FAITH

Couple takes congregation outside its four walls

Pastor Raymond and Pam Berry to celebrate 30 years in ministry

Phil Anderson
panderson@cjonline.com
The Rev. Raymond and Pam Berry stand outside Gethsemane Worship Center, 1404 N. Kansas Ave., earlier this week. Two special events will take place in September honoring the Berrys for 30 years of service to the congregation. [Phil Anderson/The Capital-Journal]

The Rev. Raymond Berry used to look around his North Topeka church on Sunday mornings and wonder why more people weren't in the pews.

Sure, Berry said earlier this week, he was most concerned with his members' spiritual growth. Still, he wanted to see more people coming to church.

"As a pastor," Berry said, "you'd like to see your church grow numerically."

A pastor friend then helped Berry see that "our ministry went beyond the four walls of this church," he said.

From that point forward, Berry said, he has been less concerned with how big his church becomes than how involved it is in spreading the gospel in the Topeka community.

In September, Berry and his wife, Pam, will celebrate their 30th anniversary at the helm of Gethsemane Worship Center, 1404 N. Kansas Ave. Two special events are scheduled to honor the couple for their three decades of service to the Gethsemane church.

For a number of years, the Berrys have been active in ministries throughout the Topeka area, including serving at such locations as the Topeka Rescue Mission; Quincy Elementary School; the Brighton Place North nursing facility; and Lansing Correctional Facility.

The congregation also has been active in efforts that bring together a number of local congregations, including the annual Sharefest event each spring and the Topeka Justice and Unity Ministry Project.

Berry said being involved in various community ministries allows the Gethsemane congregation to rub shoulders with members of other churches that they otherwise might not meet.

Berry, 69, said he retired as chaplain coordinator for Midland Care a couple of years ago after serving in that position for more than 12 years.

But with the attendance at Gethsemane Worship Center at about 50 people "on a good Sunday," he said, he didn't have enough work to keep him occupied working only at the church.

Berry said his wife, Pam Berry, 68, encouraged him to "go back to work." So he is back at Midland Care, working about 16 hours a week in addition to his church duties.

In his 30 years of ministry, Berry said he is committed to helping his congregation reach out to the community.

He said the church started in 1989 at Hillcrest Community Center, 1800 S.E. 21st. A few months after it launched, the church moved to its present location on the city's north side and has been there ever since.

The church building's owner "forgave" the remaining $30,000 the congregation owned on the building and also gave it $10,000 to tear down an old house next door to the south so the land could be turned into a parking lot, Berry said.

"We've been blessed down through the years, where we've found favor with different needs," he said. "People have blessed us."

If he has any advice for a young person considering ministry, Berry said that it would be to "make sure it's God calling you. Don't go into this just thinking it's a job. It has to be a calling, because there's so much involved in it."

In addition to working together in ministry for 30 years, the Berrys have been married for 48 years.

Pam Berry, who worked for 22 years in the office at Highland Park High School before she retired 10 years ago, said the Gethsemane congregation is active in its North Topeka neighborhood, particularly at nearby Quincy Elementary School.

"We're not down there preaching," she said, "but we do things to help them, providing for their needs."

She said the church helps with projects that range from providing food to shoes for the children at Quincy Elementary School.

She is active in the church's ministry, both from an administrative standpoint as well as organizing and leading programs including an annual women's conference that attracts more than 100 attendees and a couples' retreat that has been taking place for 11 years.

She said the church finds many of its first-time guests coming through the doors after seeing the congregation's Facebook page — which includes live videos of sermons on Sunday mornings — and its website.

Two special anniversary events honoring the Berrys will take place in September.

• An anniversary banquet will be held at 6 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 7, in the fellowship hall of New Mount Zion Missionary Baptist Church, 2801 S.E. Indiana Ave. The featured speaker will be the Rev. Mark Dupree, pastor of Grace Tabernacle Family Life Outreach Center in Kansas City, Kan. Tickets for the banquet are $30 per person. Reservations are requested by Aug. 30 by calling 785-383-9373.

• Another program will take place at 4 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 15, at Capitol City Community Church of God, 1191 S.E. 37th. The guest speaker will be the Rev. Dennis Douglas, pastor of Resurrection Life Family Worship Center in Kansas City, Kan.

For more information, visit the church's website at www.gwctopeka.com.