After 52 years at one church, pastor has no plans to quit

Posted: 1/05/07

After 52 years at one church,
pastor has no plans to quit

By George Henson

Staff Writer

SPRING—Earl Hahn, age 84, has served as pastor at Faith Temple Baptist Church in Spring 52 years, and he has no intention of stopping now.

“As long as the Lord lets me, I’m going to keep preaching. I just continue to feel that’s his will for my life,” he said.

When Hahn arrived at Faith Temple from Rural Shade Baptist Church in Cleveland on Dec. 15, 1954, the church was in Hou-ston. Hahn remembers it as a vibrant congregation, active in the life of the community.

The demographics of the community changed, and as membership dwindled, Faith Temple moved about eight miles away. At this second location, in the Scenic Woods section of Houston, Faith Temple enjoyed its heyday, with more than 1,800 members and regular attendance topping 500.

Hahn led the church to sell bonds to enlarge the facility to accommodate the growth. But again, the community began to change, and longtime residents moved away.

“People told me I should just move on and get out of there, but I couldn’t. We still had more than $100,000 in bonds that people had bought, and I couldn’t walk away without those people getting their money back. I had sold those bonds, and I couldn’t see those people lose their money,” Hahn recalled.

Numbers continued to dwindle, but Hahn stayed. His commitment to the people who had supported the church in its building effort was rewarded when the school district bought the property for a sum that allowed all the bonds to be redeemed and left about $100,000.

That money allowed Faith Temple to find new life once more in Spring more than 20 years ago. It has yet to regain its glory years, however.

“It’s been a slow process,” Hahn acknowledged. “When we came here, it was just a country church, but now they’ve started building out here quite a bit now.”

Hahn has remained faithful in visiting people moving into the area, but admits it’s “a slow go.”

But that doesn’t mean he is ready to retire. His love for sharing God’s word and his love for his congregation are as great as they have ever been, he said.

“I love to preach, to open God’s word for the people,” he said. “I believe in getting to the point—no chasing rabbits.”

The greatest part of ministry is obvious, he said. “It’s always a joy to see people come to know the Lord.”

He recalled preach-ing a revival at Pleasant Grove Church in North Zulch years ago when 42 people accepted Christ. “There were a couple of kids, two men in their 80s and all in between. It was great.”

While a student at Sam Houston State College in the ’40s, he was pastor of three small country churches at the same time, he said. “I’ve baptized people in rivers, creeks, stock ponds—whatever was available,” Hahn said.

The 50 to 60 people who attend services each week at Faith Temple are some of God’s best, Hahn said, adding, “I have a wonderful bunch of people here.”

The church has remained committed to missions, he added. The congregation takes a single mission offering with half going to the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering for International Missions, one-fourth to the Mary Hill Davis Offering for Texas Missions and the other one-fourth for home missions. The church also contributes regularly to Union Baptist Association, where Hahn is the longest tenured pastor.

Hahn’s son, Johnny, has led the church’s music ministry more than 30 years, and another son, Wayne, is an active member along with his family. His daughter, Debbie, misses many services taking care of Hahn’s wife of 62 years, Joy. Mrs. Hahn was discovered to have blood on her brain on New Year’s Eve, 1995. She never fully recovered from brain surgery, and for about the last five years, she has been almost completely disabled.

Recently, she had to be admitted to the intensive care unit of a Houston hospital, and Hahn is at her bedside for hours each day.

Hahn recalls how she was a large part of his ministry through the years, especially in children’s work and Woman’s Missionary Union. “She was just so smart, she could do anything,” he said.

His health, he said, has been a blessing from God. “I’ve never had to take any medicines or anything, and I’ve always been healthy.”

And because his health allows it, Hahn said, he is going to remain committed to the one who called him so many years ago.

“I guess I’ll just keep preaching until God tells me otherwise. I can’t do anything but be faithful to him.”

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