The staff and many attendees of
Grace Church of Southern Pines, N.C., surprised the church’s Senior Pastor
Randy Thornton and his wife, Sarah, on Sunday evening, June 30, 2013, with a
celebration honoring the couple’s 25 years of ministry at Grace Church.
The Thorntons, sponsored by Manna
Church in Fayetteville, N.C., moved to Moore County in 1988 to “plant” Grace
Church.
The Thornton’s three adult
daughters asked their parents to put on blindfolds on June 30 before they
chauffeured them to a surprise destination.
“Rebekah, Alison, and Ashley
brought us to the party,” says Sarah Thornton.
Jonathan Thornton, the Thornton’s
only son, was working in Tennessee as a Mission Communication Specialist for
World Changers and could not attend the celebration.
Rebekah and her husband, Ryan
Peterson (spiritual development pastor at Grace Church), invited the Thorntons
and Rebekah’s sisters to their home for Sunday evening (June 30) dinner.
“The card said ‘Family Date Night,’”
Sarah says. “After Ashley arrived at our home from Raleigh, she said I needed
to change my outfit because she thought Rebekah and Ryan were going to have someone
take a family photo. This was not a pleasant thought, as I had been running
errands in the rain all afternoon, ha.”
Sarah thought the dinner was going
to be Rebekah and Ryan’s venue to tell her and Randy that Rebekah was expecting
a second child.
“I had Randy take me to Fresh
Market to purchase a dozen pink roses,” Sarah says. “I hid them in the back of
the car. They wouldn't catch me off-guard, I thought!”
Alison Thornton told her parents
that instead of driving to Rebekah’s house, they were all going to dinner at a
nice restaurant – but it had to be a surprise, thus the need for blindfolds.
“Riding in heavy rain while
blindfolded isn't my cup of tea, but visions of Ironwood Café or perhaps 195
[195 American Fusion Cusine] were dancing in my head,” Sarah says. “All was
well, until the ‘speed bump.' [Grace Church’s parking lot has some pretty tall
speed bumps.] I just said, ‘Oh, no. Grace Church.’”
Ryan Peterson, who emceed the
celebration, and a large crowd waited silently in the lobby of the worship
center as the blindfolded Thorntons, guided by their daughters, made their way
to the building’s front doors.
“There are no words to describe the
surprise we felt as the blindfolds were removed,” Sarah says. “There was a sea
of people we loved, all wearing mustaches in order to look like Randy. We were
surrounded with love and words of encouragement from many throughout the
evening.”
Pastor Michael Fletcher of Manna
Church and Pastor David Schmaltz of Valley Community Church
in Weldon, N.C., sent congratulations via satellite.
Fletcher
reminisced about the Thorntons planting Grace Church “in a former pet store in
a shopping center” in Aberdeen, N.C.
Schmaltz,
a friend of the Thornton’s for 30-plus years, called Randy a “pastor of
pastors” and said, “You’ve impressed me on every level.”
“Words via satellite from pastor
friends Michael Fletcher and David Schmaltz were an added surprise,” Sarah
says.
Former Grace Church Youth Pastor,
Heath Caddell, a Moore County, N.C., native and pastor of Reach Community
Church in Leland, N.C. (a church-plant sponsored by Grace Church), offered
words of encouragement. He shared his and his wife’s experience of finding
Grace Church “in the phone book,” meeting in the Thornton’s home for a weekly
twenty-thirty (age group) Bible study, and his going on to become a youth
pastor at Grace Church.
“We wouldn’t be where we are today
without Randy and Sarah,” Caddell said. “They believed in us.”
Pastor Jerry Daley attended the celebration.
Daley founded the Manna Church in Fayetteville in 1974 and organized “mPact
Churches” (formerly known as Grace Churches International). Daley and his wife,
Nan, live in Columbia, South Carolina, and in Blowing Rock, North
Carolina. Daley, alluded to as “Randy’s pastor,” told the audience that he was
present at Manna Church when the Thorntons were “prayed over” and sent to
Southern Pines to plant Grace Church.
Four Grace Church elders – Tim
Brock, Jimmy Coxe, Mark Hurley, and Pastor David Pratt – offered prayers for
the Thorntons.
Jimmy Coxe, who leads services at the Grace Church Seven Lakes (N.C.) Campus, said about Pastor Thornton, “He never takes his pastor hat off. He’s been a real friend.”
Coxe said three things qualify a person as a church planter: the man, the message, and the mission.
The Thornton’s daughters praised their parents as they stood before the audience during the celebration.
“We’ve seen so many miracles of ‘God providing,’” Rebekah said.
Alison Thornton told her parents, “You poured into the church and people’s lives and our lives.”
Ashley Thornton said about her parents, “It takes faithfulness in hard times . . . They’re all about God. They want to do godly things. It’s not about the ‘Randy Show,’ preaching; it’s all about God.” Addressing her parents, she said, “Thank your for the example you’ve set for us.”
Many former Grace Church staff members attended the celebration.
The church staff showed a video featuring photos gathered from 25 years at Grace Church, and Peterson announced that the church plans to send the Thorntons on a cruise.
After the program held in the
worship center sanctuary ended, attendees enjoyed appetizers arrayed on tables
in the spacious church lobby. The Thorntons sat a table in the church café area
of the lobby and received congratulations from individuals.
Sarah says, “We are thankful for
those who worked so hard to make the celebration absolutely perfect. We loved
the words of encouragement, the video of years past at Grace Church, the
amazing food, and especially the reunion with many friends, old and
new. We enjoyed seeing people whose lives have been changed by Christ and who
are in ministry. That was a highlight of the evening. However, the most
rewarding part was hearing our daughters speak about their faith in God and
their experiences of growing up as pastor's children. It was
very touching to hear them share how they never felt as if the church
was more important than our nurturing of our children.”
She says that she and Randy felt
“so blessed” by the church staff who worked to prepare the celebration.
“And we are so proud of and
thankful for an amazing son-in-law who is following God's call on his life,”
Sarah says. “Ryan did an excellent job of emceeing the event.” ###
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