KikiKS@geocities.com
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