The Rev. A. T. Jordan Sr. and his wife, Tracy Jordan, will celebrate 25 years of ministry Sunday at Evergreen Missionary Baptist Church in Nash.
The 3 p.m. service will be held at the church, with the Rev. Reginald Reid of Polly Chapel Missionary Baptist Church bringing the message.
A quarter-century in one place is something special, and it means a lot to the Jordans.
A.T. Jordan says his greatest challenge at EMBC was getting the majority of the people to tap into the vision that the Lord had given him for the church.
Obedience to God and perseverance led him to his greatest victory, he said.
The people saw and accepted the vision, and there was spiritual, numerical and financial growth within the congregation.
Tracy Jordan said taking the good and the bad includes learning the different personalities and how to love each person.
Of the challenging times, she said, "They made me pray more for others and myself."
The churches A.T. Jordan had pastored before Evergreen were "family" churches where the members were primarily from his or his wife's families. It was tough coming to a new church as a new pastor and a young pastor's wife.
A.T. Jordan said that as a young preacher, he wanted to change things.
"Before anything can be changed, you have to teach change and share why changes need to be made and share where they need to be made. In order to lead a people to a certain place, you have to teach them there first before you can lead them there."
Holding a bachelor's degree in education from Southern Arkansas University, he believes we are always learning.
He looks at ministry differently than when he started.
He says there's no limit to what the church can achieve if the people follow the pastor as he follows Christ.
Reflecting on his 25 years in ministry, he says that number symbolizes maturity.
Well known for his storytelling, Jordan says a story that sums up his time at Evergreen is the story of a father who had two sons and one of them was sick.
The father needed to take the son to the doctor but had to cross a stream to get there. The stream was too high to carry both across, so he left one son standing on a rock in the middle of the stream and promised to return to get him.
While standing on the rock, the son who had been left behind endured storms, darkness and crashing waves.
When the father returned, he said to the son, "I know you were afraid when I left you."
The son said, "I wasn't afraid, because you promised to come back for me."