ROCKY MOUNTAIN NEWS

June 27, 2005

For Pastor's Widow, New Beginning 

by Jean Torkelson

Life's endings are usually obvious. It's beginnings that often masquerade behind tears, unanswerable questions and, sometimes, a solitary seat on an RTD bus.

That was the message Sunday that Kathy Ferguson delivered to her longstanding church family at Riverside Baptist Church. In 1991, when her husband, Rick Ferguson, took over, Riverside was a dwindling downtown congregation of 400. He turned it into a 4,000-member megachurch at 2401 Alcott St.

The cruelest of endings came July 25, 2002, when Ferguson, who had just turned 47, died in a car accident during the family's annual vacation. It was a time of unimaginable grief for the three kids, Brett, Justin and Katie - now all doing well - and Kathy, who has been worshipping for most of the past three years at Faith Bible Chapel in Arvada.

On Sunday, she returned to Riverside to say the story's not over, even if it was "the end of a sweet marriage of nearly 26 years to a man I was passionately in love with."

Dressed in a snappy green suit, looking years younger than 48, Ferguson shared her plans with the crowd: She will become head of women's and special ministries next month at the Church of Pinnacle Hills in Springdale, Ark., a galloping congregation that's grown from 350 people to 1,500 in four years.

Riverside will host a reception for Ferguson Thursday from 4 to 7 p.m. (RSVPs are appreciated by calling 303-433-8665.)

Talk about murky beginnings. Ferguson described what it was like during the past three years, to go from being a pastor's wife to a widow to an employee of a Denver software firm. She commuted on an RTD bus. One day, as the bus rumbled toward downtown, Ferguson said she was socked by a huge wave of disorientation: "Lord, how did I get here?"

It's easy to rejoice in weddings and anniversaries, she said, "but how do we find the glory of God in the painful times? How do we find God when death comes too soon? It's certainly not in glib clichés."

But that's precisely when faith becomes authentic, she said, because "it's tried in the crucible of real life."

God often conceals his plans.

"Trust him anyway," she said.

The loss of Pastor Rick's vivid personality still stings. After the service, longtime members Dan Lyle, 31, and wife, Sarah, 25, wept openly over what the church used to be.

Passionate preacher, playful sportsman, quiet family man - Ferguson was impossible to stereotype. His widow recalled that the year before his death, he plotted a huge, surprise 25th wedding anniversary celebration that unfolded before the entire congregation.

"What a great coup Rick pulled off," she said. "Rick - who didn't have a demonstrative or dramatic bone in his whole body."

The new pastor, the Rev. Jim Shaddix, who arrived in January, doesn't worry about filling Ferguson's shoes, although membership has declined since 2002 and the church is operating with a manageable, belt-tightening deficit.

Says Shaddix, "I'll bring my own shoes and walk in his footsteps."

Michelle Nigro, a close friend of Kathy Ferguson, said she and her husband, David, were close to divorce until the late pastor, then newly arrived, convinced them to turn to God to save their marriage.

"Saying goodbye to Kathy," she said, "is like saying goodbye to Rick again.

On Monday, July 25, Kathy Ferguson will be joining our Ministry Team. Kathy will serve as our Director of Women’s and Special Ministries at The Church at Pinnacle Hills. We are very excited about her joining this Team. Kathy was the wife of Senior Pastor, Rick Ferguson, until his tragic death three years ago. Many of you heard me refer to Rick prior to his death and then our church entered into major prayer for this pastor’s family and church family who were stunned through his accidental death. God placed Kathy Ferguson on Jeana’s and my heart over a year ago, praying and wondering if God might have it in mind for her to join our staff team. Through prayer, discussion, interviews, and more prayer, we are convinced of this. Kathy’s son, Justin, will be attending the University of Arkansas. She has a daughter named, Kate, who is a Senior at Oklahoma Baptist University. Her oldest son, Brett, is now married to Rachel, and they will remain in Denver. Please rally around this gifted, articulate, and special woman of God. I am convinced God has her here for a very special purpose. We will introduce Kathy and her family to both of our campuses on Sunday morning, July 31. Pray for her during this challenging and difficult transition in her life. A new surface on our existing parking lot just south of the Special Events Center should be completed by the time you read this. Also, the new sports fields are shaping up and soon we should be getting some sod and seeding done. This is going to be an excellent outreach opportunity for our church. The Church at Pinnacle Hills site is a beehive of activity. The footings have been poured and plumbing, electrical, tele-data, audio, video, and lighting conduits are part of the slab prep going on at this time. The cast-in-place columns have been completed, as well as concrete bases for parking lot and campus lighting. Keep praying for all of the Contractors, Architects, and Staff as we proceed with these projects

