Pastor of Calvary Baptist Church retires

The pastor of Calvary Baptist Church has retired and he delivered his last sermon at the congregation on Jan. 7.

Brother Darel C. Bunch served the church for 25 years.

“Today is a monumental day for me but I want to say this, it is also a monumental day for our church,” Bunch said, while giving his sermon. “We’re meeting here on the first Sunday of the new year. For this Sunday marks a new beginning both for me and for Calvary Baptist Church.

“Some of you have asked me, ‘Brother Darel, what are you going to do after you leave here?’ My answer is, I don’t have the slightest idea. There’s no manual that I’ve been able to read that tells me that. But I want to say this, after they asked me that they said, ‘Brother Darel, are you anxious about that not knowing?’ My answer to that is, not really.”

Bunch said if there is anything he has learned in his total of 38 and a half years serving as a pastor, it is that his master is in control of things.

“The path that I’m going to walk in, I’ve never walked in before but my unknown is certainly known by Him and He knows my path,” Bunch said. “But also, the flip side of that is the same is true for Calvary Baptist Church. My master is also your master.”

He cited Jeremiah chapter 29:11 which says, “For I know the plans that I have for you.”

”This is the Lord’s declaration plans for your welfare, not for disaster,” Bunch said. “To give you a future and hope. That’s the Lord that we serve. That’s the one who loves us. That’s the one who cares for us. That’s the master that we all trust in and look to.”

Bunch said he wanted the congregation to look at the past and then focus on the future.

“I want us to examine some things that are priorities in the Kingdom of God and everyone of us here today,” Bunch said. “If you know Jesus is your Lord and Savior, you’re a part of that team. You’re a part of the plans that He has not only for this church but for the church that you live in, that you work in and that you serve in.”

When talking about the church, Bunch said he is not speaking of the building.

“It’s a wonderful building, it’s a beautiful building,” he said. “We’ve had the pleasure of seeing it remodeled in my tenure and it is a beautiful building, but it’s not the church. “It’s the church building, it’s the building that holds the church. Again, the people of the church.

“I’ve had a lot of people that have said to me over the years, ‘Brother Darel, I don’t know what I would have done if I didn’t have the church,’ and they were talking about the people of the church. It’s good to have people alongside of us when a job plays out or we’re unemployed or when sickness invades our bodies or when a loved one dies.

“It’s also good when joy comes. I couldn’t help but think about the many of you that I have shared when your children have been born. Held your babies, some of them on the very first day that they were living in this world, and what a joy that is. It’s good to have people that come with us and can share in our times of joy, our times of blessings, and it’s been a joy for me. It’s been joyous to be with you in those times.”

Bunch praised congregation members and church staff, including the musicians which he described as “top shelf.”

“With us, with me and I never have to worry about how it’s going to be handled,” Bunch said. “Our praise team and our musicians, they handle things so Godly and they bring us stuff in the worship every Sunday.”

Bunch spoke of deceased members of Calvary Baptist Church.

“Each one of them touched my life,” he said. “Each one of them were a part of my life and in various ways, God used them and it was a blessing to know them and for God to allow me to be their pastor. I’m so glad that I’ve been able to spend time with them, but in many of them, I did their funerals and in the process of doing that, I came to know their family.

“I had the opportunity to minister to those families and yes to weep with those families, but to also talk about memories that they had with those people. I came to know them and I came to love them as well. What an honor. What a blessing it’s been to look at the heritage and to think about those that have been a part of my life.”

Bunch spoke of the many who have walked alongside him all through his years at Calvary. He said he will miss all of them.

“I want tell you things are in good hands at Calvary Baptist Church,” Bunch said. “Things are going to be handled. Things are going to run smoothly behind the scenes because of these that I’ve mentioned. You don’t have a lot to worry about there, but I would encourage you to be extra faithful and diligent in your service as well. I just believe that is something that God would want us to do. We’re not folding, we’re not closing the doors, we’re moving on. When I say we, I’m talking about us as a church and I’m still a part of it for a few more hours. The old guard is gone as I will be in a few hours, but the call of God continues to ring out to His Church.”

Like pastors that have left before him, church membership for Bunch will change, but one thing that will not change is God being a part of his life.

“I have a difficult time referring to myself as retiring,” he said. “I really have. I’ve wrestled with that. I don’t believe God has called me to retire from serving Him and His kingdom. I pray that when my time comes to be put out to pasture that God will just take me on to those greener pastures in Heaven.

“But in the meantime, I’m not dead yet. How many of you are not dead yet? Then God’s not through with you, either. I like the old hymn that sings out, ‘We’ll Work ‘til Jesus Comes,’ and then we’ll be called on home.”

Bunch spoke of the church’s greatest priority which is Jesus.

“As I’ve stated many times, this is Jesus’s church,’ Bunch said. “He established it with His blood. He empowers it with His spirit. He leads it by His word. We look to Him for guidance. Jesus is the total theme of this church. Our duty and our calling is to lift up Jesus. To lift Him up that others might be drawn to Him.

“Let me get this priority real straight for even today’s service: It’s not about the messenger, it’s about the message. It always has been and our message is Jesus. Our duty is to proclaim Him as the hope for a lost world.”

Bunch estimated that some of the members had heard him preach more than 3,000 sermons during his time at Calvary Baptist.

“How many of you slept through some of them,” Bunch asked, drawing laughter.

“I’ve said before and let me say it one more time: Our Lord has great plans for Calvary Baptist Church of Durant, but He chooses to do it through you. Yes, I’m leaving, but God’s not. God’s purposes and God’s plan for Calvary Baptist Church is in His hands. I would say it is in good hands, wouldn’t you? You’re His church. You’re His people and His plans the Bible says are good and not evil.”

Bunch became emotional as he delivered the last words of his final sermon at Calvary Baptist Church.

“I thought I was going to make it,” he said. “May you walk in faith and in joy as you serve our master and all God’s people. I’m going to invite you to come this morning to pray at this alter. To pray for each other. To pray for the church. To pray if you would, not only this morning, but in the days to come for me and Cindy that we’ll find that path.”

Bunch was born in Merkel, Texas, 17 miles west of Abilene.

His earliest memories as a child were of being at church and the family attended Calvary Baptist Church in Merkel. He came to know Jesus as his Lord and Savior as a young boy, and met his future wife, Cindy at the same church.

Bunch pastored at Bradshaw Baptist Church between Abilene and Winters, Texas, and then was called to Bennington First Baptist Church to be their full-time pastor.

After five and a half years in Bennington, he received the call to go to First Baptist Church of Wilson, Oklahoma.

In the first week of January 1999, Calvary Baptist Church in Durant called him to serve as their pastor.

“God blessed us with another wonderful church and surrounded us with lifetime friendships,” Bunch said, in an emailed bio. “It is where I have ended up spending more than one-third of my life – 25 years. God has so richly blessed me and my family. I am so grateful for every opportunity that He has given me to serve in His Kingdom. To Him be all the honor, glory and praise.”