The Register Citizen (Torrington, CT)
Upon retirement, pastor reflects on five-decade career
The Rev. William Ashburn remembers experiences with city parish
TORRINGTON » During his career, The Rev. William Ashburn traveled halfway across the country and back again, north and south, before finding his way to Torrington in 1964, where he brought love and faithful service to the First Assembly of God Church for more than five decades.
Ashburn recently stepped away from the congregation he helped build, retiring as the senior pastor of the church after 53 years.
Being a pastor, Ashburn said this week, was not his initial plan — he followed a calling from God.
He was born in Tallahassee, Florida, he said, to a devout family. But as a young man, he had his eyes on worldly ambitions.
“I grew up in a relatively poor family,” said Ashburn. “I wanted be a certified public accountant, and I wanted to make a lot of money, and I wanted to give money to the churches and to the pastors.”
But he felt called to become a man of faith in college, and his father had raised him to follow the call of God. The thought did not leave him, and he eventually decided to go with it. Then, he felt at peace.
“I struggled with that for quite a while, and it wasn’t until I said yes to God about that, that I felt peaceful,” said Ashburn. “I remember saying to the Lord, ‘Oh God, I know that ministry don’t make a lot of money, and so, it’d have to be beans and cornbread the rest of my life, and live in a mud hut in Africa, that’s what I’ll do if you want me to do.’ And I felt peaceful with that.”
He met his wife, Joyce at Southeastern Bible College, and they were married in his last year. They became a team that held and worked together until her passing, he said.
“We have always been in ministry together; we have always worked very closely together with each other,” said Ashburn. “We did everything together — we started schools and churches, and all kinds of stuff. We were actually a team, together.”
Their journey led them to in the farmland of South Dakota, he said — his first assignment as a preacher. He and Joyce then loaded their small trailer, he said, and continued on New Hampshire.
“I was very, very young and I was very adventurous, and at that point, I had no goal in doing anything except doing missionary work and doing what God wanted me to do,” said Ashburn.
At the suggestion of a fellow missionary, he and Joyce came to Torrington in 1964.
The couple had three small children at that point, according to Ashburn’s daughter-in-law Carol. Ashburn, at age 28, found himself on Oak Avenue, leading the First Assembly of God church, with a congregation of about 20 people.
Member Steve Gulyas’ uncle and father were the first two members of the church, he said Thursday. His family was friends with Ashburn and Joyce as he grew up — he played with their children.
Over the years, congregation outgrew the building on Oak Avenue, which was sold to the Salvation Army, and moved to New Harwinton Road.
Construction on the church at 387 New Harwinton Road began in June 1974, according to Ashburn’s daughter-in-law Carol, and was completed within a year.
Ashburn was hands-on in the effort, Gulyas said — he worked on the church roof with his uncle.
“He was always in the middle,” said Gulyas.
The Torrington Christian Academy was founded under the pastor’s watch in 1979, The church also founded a bus ministry, catering to local children, he said, and a preschool as well. The congregation swelled to hundreds, Ashburn said, and almost three hundred people were baptized during his tenure.
“Every step was just very, very exciting. “We were always excited about what we were doing, and God was very, very good to us,” said Ashburn. “I think it (the excitement) comes from seeing God accomplish such important things in your life, seeing things happen that you never expected to happen before.”
Steve Brown and his wife joined the church in 1979, as they sought a Christian school for their children.
“He was a fabulous pastor,” said Brown. “(Pastor Ashburn) was incredibly dedicated to both the church and the school.”
Ashburn served the congregation for more than fifty years, working with love and dedication.
“He was the epitome, the example of faithfulness,” said Brown.
“You could talk to him about anything and he always had the right words to say,” said Gulyas.
In June, Ashburn retired from the congregation. The move was difficult, he said, but he’s confident in handing off the reins to Pastor Clark Hausman.
“I was getting older, and it was a hard step for me to finally say, you know, I know it’s time for me to go. That was very hard,” said Ashburn. “I just believe he’s going to do a really great job, and the people there are going to do a great job, and I will bless them every way I can.”
Hausman said Thursday that the Ashburns had created a legacy of ministry in the church, which includes 80 to 100 congregates at this point. He began working at the church in 2013, and worked alongside Ashburn.
“I feel like I have some really big shoes to fill,” said Hausman. “I am following in a very large shadow.”
His congregants remembered Ashburn, and his tenure, fondly on Thursday.
“He’s just an amazing man, and it’s tough to see him leave,” said Gulyas.
“He can feel really good that he did a fantastic job,” said Brown.
The chance to lead the congregation, Ashburn said, and call out to people spiritually, was a pleasure, and the community was receptive to them.
“We had some very, very precious people. They were hard-working, they loved God, and we loved them,” said Ashburn. “We just wanted to reach more people, and tell people about Jesus. I always loved working in Torrington. It was a wonderful, wonderful place to work.”
The time at his beloved church, he said, was a blessing.
“I was very, very blessed of God to be able to be there with all these precious people, and the community,” said Ashburn.
“(While working there) we would go down the road, and I would say to my wife, ‘Joyce, we’ve been so incredibly blessed of God. Just think, we have all these blessings of God we have happened to.’”
Ashburn says he plans to continue to do so as he considers his future relationship with the church.
“We wanted to live the life that God wanted us to live. And I think that means — I’ve said it this way a lot of times: it means loving God with all your heart, and all your mind, and all your soul, and loving your neighbor as yourself,” said Ashburn. “And then telling the world about it.”