Rick Ferguson killed in auto accident; led Denver church to array of ministries
Jul 26, 2002
By Art Toalston

Dr. Rick E.  Ferguson

DENVER (BP)--Rick Ferguson, one of Southern Baptists' leading pastors in the western United States, was killed July 25 in an auto accident near Hays, Kan., en route to a family reunion in Missouri.

Ferguson, 47, as senior pastor of Denver's Riverside Baptist Church, sparked an array of ministries. Among them: local and international missions and church planting; a crisis pregnancy center and soon-to-open home for unwed mothers; "Hope for Today" TV and radio broadcasts; and creative outreach to ethnic groups, cowboys, sports enthusiasts and motorcyclists.

The fatal one-car accident, according to news reports, occurred as Ferguson's son, Justin, 17, was driving. Shortly after noon on Interstate 70 three miles west of Hays, the front left tire of the family's 1999 Ford blew out. The vehicle, which was pulling a boat, went out of control, slid broadside and rolled two and a half times.

Ferguson, in the front passenger's seat, died in the accident; his son and wife, Kathy, who was in the back seat, were treated for minor injuries at a local hospital and released. Ferguson's 22-year-old son, Brett, and daughter, Katie, 18, were following in a separate vehicle, also en route to the extended Ferguson family's annual reunion at Windermere Baptist Conference Center in Missouri.

In addition to his wife and children, Ferguson is survived by his parents, Wilbur "Menk" and Valene Ferguson. Menk Ferguson is minister to senior adults at First Baptist Church, Arnold, Mo., and was a bivocational pastor for more than 30 years for several churches in the Jefferson (Mo.) Baptist Association while also being a state employee.

Mark Edlund, executive director/treasurer of the Colorado Baptist General Convention, said in a statement released July 26, "In the death of Rick Ferguson, Colorado has lost a key pastor, leader and friend. I don't believe there is another leader in contemporary Southern Baptist life who demonstrates a greater passion for worship or burden for the lost than that exemplified by Rick.

"In the decade that Rick led Riverside, the church planted more than 30 new, innovative churches, sent thousands on mission and raised up countless new leaders," Edlund said. "While we mourn this tremendous loss, we in Colorado celebrate a life well lived and know that for decades to come Rick Ferguson's impact on the kingdom will go on and on."

The funeral had not been scheduled at Baptist Press' deadline July 26; funeral arrangements are being handled by Denver's Olinger Mortuary.

Ferguson, a native of Cedar Hill in the St. Louis area, became Riverside's pastor in 1992, at a time when the church's membership had dwindled to 400. Under his leadership, the church grew to 4,000 members and, through his "Arms Around Denver" initiative, began congregations among Hispanics, African Americans, Vietnamese, Indonesians and others -- including cowboys and bikers.

Speaking at Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary's commencement in May, Ferguson said, "Our model in the church is Jesus Christ -- not CEO-style leaders, but servant-style leaders.

"At the Last Supper, while the disciples were pulling out resumes to see who would be the greatest, Jesus picked up a basin of water and a towel and began to wash their feet. Jesus is still in the business of washing dirty, defiled feet," the Denver pastor said, urging the graduates to "lead with creativity, lead with passion, lead with contrition and a broken heart. But leave here today with a towel and a basin."

"The Lord gave Rick a big church and allowed him to see it become a great church," Rob Norris, director of missions for the Denver Baptist Association, said in a statement July 26. "Rick's vision for evangelism and church planting was fueled by his passion for people who need to have a personal relationship with Jesus."

While Ferguson's death "is shocking and heartbreaking news," Norris said, "The only one not surprised by this event was the Lord himself. Rick was a dear friend and a joy to work with. ... Our prayers are with Kathy, the children and Rick's church family, Riverside Baptist Church."

