Before Ida Mae retired as an International Mission Board (IMB) missionary to Brazil in 2002, she asked God to give her “a ministry in retirement.”
She thinks that prayer was answered Oct. 5 when Weldon Baptist Church in Weldon, N.C., voted overwhelmingly to call her as pastor.
“I consider Weldon to be my missions field in the U.S.A.,” she said in a telephone interview the day after the vote.
Hays, 63, will leave Alabama to begin her tenure as pastor Nov. 16. An installation service is planned for Nov. 23. She will be the church’s first female pastor.
Wayne Martin, the church’s previous pastor, retired in October 2002.
A Missouri native, Hays said the people at Weldon Baptist Church have been wonderful. Her call to the church came together like pieces of a puzzle. “I am excited,” she said. “To me, it’s just awesome.”
Edna Weeks, who led the pastor search committee, said the church is excited about having Hays as pastor. “We’re going to enjoy Ida Mae,” Weeks said. “She’s going to be good for our church and good for our association.”
Hays becomes the second woman pastor in North Raonake Baptist Association. Joy Heaton is pastor of Antioch Baptist Church in Enfield about 12 miles from Weldon.
While a missionary Hays supervised the building of more than 30 churches during her time in Brazil. A chapel at a Baptist camp in named in her honor. She retired in Birmingham and has been a member of Lakeside Baptist Church.
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