Meet Pastor Godfrey
Recently we asked Pastor Godfrey 20 questions. Read on to learn everything you ever wanted to know and more…
1. Give us a brief introduction:
My given name is Richard Godfrey.
2. Where and when were you born?
I was born at home - near Loganville - on May 29, 1947.
3. Tell us about your parents:
My parents are Melvin and Bessie Godfrey. Dad was born and raised near Red Lion and Mom’s home was just outside Salunga (near Mount Joy) in Lancaster County.
4. Tell us about your siblings:
I have one older brother - Donald; a younger brother - Dean; and a younger sister - Darlene. So I’m the second oldest of four children.
5. What is your favorite memory of childhood?
I don’t know that I have a favorite memory, but three things stand out. Our family was in a family butcher business and I can remember from the time before I went to school, working in the butcher shop. That’s probably one of the reasons I considered school to be a vacation - I didn’t have to work if I was in school! But I guess one of my favorite things was our annual trip to Hershey Park. On one Wednesday afternoon each Summer, we would pack a picnic basket and go to Hershey Park for the day as our ‘vacation’. The Park was quite different back in those days, and quite exciting for a country boy like me.
Another favorite thing was playing ball. In the warmer months, we would walk about a mile to my Dad’s home place, where my cousins and I would play ball in the meadow. A creek ran alongside the meadow on the left field side, and if you hit the ball in the creek, you were out, so I learned to hit to the right field early on. Never played a minute of organized baseball, but loved to play softball there in the meadow.
6. How did you meet your wife?
That’s a long story, but here’s the short version: She lived on the farm next to ours. Now, I ask you, what’s more convenient than walking over the hill to meet your girlfriend? It helped that I had a cousin that was dating her sister, and I went along with him, she was available, and we spent time together - sort of double-dating. In time, our relationship ‘grew’, even though my cousin and her sister eventually broke up.
A sidebar should include horses in the story. I owned a horse as a teenager. And we did a fair amount of horseback riding. So I can say that many of our early ‘dates’ were on horseback! I doubt that the young folks of today have that opportunity.
7. What is your favorite thing about your wife?
That could be a dangerous one to answer, but I’ll try. My earliest attraction was that she was female! But from early on, she was an outdoor kind of girl. She seemed to enjoy softball, hunting (note here: she has shot fewer deer than I, but she has a far bigger rack buck than I do - how humbling!), the mountains, kayaking, etc. In later years, she was even the one who got us starting backpacking the Appalachian Trail. So I was struck by her outdoorsiness.
But she was also an integral part of our family business, we worked together daily. And we shared the same goals and faith. We were - are - both active in Church and always have been. Favorite? - not sure. But I think it had a lot to do with our similar tastes in life and a deeply shared faith in God.
8. How long have you been married?
We were married on her 18th birthday, nine days after she graduated from High School, on June 16th, 1968. Getting close to 38 years now.
9. Brag about the kids and the grandchildren:
Jay was born in Feb. 1972, is married and has two boys - Derek is almost six now and Adam, who is about 1 1/2. Jay has his own lawn-mowing business that keeps him more than busy in the Spring, Summer, Fall. He works in the butcher shop thru the Winter. His wife, Michelle, is a stay-at-home Mom who helps some with the mowing. They live within a quarter mile of us, so we get to see them often.
Becky Jo was born in Dec. 1973, is married and has two children also (is also expecting a third in August ‘06). Kylie is six and is bilingual (she is pretty fluent in sign language!). Austin is about 3 1/2 and is the typical high strung, live-wire three year old boy. Due to a serious illness at 11 months of age, Becky is deaf. Her husband - Rick - is also deaf, as is Austin. So Kylie is the ‘ears’ of the family for now. Becky worked at the Maryland School for the Deaf until her second child. She is now a stay-at-home Mom, with a busy schedule as a Tupperware consultant. Rick is in charge of the computer system at Galluadet College in Washington DC. They live in Frederick, MD, which is about 1 1/4 hours from where we live. So we get to see them quite regularly.
10. Tell us about your “calling” to the ministry:
With a grandfather and a father having been in the butcher business, I grew up assuming I would always be a butcher. I think three things impacted my life: my experience of two years in BVS, our experience of Becky’s becoming deaf and the ensuing years of raising a deaf child and the sensitivity to people with ‘handicaps,’ and a life-long close attachement to the Church and faith. I had held just about every lay position of leadership in the Church over my time at Codorus COB.
Probably 20 years ago by now, I sensed something missing in life. Changes in our home Church led to opportunities to teach and lead there. A growing sense of fulfillment in that teaching arena led me to feel the draw to someday be a teacher in a Christian school, I thought. In the meantime, Gerry was also feeling some ‘call’ of a sort. With our both being intergral parts of a small family owned business, it was tough to just up and leave, however.
But Gerry was the first to pull out, go to college, and then on to Seminary. We felt God was leading us that way. Our interpretation was that she would pursue her education, be called to a pastorate, then I would follow suit. Some of the best laid plans……you know!
About the time she started Seminary, I just couldn’t wait any longer, the call seemed too strong. So I started the District Minstry Education program. The rest is pretty much history. I was about halfway through those courses, when I learned of the opening here at Madison Ave. It was at that time that it just seemed as if every door that needed to open, opened, and every door that needed to close, closed. And it was like God took this slow-learning butcher by the hand and set me down here, and insisted that, with God, nothing is impossible. Hard to believe, but not impossible!
