Beloved pastor retires after 44 years of ministry
Bob Thompson, pastor of Corinth Reformed Church, is retiring after 30 years of holding the position.
Raised as a “missionary kid” in Pakistan, Thompson was exposed to various Christian denominations and cultures. He later attended Columbia Bible College, where he met his wife, Linda. Linda has served as Christian Education Director for 26 years, and plans to retire this November.
“Being a pastor long term at a place, you get to marry those who you confirmed. It is an incredible privilege. I’ve been blessed with an incredible team here. Our key staff have been here between 20-22 years. We tend to not lose staff people. Because of them, I can focus on meeting with people. And that’s just the paid people. Our lay people have been people of grace. God has sent us a lot of people over the years who have kept us strong,” shared Thompson.
Directly following college, Bob and Linda were married, and served at a church in Thomasville, NC. Thompson refers to being “very comfortable” at the church, and in 1992, Corinth reached out to them.
“It took awhile before we said ‘okay’. Corinth was nothing like we had been raised in. It was more formal,” stated Thompson.
However, they cited the move as a “calling,” and made the transition on March 1st, 1993. Thompson reflected on their 30 years.
“I always knew I’d be in ministry of some kind. What drives me really is the gospel of Jesus. It’s a message that is timeless, and it’s endured, because it’s about what God does for us, not how we respond. The unity around the body of Christ needs to be around this message.”
The driving force throughout the span of his ministry, Thompson shared, has been the unity of the church, both within their specific congregation and the community at large.
“I believe in the visible unity in the body of Christ within the community–not feeling in competition with other churches. The church is much bigger than one church. You don’t perfectly get everyone on the same page, but you do your best to help people
see the unity of the church and unity of God in the trinity.”
Corinth has long been a meeting place for the community, such as school concerts, community thanksgiving services, events held by local non-profits, conferences, missions organizations, the Hickory Choral Society, and Hospice’s Annual Remembrance event.
Throughout his career at Corinth, Thompson reflected, the church has undergone several transitions where they have withstood division, such as implementing more modern styles of worship, denominational voting, and societal polarization regarding politics and the pandemic.
“You have to value and love people throughout the span of their perspectives. Our mission is to keep our focus on Christ.
God is bigger than this. We will be here when this is over and it’s going to be okay,” shared Thompson.
Bob and Linda have plans to move to Wilmington to be closer to some of their family.
“We’ve been doing this together a long time, and we’ve loved working together. We wanted to do this [retire] while we were still healthy. We wouldn’t want this to be a crisis transition for the church because of a health reason,” stated Thompson. “Corinth is ready for a fresh vision after 30 years. This church is bigger than Bob. God is bigger than Bob. We’re putting our future in God’s hands.”
For more information about Corinth Reformed Church, visit Corinthtoday.org