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Lonnie, Donna, and daughter Jennifer helping out with Buckets of Compassion this month.
Tornado relief at the church in 2011.
By Editor Becky Watts
BARNESVILLE - Pastor Lonnie Grant has given his resignation at Barnesville Church of the Nazarene. He has accepted the appointment as Pastor at Valdosta Church of the Nazarene, and he and his wife Donna will soon be moving to Valdosta where he will begin preaching on March 1, 2015. Lonnie and Donna will remain at Barnesville Nazarene Church through the end of the month where Lonnie will preach his last sermon on Sunday, February 22 during the morning service. There will be a dinner that Sunday evening instead of a regular evening service.
Lonnie has been the pastor at Barnesville Nazarene for the past 11½ years. During that time, the church has worked to become a support and encouragement to the community by opening up their facility to people in need after the tornado and providing a safe place to trick or treaters with an annual Trunk or Treat event that serves roughly 1,000 people each year. The church has also opened up its facility to karate and 4H archery.
Church members have also built decks and wheelchair ramps and rebuilt a porch for people in the community as part of Nazarene Compassionate Ministry. Just this past Sunday, many volunteered to pack disaster clean up supplies in buckets that will be delivered to communities struck by a disaster like the tornado that struck Barnesville in the Buckets of Compassion Ministry. A group even went on a Work and Witness trip to Oklahoma last year to deliver Buckets of Compassion to a community that was suffering from the effects of a tornado and to help several individuals in that community with clean up.
During this time, Lonnie has been the pastor of the Barnesville Church of the Nazarene and became a part of the community by being elected to the Chamber of Commerce Board, helping out with the BBQ Committee and Buggy Days, as President of the Ministerial Association, and by helping out and encouraging involvement in the Illumination Ceremony and Community Worship Service that takes place each Thanksgiving to start the Christmas season for the community.
But Lonnie insists that the focus isn’t about him and wears a yellow bracelet that simply says INAM. This stands for “It’s Not About Me.” He stresses relational ministry as a focus for Barnesville Nazarene Church and its ministries by asking the question, “If your church ceases to exist, would your community care?” He said that the church has embraced that question with its ministry and outreach.
He adds a personal philosophy to relational ministry that has touched many that he has come into contact with: “I believe that we need to add value to people,” he said. “Jesus is our provider, but we live together and if we can add value to each other in our community, what a great community that would be.” When he tells people that he is dedicated to their success, he is sincere and encourages that philosophy in others as well as in his church.
So why would Lonnie be leaving a church that is growing and has learned to reach out to the community in order to go to another church? Well, in this case, it is not going from a growing church to a bigger church. Lonnie and Donna are going to a church that is in need of a pastor and is going through a time of crisis.
Lonnie said that the District Superintendent [of the Nazarene Church state-wide] contacted him after praying over the situation at Valdosta Church of the Nazarene and asked him to step in as Pastor there because of the success that Barnesville Church of the Nazarene has had in community outreach and involvement. Because Lonnie was the Youth Pastor at Valdosta before he accepted the position to come to Barnesville, he would have instant credibility there to help in ministry at Valdosta.
“The toughest question I’ve ever had to answer yes to God to is to go to Valdosta and leave my home—-a place that we thought we’d never leave.” Throughout this interview, Lonnie stressed his love for Barnesville Church of the Nazarene and for the community and said that people won’t understand the decision that he and Donna have made to go to Valdosta until six months to a year from now.
“I love this church way too much to stay,” he said. “Because if I’m not doing what God asks me to do, there is absolutely no way I can stand behind the pulpit and ask people to do the same thing knowing that I’ll be a hypocrite.” He said that’s why this decision was so hard. “It would be easy to stay and do things like normal because things are going great.”
The decision to follow God’s leading has been one that was preceded by a lot of prayer. He said that it is humbling to know that the District Church of the Nazarene has faith in him to ask him to go to a church that is hurting and work with them in this time of crisis.
The outpouring of love for Lonnie and Donna has touched them deeply. He talked about leaving Barnesville--the place that has become home--and the church that has become a part of his family: “It’s humbling to know that people love you this much, but it also hurts more. Every day we see the tears, and there hasn’t been a day that has gone by that Donna and I haven’t shed tears for this church.”
Lonnie added that he truly believes that because God has called him somewhere else, God has also called someone to come to Barnesville Nazarene Church and do some amazing things. “We can’t see it yet,” he said.
And he smiled in characteristic Lonnie fashion and said: “Just because we’re leaving does not mean that we stop our friendships. It now means that you have a friend in Valdosta,” he said. “Any time people drive through, you need to stop and say hi.”
The church is holding a dinner instead of its regular evening service on Sunday, February 22, 2015. This is Lonnie’s last Sunday at Barnesville Nazarene Church. Everyone is welcome to drop through that night—-and any time in between--and talk to Pastor Lonnie and Donna before they leave for Valdosta.
Barnesville Church of the Nazarene holds Sunday School on each Sunday morning at 10 a.m. and worship services at 11 a.m. with Wednesday night services at 7 p.m. It is located at 744 Veteran’s Parkway beside the railroad tracks at the corner of Highway 341 and Thomaston Street.
Lonnie and other winners at BBQ and Blues in 2009.
Bless his heart, he is a Florida Gators fan. (Go Dawgs!!)
Tombstone Pastor at Old Fashioned Day in 2010.
Helping out with Nazarene Compassionate Outreach in 2012.
Helping with Nazarene Compassionate Outreach in the community in 2013.
Lonnie and Donna at a recent baptism.
More fun at Trunk or Treat in 2012.
The Work and Witness Team going to Shawnee, Oklahoma in 2013 to deliver Buckets of Compassion and help out with tornado relief.
Click here for more about Buckets of Compassion.