July 3, 2024
TRUSSVILLE, Ala. — When Alan Long left an established career in medicine to follow God’s call to the ministry, he not only followed the leading of his Heavenly Father; he followed an example set for him by his earthly father, James Long, minister of homebound care at First Baptist Church Trussville and author of “Essential Discipleship Preparation.”
In 1979, God began speaking to James, then an executive in the textile industry, about full-time Christian ministry, specifically as a minister of education. After four years of seeking and confirming God’s direction, James left his job, packed up his young family — wife Shirley, daughter Amy and son Alan — and headed to New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary to prepare for a new career.
“We have never looked back at all — none of us,” James said. “That one decision set us on a totally new and different path of life that has been clearly marked with God’s presence, power, peace, protection and provision.
“I now have the privilege of looking back and seeing that when I really got serious about my own personal discipleship, it impacted our entire family.”
After seminary, the Long family headed to Trussville where James served as minister of education at FBCT for nearly 20 years. Service at two other Alabama churches followed before he and Shirley returned to FBCT in 2023.
By then, Alan was married with eight kids and was well-established as a dermatopathologist, a doctor who diagnoses skin diseases under a microscope. Along the way, his career began to include teaching, which led to a desire to learn and teach theology.
“The entire time, I felt God leading us to see how my wife, Dina, and I could best be used for the Kingdom,” Alan said.
Though only 11 years old when the Longs moved to New Orleans, Alan was fully aware of what a calling from God required of his father back then and could potentially require of him in 2023. But much like his father over 40 years before, he continued to seek God’s direction and pray. Meanwhile, in a spirit of preparedness, he completed some seminary training.
“During that time, the call to teach theology in a more vocational way seemed to become clearer, so I began to move toward being more available to do that should God want our family to serve in that way,” Alan said. “That was when an opportunity as a teaching pastor came about at FBCT, where I grew up and where my dad previously served and now serves again.”
Alan’s acceptance of the church position cast him and his father into roles beyond their usual familial relationship. With Alan’s first day on the job, they became co-workers. For James, his son’s opportunity became his cause for gratitude and joy.
“It is a great example of the truth that ‘God is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine,’” James said. “To work in and through the same church family as Alan is all a matter of God’s grace.”
While Alan’s change in course may have taken some by surprise, James had seen it coming for years.
“When he was 16, I knew God was moving in his heart toward ministry in some form,” James said. “Just in everyday living and ordinary conversations, it has been easy to follow what Alan has been interested in. Sometimes it is so obvious that God is working in a person’s life.”
Also obvious in Alan’s life is the earthly influence of his dad, an impact that now extends to the younger Long’s own ministry.
“His intentional, servant model of ministry has been lived out in front of me for decades and has given me a way of approaching not only the way I hope I can relate to God and others as believers, but also the way I hope to do that as a believer who works in vocational ministry,” Alan said.
Alan also cites his dad’s astonishing ability to remember people’s names and relationships, often after only a single encounter.
“I think this comes from a deep caring for others coupled with a clear desire to connect with people in a way that makes them feel seen, heard and known,” he said.
Whether or not Alan will ever achieve James’ knack for recalling names remains to be seen. In the meantime, the privilege of serving his Heavenly Father with his earthly father is an opportunity he treasures.
“It’s a joy and an honor to work in the same church as my dad,” he said. “While we don’t see each other often in the course of our duties, when we do run into each other, I think it reiterates to each of us how gracious God is to allow us to serve Him together on the same staff in this season of our lives.”
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This story first appeared in The Alabama Baptist.
