By DAVID EPPS
Pastor

At a time when scandals are rocking the church, it is good to be reminded that there are faithful and godly pastors among us. One such man is Pastor Bruce Gossett of Fayetteville.

It's entirely possible that most local people have never heard of him, even though he has ministered in the Clayton/Fayette area for over 25 years. It is often that way with men and women who are true servants of God and His church. They are too busy building God's kingdom to worry about building their own.

Bruce grew up in Griffin just a few houses away from Jan, the girl he was to marry. Although he was a year older than her, and they were neighbors, they really didn't begin to notice each other until after Bruce graduated from Griffin High School and completed a stint in the United States Navy. When he returned, they eventually began to date, were married, and brought four children into the world.

Bruce and Jan never intended to be in the ministry. Not in the early days, anyway. They simple endeavored to be faithful believers. They began to attend Riverdale Church of God, where Bruce worked with the children. After five years of faithful and unheralded service, he became the church's children's minister, a position he occupied for another five years.

It was somewhere around that time that, during prayer, Bruce sensed that God was speaking to him. "Do you love me?" the Lord seemed to say to Bruce's mind and heart. "Then feed my sheep." Soon after, Bruce and Jan began to hold a neighborhood Bible study in their home. It wasn't long before the faithful couple was drawn into the pastoral ministry and founded a church, Christian Fellowship, which would eventually become known as Victory Church.

For over 16 years, Bruce and Jan loved and pastored the people that God gave them. Both were known for their smiles, their compassion, and their generosity. This generosity extended beyond their own church and tradition. When an Assemblies of God congregation lost their piano in a fire, the Gossetts gave the church a baby grand piano. In fact, just a few weeks ago, knowing that a Charismatic Episcopal congregation was about to enter a building program, Bruce and Jan gave the church a humdinger of an electronic digital piano with all the bells and whistles.

Oh, there were setbacks and difficulties during their 16 years of pastoral service, but they took it all in stride and continued to be faithful. They led their church to give to missions and participated in a number of missionary ventures overseas. All they while, they continued to raise their children, and a good job they did, too. The eldest son, age 26, is a Fayette area firefighter and is studying to be a paramedic. The next oldest, a 22-year-old young man is a grocery manager at a major supermarket. The next two, a 17-year-old son and a 15-year-old daughter, are being home-schooled and prepared for life.

Bruce, Jan, and their two youngest children will be leaving the Fayette County area within a matter of days. They have been asked to assume the pastorate of a church in Holland and, after nearly two decades of proven ministry (three decades, if you count the children's ministry) they are beginning a new adventure and a totally new life.

A recent survey reported that seventy per cent of all pastors, who have been in ministry any length of time, say that, if they had it to do over, they'd choose another profession. In the 16 years I have known Pastors Bruce and Jan Gossett, I have heard nary a word of regret.

Although the culture will be different and a new language will have to be mastered, the Gossett family will still do, in Holland, what they have been doing for most of their lives loving God and feeding his sheep. My love and prayers are with them and with their two oldest sons who will be remaining in this area.

Bruce has been and will continue to be a good friend. But more than that, he has been a godly, faithful, honorable, and humble man. He is what my dad used to call a "good man." Such men are my heroes. Godspeed, Bruce and Jan.

[David Epps is rector of Christ the King Church in south metro Atlanta. He may be contacted at FatherDavidEpps@aol.com or at www.ChristTheKingCEC.com.]

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