11. What is the best thing you’ve gotten to do since becoming a minister?
I am continually amazed at the ‘opportunities’ I get to experience life! I’m not sure I can point to one thing. It’s been a real privilege to be included in people’s lives at the most intimate (formative, important, life-changing, exciting, revealing, etc.) times of their lives, like weddings, anointings, serious illness, disease, births, deaths, and all the rest. People are really open to ministry at those times, and you feel like there’s something awesome about the way God and His Holy Spirit move in our lives at times like those.
I appreciate the opportunity to be included in people’s personal lives, in the formation of new spiritual disciplines within lives, in the deepening of friendships within the congregation, and the opportunity to just be in ministry. Many rewards are intangible, but there are definite times of real emotional charging that are energy building beyond imagination.
Ministry is obviously many-faceted. No two days are the same. And that’s exciting. I love to read, and I’ve been able to expend my reading tremendously. Favorite - I think seeing people’s personal relationship with God grow. That’s what makes some of the less encouraging times unimportant. But there is a down side as well. It really hurts to see people leave the family of faith, become inactive or offended and discard their fatih.
12. What is your favorite animal?
I’m really an animal person. I do love animals. I’d guess my favorite is the white tail deer. There’s something special about their grace and freedom. But I also retain my love for horses, though I haven’t ridden for some time now.
13. It’s no secret that you don’t like cats. What have they ever done to you?
Cats are okay. God made ‘em so they must have a purpose. I just don’t think that purpose is to spread hair around the inside of a house. A barn cat is almost a necessity. A house cat is, well, ……..ummm…unnecessary.
14. If you could have three wishes, what would they be?
Did you hear the one about the guy who…. anyway - that’s a tough one. I really think all of mine would be spiritual. At my stage in life, I have no desire for stuff or things. I’d rather if folks could just see the amount of energy wasted in trying to accumulate and/or have the ‘ultimate experience’ whatever that may be. I’d wish for everyone to see the power and fulfillment of living for God, reading and following His Biblical guidelines for happiness and success. I’d wish for people to be able to know peace in their lives. For people to know the need for God in their lives before they are in a hospital or on their deathbed or in the middle of a broken relationship. I’d wish for all of us to understand the importance of worship and prayer and time with God.
15. Tell us about the best…
1. …book you’ve ever read:
oh my. I can’t do this one. Some of the are:
“Surprising Insights from the Unchurched” - Thom Rainer
“When God Doesn’t Make Sense” - Dr. James Dobson
“A Roger Caras Treasure” or any book by Roger Caras
“Song of Solomon” in the Bible
and many, many more
2. …vacation you’ve ever taken:
(all of ‘em!) to 1000 Islands about 20 years ago, to the AT
3. …person you’ve ever met:
can’t do this one either, but in the running are…
Jim Hardenbrook, Larry Dentler, Bill Hayes, Harold Yeager, Chris Douglas, and many more; I refuse to single out folks here at MACOB, but several would also be on the list
4. …food you’ve ever eaten:
ice cream!!!!! But also steak - most any meat
5. …car you’ve ever owned:
I don’t think I’ll ever enjoy a car more than my 1967 Chevy II Nova SS
16. If you could go back and change one thing in your life, what would it be?
Probably if I could, I would have entered the ministry earlier in life, but then, I also think that I really wasn’t ready before. I think it took me that long to get some semblance of the maturity and sensitivity to be able to deal with the varied aspects and expectations of ministry. In reality, the only change would be to have been more serious in my own faith walk.
17. Tell us something about you that might surprise us:
I wasn’t really a rebellious kind of person in my youth, never really got into any trouble or caused trouble for others. I’d guess what may be hardest for most folks to believe is my lack of ease in front of a group of people. I’m prone to be the one who can just sit or stand in a corner out of the spotlight, out of the action. I’m uncomfortable being the center of attention. It was a huge ’step out of my comfort zone’ to be a pastor and learn to be in front of people. I still get serious shakes on a Sunday morning during Worship.
18. What is your favorite song and why?
I’m old enough to be quite traditional in my choice of music. I love many of the old hymns of the Church and really don’t need a hymnal for most of them. I fear our young people are missing a whole lifetime of theology by missing out on the old hymns. But, by the same token, I think many of us old people have sung those songs so often, that we don’t even think about the words we are singing. We just like the sound of the music. But I really love the old hymns.
That said, I must say I thoroughly enjoy much of the contemporary Christian music as well. I like the sound of it, the instrumentation, and especially, the words. Just like the old hymns, many of the lyrics are direct quotes from Scripture. I also like the energy in most of the newer songs, though I feel the old hymns can be played and sung with energy, too. We just fail to do that too often.
“There’s A Place” “Days of Elijah” “Here I Am” “Grace Alone” “Wonderful Name of Jesus” “Trust and Obey” “Here I Am, Lord” are just a few of many favorites. I could probably better answer that my favortie music is that which is played and sung in Church.
19. What is the hardest question you’ve ever had to answer?
I really don’t think we humans can adequately answer some questions like “why does God allow ______ to happen?” There’s just too much there for us to comprehend when folks ask why God allows bad things to happen to good people. But I think we must also ask, why does God allow good things to happen to bad people, and perhaps our response to that one may help the first. But the questions that expect me to answer for God are surely the hardest ones to tackle.
20. Anything you want to add?
I think the interviewer did a great job of covering the whole gamut of areas. I would only add that I consider it a privilege to be a pastor. The demands are quite huge, the expectations unending sometimes, the effort unappreciated often; but the benefits and privileges and fulfillment is unmatched in any other calling. My only regret is my inability to help others experience the same call and need to be in relationship with God, and to understand our need for Jesus on a daily basis.