30 May “Nice Way to Go Out!”

As previously noted, Lester Smith is retiring on June 1 after 38 years of United Brethren ministry. On May 20, as he prepared to conclude 20 years as pastor of Hillsdale UB church–or the HUB, as they call it–Pastor Smith baptized eight persons.

Bishop Todd Fetters preached to the congregation that morning and prayed for the new pastor, Josh Good.

Among the persons being baptized was the mayor of Hillsdale. Said Smith:

I imagine this will be the last time you will be receiving any submissions from me. These are pics of the 8 baptisms we performed at my last HUB Service on May 20th. The Bishop delivered a great challenge to our congregation on praying for our new pastor, Josh Good.

The guy waving his arm from the baptistry tank is the mayor of Hillsdale.

“Ironically, the last time the Bishop spoke at the HUB was also the first time Mayor Adam Stockford attended our worship service. It was February 25 when we dedicated our new Children’s Wing. Mayor Stockford was one of our invited guests along with our state representative and state senator. He must have liked what he saw (or maybe it was the Bishop’s preaching), because he has continued coming with his family to worship at the HUB ever since. The mayor’s two sons were also baptized.”

He added, “His first public confession of faith was my final public act as HUB senior pastor. Nice way to go out!”