Sunday, October 8, 2000
|
Sunday, October 8, 2000 |
|
Griffith moving on, leaving much fruit behind By JOHN HATCHER
In hanging up his pulpit of nearly 11 years, the Rev. Chuck Griffith says God has told him it is time for a change for the church and for the Griffith family. Griffith founded the Fayette Assembly of God, the first successful planting of an Assembly church in Fayetteville. When he announced his resignation to his flock, Chuck said, "It was the most difficult thing I've ever had to do." Yet, his 11 years of ministry have had more victorious days. When I asked him to reflect on those times when God showed up, Griffith recalled a man coming to his church with a malignant tumor the size of a large orange on the right side of his face. The medical diagnoses called for radical surgery to remove most of the man's right face. Yet, Griffith summoned his own faith, anointed the man with oil, and led his church to pray for healing. The man said he immediately felt a loosening in his face. When the day of surgery came, the surgeon was totally astonished because he was able to remove the tumor completely without disfiguring his face. Griffith added that the man saw the value and fragile nature of life through his experience, retired early, and now enjoys life with his family in Wisconsin. But miracles from God were also evidenced in the finances, an area that virtually every pastor sees as a matter of prayer. "Before moving into our permanent location," Griffith said, "we owed a rent payment of $1,200 and only had $300 in the bank. I prayed and prayed and prayed. That same week, a former member sent a tithe of capital gains from the sale of a house. I knew it was a miracle from God to the tune of $2000," he said. But what is God doing today? After a long pause, Chuck said, "I don't think God is doing any more or any less than he's always done, but we're focusing more particularly in the area of unity." Griffith has been a leader in the unity movement embracing many south Atlanta churches in the last five years. "God's always wanted unity, but it seems that now men of God have brought it to our attention," Griffith added. Turning to a more personal side, I asked Griffith how God had changed him the last 11 years. "I think God has changed my definition of success. Previously, my idea of success was wrapped up in numbers and dollars. Now, I think that success is being faithful and doing your very best." He added that his 11-year pastorate for a relatively young man in that Griffith is only 35 years old has taught him that his security was not found in his position or his personal resources, but only in God. "The last ounce of worldly security I gave up Sunday (when he preached his last message at Fayette Assembly). Even though my church was small when compared to many, it still provided some security. Now, my security is totally in God." In reflecting on his regrets, Griffith told me that he wished he had been more involved in nurturing people's loyalty to the church and to each other. He said, "People used to be loyal to the church. Even when people disagreed with one another and sat on opposite sides of the sanctuary, they still had a loyalty to their church. Now, there seems to be no loyalty. The people get offended and shuffle off to another church and to another and another." The Griffiths' family plans are not sure right now. He's trying to discern God's will and direction for his life and ministry. Faced with providing for his wife, Sherry, and his two daughters, Maci and Cami, Griffith probably knocks on God's door louder than ever. Should they sell their house, pay off bills, move back to their native Columbus, and work in the family business? Should he seek a position with a national ministry? Should he enter what's called an itinerate ministry, speaking in various churches and serving to encourage his fellow ministers? Chuck Griffith is a gifted young man. He's personable, relating as easily with a toddler as a senior adult. He accepted Jesus Christ as his choice for life at the age of 9 and then at 15 responded to God's call for a full-time ministry in the context of a broken home. He is a devoted husband and father, a man of steel convictions but a heart of compassion. Whatever happens and however
God moves him, Griffith said that he wanted his life to be "fruitful
and productive for God."
|
||