C.B. “Buster” Odom started preaching in July 1950. He tried to retire in 1987 and 1997. In 2000, he was recognized for 50 years in the ministry. In 2001, he’s still at it.
Odom currently serves as pastor of Weed Baptist Church in Alabama- Crenshaw Association. He has given up trying to retire.
“Someone asked me how long I expected to preach. I said, ‘Until God calls me home where I will be with Him forever.”
What factors contributed to such a lengthy ministry?
Odom credits people who nurtured and supported him from the time he became a Christian, particularly those from West Highland Baptist Church, Andalusia.
“These were the people who guided my life as I grew in the Lord and His purpose for my life.”
He also said, “I could not have done half of this without my helpmeet, Alene Morgan Odom. She has done many things to help me in the ministry and has been a great mother to our children – sons Danny and Mickey- as well as a tremendous helper in the church. I always know when I am preaching, she is praying.
His sense of humor has helped, too. Odom believes God also has a sense of humor. “I know God is a great humorist or He would not have created a monkey, a billy goat or people like you and me.”
The Alabama- born pastor became a Christian in 1950 and started giving his testimony soon afterward. His first sermon brought some very personal joy.
A happy man
He said, “I began preaching in July 1950, and that day my brother, who was very close to me, walked the aisle and was saved. I was about the happiest man alive.”
He preached wherever he could, including the front porch of his parents’ home, until he was called to serve a church in Florida as interim pastor the following year. Since that time, he has served as pastor of more than a dozen churches in south Alabama and the Florida panhandle. He has led revivals in Alabama, Tennessee, Mississippi, Georgia, Florida and New York, and even preached a sermon in the Holy Land in 1973.
The veteran pastor had advice for younger preachers: “Preach what you understand and God will bless that, then study and grow in the Lord. Get the best education you can, but do not let that rob you of the Lord’s and Holy Spirit’s work,” he said. “Teach people to work with Christ instead of for Him. The hardest part of my ministry was when I did this. Christ promises to go with us always even unto the end, and He will. I can assure you of that.”
He continued, “As a pastor I learned to listen to the people of my churches and learned from them what they wanted. You will enrich your ministry and save a lot of problems if you will see what they want and lead them to build and enjoy working with God. Participate in all phases of the church as their pastor, but do not try to dominate everything they do.”
Odom recommended that young preachers follow the example in the Bible instead of worrying about money or support.
“Just go and God will provide,” he said. “If you get short of money, just go fishing with Peter and you will find the right fish. God is owner of all, and He will divide with His servants.”
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