{"id":26013,"date":"2024-10-31T13:28:22","date_gmt":"2024-10-31T17:28:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.namb.net\/send-network\/?post_type=resource&#038;p=26013"},"modified":"2024-10-31T13:28:22","modified_gmt":"2024-10-31T17:28:22","slug":"88-year-old-pastor-no-to-retirement","status":"publish","type":"resource","link":"https:\/\/www.namb.net\/send-network\/resource\/88-year-old-pastor-no-to-retirement\/","title":{"rendered":"The Golden Years: Retirement? Not an option for this 88-year-old pastor on mission"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"ast-oembed-container \" style=\"height: 100%;\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"George Golden, 88-Year-Old Church Planter\" src=\"https:\/\/player.vimeo.com\/video\/1021838522?h=f09fd4510b&amp;dnt=1&amp;app_id=122963\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"autoplay; fullscreen; picture-in-picture; clipboard-write\"><\/iframe><\/div>\n<p>2,964 Sundays \u2014 that\u2019s roughly the number of Sundays George Golden has served as pastor. And at 88 years old, his Sunday morning routine isn\u2019t much different than at 21, when he was planting his first church in Greenfield, Miss.<\/p>\n<p>Now in Ventura, Calif., George arrives early at the Poinsettia Pavilion, a hillside event space overlooking the Pacific Ocean, where he is planting First Ventura Church. He meets with his core team and greets congregants as they trickle in. At 10:00 a.m., he takes to the stage to start the service and returns after worship to preach. After the Sunday gathering, George and his wife, Dorothy, linger in conversations until they are the last to leave.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019m exhausted just watching the guy,\u201d says Kirk Overstreet, who serves as a Send Network church planting catalyst and attended First Ventura\u2019s launch Sunday a few months ago. \u201cAt 88 years old, he\u2019s still got so much stamina, and his wife is the same way. They have been a power couple all these years and are still making an impact for the gospel.\u201d<\/p>\n<h4>Pastoring a 6<sup>th<\/sup> Church<\/h4>\n<p>Stamina is precisely what George prayed for when he forwent retirement for the third time, dedicating his golden years to plant what will be the sixth church he has pastored.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI asked God and said, \u2018I\u2019m in. If you keep my mind sharp and my body healthy, I\u2019ll keep going,\u2019\u201d he shares. \u201cMy friends retire. I would like to retire, but I just cannot keep the fire from burning in my bones to keep going. I searched the Bible over to find a place to give me an excuse to retire, but I can\u2019t find it.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>What keeps taking George out of retirement and back into church planting is the tremendous need for the gospel that he still sees all around him. His prayer is to lead a church that is \u201calive\u201d and reaching out to its community rather than a church that only focuses inward.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe could have said \u2018no,\u2019\u201d says Kirk, reflecting on what he\u2019s learned from observing the Goldens. \u201cHe could have just enjoyed the last years of his life, but he responded to a moment where people needed to get saved and have a church.\u201d<\/p>\n<h4><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\" wp-image-26016 alignleft\" src=\"https:\/\/www.namb.net\/send-network\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2024\/10\/George-and-Dorothy-Golden.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"400\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.namb.net\/send-network\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2024\/10\/George-and-Dorothy-Golden.jpg 1920w, https:\/\/www.namb.net\/send-network\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2024\/10\/George-and-Dorothy-Golden-225x300.jpg 225w, https:\/\/www.namb.net\/send-network\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2024\/10\/George-and-Dorothy-Golden-768x1024.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.namb.net\/send-network\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2024\/10\/George-and-Dorothy-Golden-1152x1536.jpg 1152w, https:\/\/www.namb.net\/send-network\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2024\/10\/George-and-Dorothy-Golden-1536x2048.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/>Golden Years, Golden Legacy<\/h4>\n<p>Before planting First Ventura Church, George was serving as the interim pastor of Fillmore First Baptist Church. In May 2024, he passed the baton to Send Network planter Ken Castellanos. As they have stepped into the replanting journey, the very church George once pastored has now become his <a href=\"https:\/\/www.namb.net\/send-network\/sendingchurch\/\">Sending Church<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThey help me spiritually, and they\u2019re just a good support. It makes a huge difference,\u201d says George, who has over 65 years of ministry under his belt.<\/p>\n<p>In fact, at this stage of life, that\u2019s exactly what George holds most dear \u2014 mutual support and encouragement. He\u2019s found that in the Send Network family in California, as pastors gathered to support First Ventura on Launch Sunday.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI have the networking,\u201d says George. \u201cI have the plan on how to start a church, but all I need is their spiritual and emotional support, and they\u2019re giving me that.\u201d<\/p>\n<h4>Retirement Not an Option<\/h4>\n<p>When it comes to starting a church, George believes in following the principles of multiplication rather than addition. Every new person who walks into church has a group of people only they can influence and reach out to, so George encourages his congregants to reach out to the people in their circles, creating ripple effects of gospel impact in a community.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI am realistic,\u201d George shares. \u201cI know I only have a short time to do what I got to do, so I\u2019ll be training somebody under me to take over, just like I did in Fillmore.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>If God will allow him, George is praying to serve at First Ventura for two or three years \u2014 which just might put him over 3,000 Sundays as a pastor.<\/p>\n<p>To learn more about how your church can join a movement of other churches committed to joining in God\u2019s kingdom expansion through church planting, visit <a href=\"https:\/\/www.namb.net\/send-network\/Mobilize\">SendNetwork.com\/Mobilize<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>2,964 Sundays \u2014 that\u2019s roughly the number of Sundays George Golden has served as pastor. And &hellip;<\/p>\n<p class=\"read-more\"> <a class=\"\" href=\"https:\/\/www.namb.net\/send-network\/resource\/88-year-old-pastor-no-to-retirement\/\"> <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">The Golden Years: Retirement? Not an option for this 88-year-old pastor on mission<\/span> Read More &raquo;<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":26014,"template":"","meta":{"_oasis_is_in_workflow":0,"_oasis_original":0,"content-type":"","site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"default","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"set","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""}}},"tags":[],"channels":[],"topics":[],"languages":[],"class_list":["post-26013","resource","type-resource","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","resource_type-article"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v24.0 (Yoast SEO v24.0) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>The Golden Years: Retirement? 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