After nearly 60 years of ministry, Jim Zachary will retire Aug. 31 as pastor of Crestview Baptist Church in Prattville. The church plans to mark the event and celebrate Zachary’s 80th birthday with a luncheon and special music following the 11 a.m. Sunday worship service.
Turning 80 prompted Zachary to retire — “I feel like I’ve finally reached senior citizen status” — but he hopes to continue to supply pulpits.
Zachary vigorously defends the value of pastors who have reached traditional retirement age. “We have a lot of Southern Baptist preachers today that just because they are 55 or 60, churches will not call them as pastors. That is a shame.”
He himself was 73 when he became Crestview’s pastor. “Crestview is to be commended because they did not let age stand in the way.”
Zachary has come full circle in ministry. He started out serving churches full time, became a bivocational pastor, then ended up in full-time work again. He has served as pastor in Louisiana, Florida, Georgia, Tennessee and South Carolina, as well as Alabama.
A native of South Carolina, he met his wife, Connie, an Alabama native, while he was in the Air Force. Zachary served in World War II.
By the time Zachary heard God’s call to ministry, he was 24 and the father of two children. He remains as awed today by his calling as he was then.
“I never cease to be amazed how God can take a man and, regardless of where he’s been or what he’s done, and if he’ll surrender to the
Lord, He’ll use him. I’m fully convinced that God doesn’t make any junk.”
Zachary attended North Greenville College in South Carolina and New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary. He spent two years in Toledo, Ohio, doing missions work for the Home Mission Board (now North American Mission Board), a stint that forced him into secular work.
When Zachary arrived on the missions field, he discovered there were no funds for his salary, so he managed an appliance store. Through the years he also worked other jobs and even retired as a rural mail carrier from the U.S. Postal Service.
After two years in Ohio, their firstborn son’s health moved the Zacharys south again. Jim III died at age 17 from nephritis in Cross, S.C.
Zachary remembers walking outside the hospital to pray when he realized that nothing more could be done. He asked God to take him so he wouldn’t suffer. “That’s a hard prayer to pray,” he said.
Jim III died Sunday, Aug. 27, 1961. “I’ve seen a lot of people die,” Zachary said, “but I’ve never seen anyone die as easy as Jim.” Zachary preached later that morning, a feat he attributes to the grace of God.
“I said, ‘If there’s ever been a time I’ve got to preach, I’ve got to preach today.’”
The Zacharys suffered another loss three years ago when their son Brent died in a car accident in Wetumpka. They have three other sons and a daughter. The Zacharys have seven grandchildren and one great-grandchild.
Zachary points to the time he spent teaching Bible at Mercer College Extension Center as a highlight of his ministry because he got to
encourage and teach rural pastors who were unable to attend seminary. “I loved it,” he said. “I think I got more out of it than they did.”
He also calls himself blessed to have heard great preachers. In his office are photos of Zachary with W.A. Criswell and R.G. Lee, two of his heroes of the faith.
His longest pastorate, Yarbrough Baptist Church in Montgomery, was 10 years. He went there to supply but ended up as pastor. The same thing happened at Crestview.
Pulpit supply in the future, however, won’t lead to another full-time pastorate, according to Zachary. After all, he’s 80 now.
But after overcoming cancer four years ago, Zachary is in relatively good health, still driving and
strong enough to robustly deliver the message he describes as his theme: “Christianity is not
a religion. Christianity is a personal, individual experience with the Lord Jesus Christ.”
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