Passing It On

"Success without succession is failure.” That’s what Stan Allaby said about his retirement from a 41-year pastorate in 1997, but he could rightly have said the same thing about his entire ministry. Just watch. Should the time ever come that he leaves his current post as professor of practical theology at the New England Center of Bethel Seminary of the East, you can bet he will have mentored at least one person who could readily succeed him.

Learning by doing

It all started during Allaby’s undergraduate studies at Gordon College in Wenham, Massachusetts, and his graduate work at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary. While a student he also served as assistant pastor for his home congregation at Quidnessett Baptist Church in North Kingstown, Rhode Island. There, the Rev. Norman S. Townsend took him under wing and trained him in the ways of effective ministry. “He was a fantastic mentor to me,” Allaby says. From conducting weddings to officiating funerals, “he taught me everything.”

So upon completing school in 1956, Allaby was well prepared to accept the head pastor position at Black Rock Congregational Church in Fairfield, Connecticut. He envisioned Black Rock as a place where everyone would be able to find meaningful Christian fellowship and enrichment. Starting with a congregation of 200, he developed a variety of ministry positions and teams to better serve specific groups within the community. “We’re doing this for Christ; let’s do it with excellence” became Black Rock’s staff motto.

Mentoring for the future

Over the next 41 years, Allaby watched Black Rock’s membership grow to more than 900 adults weekly ministering to more than 1,500 people throughout Fairfield. But as the church implemented one successful program after another, did Allaby rest on his laurels? Not a chance. For 10 years prior to his retirement, Allaby mentored and groomed his own replacement. By the time he was ready to step down, Allaby was able to say to the congregation, “It’s time for younger blood to take the lead, and I believe this is the man for the job.” Subsequently, the body at Black Rock made Allaby’s “apprentice” their new pastor.

It is fitting that Allaby would then spend his retirement years on the faculty of Bethel Seminary of the East. Among the distinctives of Bethel’s East Coast teaching centers are ministry involvement and mentoring, which so closely mirror Allaby’s own educational experience. Like Allaby, Bethel Seminary of the East students remain actively involved in church or parachurch ministry throughout their graduate study programs. And like Allaby, they learn from local ministry mentors who provide knowledge, experience, and encouragement to the students within their individual ministry contexts.

“It has always been a dream of mine to share with young people about ministry,” Allaby says. And he is able to do just that as he teaches and mentors Bethel students through courses in philosophy of ministry and homiletics.

Reaping the rewards

But pastoring will always be Allaby’s greatest passion. “I loved being a pastor,” he says. “I don’t think there is a more rewarding profession.” And Black Rock Congregational Church knows it well. Upon his return to Black Rock after a two-year hiatus, the church honored Allaby by naming him pastor emeritus. Though he now lives 100 miles away, Allaby visits Black Rock frequently and is “happy to report that the church is growing and doing well.”

But that should be no surprise. After all, Allaby taught Black Rock’s current pastor nearly everything he knows.

Jon Green of Cloquet, Minnesota, is a senior at Bethel College majoring in writing.