Five Questions for Glennon Balser
Glennon grew up in Kanahwa County in West Virginia. His father Brinford (Buck) Balser was an Advent Christian minister who, while serving at the Clendenin AC Church in West Virginia, was tragically killed in a car accident along with Rev. Rolly Chambers when returning home from a denominational meeting. Glennon was attending Aurora University when his father was killed.
At Aurora, Glennon answered the call to ministry and pursued a degree in theology with a minor in music. Two years later, he finished seminary at Naperville University, Illinois. He also received training in counseling during his early years of pastoring. Glennon met his wife Jean at an AC church camp in West Virginia. They have three children. Jean died at the early age of 59. He met his current wife Betty while serving as interim pastor at the Princeton AC Church in West Virginia.
In his 55 years of ministry, he pastored AC churches in Columbus, Ohio; Clendenin, W.Va.; Lenoir, N.C.; Charlotte, N.C.; Wilmington, N.C.; and Mechanicsville, Va. He served as interim pastor in Princeton, W.Va. and Monroe, N.C. In many of those churches, he was also the choir director. Glennon joyfully served as president of ACGC for nine years and served on many conference and regional boards.
He and his wife Betty have retired to Abingdon, Va. They have four children, seven grandchildren and 11 great-grandchildren.
What's the biggest thing you got right in ministry?
GB: Perhaps relating the Scripture’s truths to Christian living and trying to give them an example by my life.
It was quite a way in... my ministry before realizing that you tend to think “I can do it,” but that you have to trust in the Lord for him to do it and lean on his understanding and not fight against that, but accept it with joy.
What's the big thing you got wrong in ministry?
GB: I have not experienced any regret of doing wrong. Not that I’m perfect, but I haven’t been prompted by the spirit of the Lord that I’ve been a failure at certain points.
I think I had to learn the hard way that you’re called to be a pastor of the church. And if you’re not careful, you could put yourself on a throne that ‘I’m the boss around here,’ when that is not true at all. You have to humble yourself and trust in the Lord with all your heart, you know? And that’s not an easy lesson to learn because you feel good about what you’re doing. If you’re not careful, you let that become an ego that conveys the wrong spirit to your congregation. You want people to look at you rather than you looking at them. In reality though, you’re the shepherd of the flock and you’re the one to guide and protect them. And so, when you do that [focus on the flock], you lose sight of what is happening to yourself and what is happening to them [the flock] becomes more important.
What the thing that brings you the most joy in ministry?
GB: I believe the greatest joy of my ministry was seeing people respond in gladness of heart, rather than feeling like that they had to respond. I feel like that the Lord was using me as an instrument to deepen their love for the Lord and this type of thing. I can’t think of anything any greater than that.
What advice would you give to someone in a situation similar to yours?
GB: Not to exalt yourself as the most important thing of your life. You know, I think when you humble yourself, even to the least degree, rather than centering around yourself, you’re centering around the flock that God has given to you. And it’s not about you. It’s about them [the flock] really, that he called you to that place, or that part of the ministry. It’s not to exalt yourself, but to exalt Christ in their presence and to have them seek his face with all their hearts.
Also, not to fret so much about your situation or condition and don’t fret about being successful, but continue to trust in the Lord. He may be working with you in a difficult situation that maybe you didn’t even cause. The Scripture verse that comes to mind is “trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding in all thy ways, acknowledge him and he will direct your path.” It was quite a way in the growth of my ministry before realizing that you tend to think “I can do it,” but that you have to trust in the Lord for him to do it and lean on his understanding and not fight against that, but accept it with joy.
It’s a lesson to learn that our call to the ministry is not about our personal achievements that we can look back and brag about. God has called us to be shepherds of the flock and it’s to build them up, not to build us up. The Lord will build us up if we are caring for the sheep of the ministry. And we have to get off the ego trip and begin to appreciate the parishioners and love them, support them, show them Christ’s love and forgive as he has forgiven us. You know? And I think that that becomes a fellowship that is so sweet. There’s no bitterness there. You know, people are feeling that they belong to the Lord and it’s a precious fellowship really.
What is the one thing you wish you were better at as a pastor?
GB: The awareness that you don’t understand all that Scripture has to say. You can’t understand it 100 percent from the beginning to the end. But you know, that it’s the Word of the Lord. And I think it’s intended that we not fully comprehend it because it ruins us; rather than being a servant, we’re a know-it-all. I’ve never fretted too much, not fully comprehending, but my job was to share what I did comprehend, and I believe the Lord gives it out in tidbits depending upon how you handle it.
**I’ve been impressed and somewhat overwhelmed with the response of people undergirding me with prayer in this time of illness. And, I hope that it is a witness of what I have lived before them, as servants of Christ that’s reconnecting us rather than feeling sorry for me. They’ve expressed some gladness of heart that we had times together in worship and praise and growth. And so, I feel their prayers have brought me to the point to that I am now…more so than the doctors, even though they’ve been led by his hand to a great extent.
Justin Nash, “Five Questions for Glennon Balser” The Witness, Fall 2021