East Liberty’s Buchanan retires from 49 years of pastoral work, plans to keep preaching

When Fred Buchanan was 14, he felt a very strong urge in his heart that God wanted him to preach. And once he started, he just couldn’t quit. Now, at nearly 69, Buchanan still doesn’t plan to stop preaching, even though he’s just retired.
   
Buchanan closed a 15-year chapter as pastor of River View Baptist Church, Valley, in East Liberty Baptist Association. In doing so, he also closed a 49-year chapter of pastoral ministry. 
   
“I had been brought up in the church and exposed to the gospel most of my life, but I felt a very strong urge in my heart that God wanted me to preach when I was 14. Of course, that’s very scary to a young boy,” Buchanan said. “I remember walking to church one evening with my mother and I said, ‘Mom, what would you think if I told you the Lord was calling me to preach?’”
   
Her response was affirming but he kept the calling to himself. 
   
Through high school, Buchanan was very involved in athletics. He married at age 18 and found that being a new husband required him to take on a great deal more responsibility. The calling continued to grow stronger.
   
“After I got married, I didn’t have baseball and other things to run to, so finally I made the surrender. I told my pastor and a day later, the church licensed me to be a minister,” Buchanan said.
   
He enrolled at Truett-McConnell College in Cleveland, Ga., and while in his first year, Bethel Baptist Church, Tiger, Ga., called him to serve as pastor. After graduating from Truett-McConnell, Buchanan later attended Georgia Southern University in Statesboro, Ga., and Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Fort Worth, Texas. 
   
He said his nearly five-decade ministry has not always been an easy journey, but he always trusted in His calling.
   
“What kept me going was that I knew without any doubt that God had called me to ministry and to the pastorate and that He had placed me where I was and I couldn’t quit. I tried to one time but it didn’t work,” Buchanan said with a laugh. “In fact, I’m not having an easy time of it right now.” 
   
Vivian Buchanan, his wife of more than 50 years, said the transition to retirement has been difficult for both of them.
   
“When you’ve been in ministry for as long as we have and every Sunday you have a responsibility, it’s much different to visit churches as a new member. But we’ll both adjust eventually,” she said.
   
He said they plan to adjust to an active schedule despite not being in a full-time pastorate. 
   
“I plan to go anywhere the Lord wants me to be, doing revivals and missions tours,” Buchanan said. “I want to stay active even though I’m not a full-time pastor.”