We were an Air Force family and we lived in the community of Bellmead, Texas with other USAF families. My father, Clifford Greer, was the youngest son of his coal miner’s family of five girls and three boys from Amonate, Virginia. My mother was a war bride from Warrington, England. They meet while Dad was stationed at a U.S. Air Force base there after World War II and during the Korean War. In 1954, they were married in her church and came to the states in March of 1955 where they were stationed at James Connelly Air Force Base. On July 31st, 1955, I was born in Waco, Texas at James Connelly Air Force Base Hospital, and five years later, in 1960, my only brother, David was born. Mom was the one who was our moral instructor and leader and loved to read to us various stories from the Bible. Growing up here as a small child, I do not remember going to church or have any real involvement in any local church. Sometimes however, I was dropped off at local church, be it at a Baptist or a Catholic, or a Methodist, for a special Sunday service. My father did not have any religious affiliation, though he did say that he believed in a higher power. My mother, however, grew up in the Anglican Church in Warrington, England, where she was baptized and confirmed. I remember that my life was good and enjoyable.

     However, in the summer of 1963 and at the age of 29, our mother Beryl Potter Greer died because of an acute heart failure. I was seven and my brother was two. Soon after our mother’s death, in the fall of 1963, our father was called up to serve in South Florida during the Cuban missile crisis. Being a career airman and now ranking as a Sergeant, he was ready to do his duty, but had no arrangements for child care at this time. His supervising officers gave him no leeway and ordered him to put David and me in an orphanage. Against those orders, he quickly worked out an foster agreement to put my brother and I in the home of his sister, Bannie Ball and her husband Graham. Bannie and Graham lived in Southwest Virginia in place called Bandy, Virginia near Dad's boyhood hometown in Amonate, Virginia.

     Although this foster arrangement was to be short term, it turned out to be an extended placement for us. Shortly after the Cuban Missile Crisis and while in his 17th year in our service in the USAF, our father had mental and emotional breakdown and ended up in the Veteran’s Hospital. He spent over 10 years as a resident patient until his condition improved to be point he could be released as an outpatient. So, we spent the next 10 years getting accustomed to our new home and “new parents”, and now looking at a new future.

     Bannie was a homemaker and Graham was a coalminer. They had little formal education to speak of. Bannie had completed the 3rd grade and Graham had completed the 6th grade. They had no children of their own but they were to become our foster parents for the next 10 years. Times were hard and money was scarce and life was definitely different. We left the modern age and ended up in the depression age. We had no indoor plumbing or bathroom. We had a coal stove to heat the house, a wood stove in the kitchen to cook with, a outside well where we drew up water with a wrench and a rope, a three bushel metal tube for baths, an outdoor “Johnny,” a porch for a bedroom with a twin size bed where my brother and I slept, and we grew our own food and canned it. Days now came filled with big chores to do: chopping and splitting wood and carrying the coal for the fire, hauling in buckets of water morning to night. Outside, we plowed and tilled the ground for the food we ate and cut grass and hay for hay making. We would be stacking hay bales from morning to dark to fill the neighbors’ barns during the summer. However, things were not all bad; we had all of God’s green acres to roam. From one mountain top to the other, from one meadow in the deep woods to the spacious pasture lands of the farmers, from the small winding branches to the larger gushing creeks filled with fish, we had our fun, adventures and growing experiences. It was here that I learned how to hunt and fish, to live off the land and how to take care of myself. I grew up learning the rudiments of academia in a small four room Elementary School building, learning carpentry skills from my Uncle Graham, learning about God from Aunt Bannie, and learning about life from them both. Graham never went to church. He spent much of his time bootlegging moonshine to make some money when he was not mining. He did not care too much about God, unless on an auspicious occasion he would say, “Watch out fellows the old lady is praying!” What stories could be told. Yet, Bannie was a “born again” believer who taught the preschool Sunday school class at the local Assembly of God church in Bandy, as well as, the church’s custodian. It was out of her love and deep faith in Christ which carried us through many hard times, our experiences from the Assembly of God church, and roaming throughout God’s green acres where we learned much about faith in Christ as my brother and I grew up.

