Lance G. Bird

Lance G. Bird is pastor, friend and mentor. When I first came to know the Lord some 20 years ago Lance was my first pastor. Little did I know how much he would mean to my life all these years later? Lance was the pastor of the Saco Biddeford Church of the Nazarene in Saco, Maine. He started the church and over the course of some 13 years or so he moved the church from rental facility to other churches buildings growing the people and the church until finally they purchased land.

  It was under pastor Bird’s ministry that I discover my call from God. I will always remember how patience he was with me with my millions of questions about God, faith and Jesus Christ.  When I kept asking him about “how do you know you are called to preach”, Lance would direct me to God and His word and to learn to listen to the Holy Spirit.

    I remember how he gave me my first opportunity to preach when I was 19 years old. I was basically a high school druggie who worked in a textile mill along the river going nowhere fast when I got saved and led to Lance Church. It was after cleaning up my act and living for Jesus when the tug of ministry began.  I was so nervous that day and he said,” just share your story and it will be fine.  It was fine indeed because it came from my heart and it was exciting to preach the gospel before a group of people and the pastor just sat and listened too.

   It was in the weeks and months to follow that my call became clearer and I spent more time with Pastor Bird learning the lessons of ministry first hand before any formal bible school training. I remember having him take me along to a funeral service of someone who committed suicide. Boy did I have questions on that funeral. And he just seemed to answer those questions with great love and clarity.

    Well the years passed. He baptized me in the Christian faith in lake in Maine. He attended my graduation from Eastern Nazarene College. He performed the wedding ceremony when I got married in Kissimmee, Florida. He dedicated a few of my children to the Lord. He preached in all my Churches that I was either on staff or pastured and just recently visited my current ministry in Virginia after 9 years and just last week went to see the ministry location of where I’ll be ministering in 2009 before I even started. Talk about support and love over the years. Could anyone ask for a better pastor friend? I am blessed!!!

     He’s been there for lots of cups of coffee and great discussions and laughs. We went to Red Sox games along the way together too. He’s more than a pastor to me even after all these years. He’s more than a friend as well. He friend, mentor, pastor and Father type figure as well as a mighty man of God! He is my inspiration to this day. He never got rich as the world would deem such, and he never had a lot of this worlds stuff, but he sure does have a lot of friends scattered throughout his life and I am blessed to have been  one of those people in his life.

     As He was honored to meet Rev. Billy Graham years ago I am equally honored to know Lance G. Bird today.

   Lance and his wife Merry live in South Carolina now and are still precious friends and mentors to this day. I thank God for a man called Lance. If I can have half the influence on others that this man of God has had in my life I will have finished well too.

Thanks Lance for being such a man of integrity. You are indeed in my Hebrew Hall of faith for life!

Serving Him

Peter S.Migner, Pastor