Ferguson was elected first vice president of the Southern Baptist Convention during the SBC's 1998 annual meeting in Salt Lake City, for which he served as chairman of the Committee on Order of Business.

Ferguson held a master of divinity degree from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Fort Worth, Texas, and a doctor of ministry degree from Luther Rice Seminary in Atlanta. He also was a 1978 graduate of Missouri Baptist College in St. Louis.

Before moving to Denver, Ferguson had been pastor of First Baptist Church, DeSoto, Mo., seven years.

Morris H. Chapman, president of the SBC Executive Committee, said in a statement to Baptist Press, "The news of the tragic death of Dr. Rick Ferguson comes to us as a deep shock. Rick Ferguson was a man of integrity, and respected by all who knew him. His visionary leadership and evangelistic ardor helped him to build one of the truly great evangelistic churches in the Southern Baptist Convention. He was one of the bright young leaders emerging in our Convention, blessed with a keen, creative mind, which he employed for effective ministry. His gentle, sweet spirit had enabled him, though he was still a young man, to become accepted as a statesman among his peers.

"Rick loved the Lord, his blessed church, the great kingdom of God, the Word of God, and he loved the lost," Chapman said. "His life was marked by a deep fidelity to the Scripture and a vibrant compassion for those who do not know the Lord. Rick will be missed by all of us here. We are praying for his wife and children, his extended family, the church staff and the membership of Riverside Church during these days. We commend them all to the rich grace of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Our hope, as Rick so often preached, is in the dear Lord."

Ronnie Floyd, pastor of First Baptist Church, Springdale, Ark., in nominating Ferguson for SBC first vice president in 1998, described the Denver pastor as one of America's "young, premier Christian leaders." In an announcement of his plans to nominate Ferguson, Floyd had said, "Rick Ferguson pastors one of the greatest Southern Baptist churches in the West. ... Southern Baptists need an upcoming leader like Rick Ferguson ... . He is a true spiritual champion and a great leader among us."

In a July 25 statement to Baptist Press, Floyd said, "I believed in Rick Ferguson. He was a passionate communicator and leader. I saw him as being one of the greatest younger pastors in the ranks of our larger membership churches. His family, Riverside Church, the city of Denver and all of our Southern Baptist family will miss him. I grieve for his family and the church greatly. As I think of him, I only know to trust Jesus this afternoon."

An announcement of Ferguson's death on Riverside Baptist Church's website states that the congregation "mourns the loss and celebrates the life of our pastor.

A popular speaker in Southern Baptist life, Ferguson recounted how God led Riverside Baptist Church through a process of awakening, adjusting and activating to more effectively impact Denver for Christ, in a message delivered at a North American Mission Board "On Mission '98" conference at LifeWay Ridgecrest (N.C.) Conference Center.

Riverside was a city-center church recovering after some previous internal struggles when Ferguson said he began envisioning filling the 3,000-seat auditorium two or even three times every Sunday.

Then, however, he and other church leaders realized that even as a mega-church it still would only be impacting less than one-half of 1 percent of the city's population. Thus, the congregation decided to become a reproducing church, planting reproducing churches, now numbering more than 30 in Denver and elsewhere in the West.

"There was a spiritual awakening in our church when God told us where he wanted us to go," Ferguson said. The adjustments involved a complete reevaluation of the church's mission and ministries, he said. Existing structures were changed to fit the new vision. A multicultural emphasis was added to help start congregations that never would have been reached otherwise. Leadership training and discipleship became top priorities.

He noted that rather than the new congregations making the central church suffer -- which he said is the fear of many pastors -- the opposite had occurred.

"Isn't it amazing that the more you give away the more God supplies? It just works that way," Ferguson said. "We preach that way in our financial stewardship, but what about in our spiritual and evangelistic stewardship?"

A feature about Riverside's multifaceted "Arms Around Denver" church-planting ministries appeared in the June/July 1997 issue of SBC Life, published by the SBC Executive Committee. Audio archives of Ferguson's "Hope for Today" broadcasts can be accessed at http://www.oneplace.com/ministries/hope_for_today/Archives.asp.