     I became a baptized Christian in 1967 when I was 12 years old which was the results of a Missionary Conference and Revival event in that Assembly of God church. A missionary from Ethiopia, Africa was the evangelist and after preaching and telling his amazing stories, he gave an invitation to receive Christ as one’s Savior and Lord each night in closing moments of the services. During that event, one night, I went forward to the altar railing and made my first public profession of faith in Christ. The following Sunday afternoon, we gathered on the banks of the Clinch River on a cold but sunny day in February with the church members, pastor, evangelist, and candidates for baptism. Seven converts were baptized by immersion in those icy waters by the Missionary and the Pastor. It was an unforgettable experience and I was elated to be saved and a part the kingdom of God; and no, I did not feel cold, but just the warmth of Christ’s Spirit filling my soul. The following Sunday, I made my membership vows before the church body and joined the Assemblies of God church in Bandy, Virginia. However, at the age of 14, I had a “crisis of faith”, as some call it, and stopped going to church. After a short period of being away from the church, I rededicated my life to Christ at 16 during a Youth Fall Revival held at one of our local United Methodist church in Amonate, West Virginia. It was a part of the two point charge of the Amonate UMC in Amonate, West Virginia and the Mount Herman UMC in Bandy, Virginia. The Reverend Kenneth Pierce was the pastor. He was a college student preparing for the United Methodist ministry in the Holston Conference. He was very influential in my renewed Christian journey and a wonderful mentor and a tremendous encourager. Through his efforts and spiritual guidance, I later joined the Mount Herman UMC by letter of transfer from the Assembly of God. Shortly after, during a youth worship event, I received my spiritual calling into Christian pastoral ministry at the age of 16 in 1971. In the summer of 1973 I graduated from Richlands High School, and later that summer, was approved by Mount Herman UMC charge conference in the Holston Conference, Tazewell District to become a candidate for UM ministry. Aunt Bannie was proud of me on that day, more so than on my high school graduation day. She said that she knew that God had special purpose for my life and that His hand was upon me to do His good work. I will never forget those words. On graduating high school I moved to Roanoke, Virginia and into an apartment with my father, recently released from the Veterans Hospital in Salem, Virginia on an outpatient basis. Two months later, Aunt Bannie was diagnosed with cancer and went onto glory a year later. At this same time my brother, David, moved in with Dad and I. Uncle Graham was left alone to his way of life. However, about three years after Bannie’s death, He gave his life to Christ in a remarkable way at the age of 60 years old. He became a tremendous witness for Christ and shared his testimony with many in his community about his beloved wife. Again, he became an active part of our family, until the Lord took him to glory to be by Bannie’s side when he died of “Black Lung” disease at the age of 67 years old. God is good – all the time!

     After moving to Roanoke and living with my Dad, I quickly discovered that life with Dad was going to be a trying experience. But, we made it and he helped me in many ways to become a man. He helped me to get my first job and my first car. He made me pay my first bills: like rent, car insurance and expenses. He helped me find ways to pay for my higher education, and he help me to find a church to go to, as I began to visit the Belmont United Methodist Church in Roanoke, Virginia. Later, I transferred my membership to Belmont UMC. The Reverend Le Roy Jones was pastor and became interested in me and the story of my call to the ministry. He was instrumental in helping me to get into the Minister’s Candidacy Program of the United Methodist Church, Roanoke District. He was a wonderful spiritual mentor and enabler and under his tutelage for the next four years while in college was I given opportunities to hone my skills of leadership, teaching, singing and preaching. To this day, Le Roy and Peggy Jones remain very close to my heart. I am very grateful for them, as well as, for the wonderful congregation of Belmont UMC in Roanoke. I greatly appreciate all the nurturing and the love I received while I was there. Le Roy and Peggy both had great deal of involvement in my Christian maturing and spiritual growth.

     In the fall of 1973, I entered Virginia Western Community college to pursue on a degree in Philosophy and Religion. It was at this time that I began my United Methodist Minister’s Candidacy course under my appointed elder supervisor the Reverend Jack Minnick who was the current pastor of Huntington Court UMC in Roanoke city. In 1974, I completed my candidacy course in the Roanoke District and was approved as a candidate for the United Methodist ministry in 1975. Also, in 1975, I completed my Associate of Arts degree in Philosophy and Religion; whereupon, I transferred to Radford College in the fall of 1975 and went on to complete my Bachelor of Arts degree in Philosophy and Religion in 1977.

     After my graduation from Radford College, I worked for a year. In 1978, after a 6 month engagement, I married Kathy B. Brammer who I had met earlier while in college and with whom I had fallen madly in love with. She was dedicated Christian believer who was raised in the Baptist church by a wonderful Christian family. She became my “Rock of Gibraltar” in both of my personal and spiritual life. She brought to my life a tremendous confidence building belief in my faith and in myself and a fulfillment of the joy in living. God knew who I needed. Today, she continues to be that dedicated believer, my stabling source, my true love, and abiding friend in my life. I could not have done my ministry or fulfilled my life without her loving and supporting influence. Wherever we have gone to serve in the Lord’s work, it has always been a joint effort to the Glory of God through Christ Jesus to whom we both are grateful for making all things possible.

     In the fall of 1978, I was accepted to Asbury Theological Seminary in Wilmore, Kentucky. Kathy and I left our home in Roanoke, Virginia within two months after our wedding day so that I could work on my Master of Divinity Degree. Three years later and in the summer of 1981, three great events occurred within the three months of that celestial Summer Season. First, I graduated with my Master’s of Divinity from Asbury Theological Seminary. Second, our first child, Christy was born to us on July 16th, 1981; and in August of 1981, we returned to Roanoke, Virginia to fill our first appointment in the Virginia Conference of the United Methodist church as an Associate Pastor of Huntington Court UMC in Roanoke, Virginia. The Reverend Harry Spear was the Senior Pastor and I own him a great deal appreciation in helping me to learn, grow, and mature as a minister in the United Methodist church. I was very fortunate to be brought under his leadership to be nurtured and given the chance to excel in the pastorate. Even now, we hold Harry and Pat and family close to our hearts and thank the Lord for their nurturing love and support during a very difficult time in our lives. It was during our second year at Huntington Court UMC that we learned from our doctors’ that Christy had cerebral palsy, a permanent physical and mental handicap.

     Since then, we have gone on to serve diligently in the Virginia Conference of the United Methodist Church as a Pastoral Minister for the past 23 years at three two-point charges: the North Franklin Charge-Danville District, the Lafayette/Halls Charge-Roanoke District, and the St. John’s-Mt. Pleasant Charge-Danville District. Now, we are serving a station charge at St. John’s UMC in Staunton, Virginia on the Staunton District. We have been blessed to see two churches grow to become full-time station appointments: Gogginsville UMC in Franklin County and St. John’s UMC in Pittsylvania County, Virginia. Moreover, during those years, God has granted us two more wonderful children, Stacey Marie, our redhead, who was born on February 16, 1984, and Jonathan Steven, our only son, who was born on December 5th, 1989. We know that “God is good-all the time and all the time-God is good” because He has watched over all our needs and has taken care of our family and all our needs.

     Also, during these past years, I have enjoyed working within my community, especially in Special Needs reform and advocacy. Having a child with cerebral palsy and mental retardation, I have eagerly worked in the local communities and school systems, where I have served as a pastor, to be an advocate of the mentally and physically handicapped and underprivileged. I have served as Special Education Advisory Committee Chairperson in two Virginia counties: Franklin and Montgomery Counties. I have volunteered many hours with the Danville/Pittsylvania County Mental Health organization as a counselor for children, youth, adults, and families in need and I have served as a volunteer hospital chaplain in the local hospitals. In the Virginia Annual Conference, I have served as a representative for the Virginia United Methodist Mental Association for the Retarded, the Church Board of Society as Health and Welfare representative, and various leadership roles on the Districts.

     In closing, I have always felt the call of the Lord upon what I have done and upon what I am doing in His ministry today. With a certain amount of certainty, I know that this has been my calling because I have loved serving the Lord and his people and especially to see the church grow in the Spirit of Christ and in reaching new members. I have enjoyed working in my denomination and facing the challenges of ministry which occur. I have felt that the leadership of the Virginia Annual Conference of the United Methodist church has encouraged me in my growth and has watched over the many of the needs of my family whenever requested. We feel blessed to be in the service of our Lord and Savior Christ Jesus and as a member of our United Methodist church.