October 18, 2024
THOMASTON, Ga. – Pastor Bill Barber has blown the whistle on everything from unsportsmanlike conduct to personal fouls, even late hits.
That’s because, when Barber isn’t in the pulpit at First Baptist Church at Thomaston, he can be found on the football field officiating games for local high schools.
“It’s important for pastors to be involved in activities outside the church,” he said. “That’s the only way we can truly expect to reach our communities, and that’s the benefit officiating football games provides for me.”
In nearly 40 years of ministry, Barber has become recognized as one of the nation’s top communicators in the pulpit and as an impartial, call-it-as-he-sees-it referee in the sports arena.
Now 62, Barber has announced that he will be transitioning to a new phase in his ministerial career, having announced that he will be retiring as pastor at First Baptist Thomaston after 20 years and moving into a new ministry helping congregations that find themselves between pastors.
After his last Sunday at Thomaston on June 5, Barber will be ready to step into the role of transitional pastor wherever called upon. In that role, he will preach and offer guidance for churches as they search for their next pastor.
“I want to preach until the day that I die,” Barber said. “But I felt like it was time to move into a new ministry. There’s a huge need for transitional pastors. So many churches are struggling. I want to show them the Lord is not finished with them, that there’s hope, that better days are head.”
Ralph Warnock, a local physician who chaired the search committee that recommended Barber here, described him as caring, compassionate, a fantastic preacher and a personable Christian gentleman.
“He wants to come across as a good old boy, but he is extremely smart,” Warnock said. “His preaching delivery is among the best I’ve ever heard.”
Barber said he does consider himself a country boy and never saw himself as the polished pulpiteer who would fit in a First Baptist church before he came to Thomaston. But the Thomaston search committee said the most important trait the church was looking for was the ability to preach the Bible.
“I could do that,” he said. “I’m thankful that God, by His grace, has used me in spite of who I am.”
A graduate of Gardner Webb University and New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary, Barber got involved with sports officiating as a way to support himself during his seminary years. He returned to the role in his later years at Thomaston.
“It’s been something that has helped him get away from the rigors of the pastorate,” Warnock said. “You’ve got to have something to take the pressure off.”
The role has allowed him to be build strong relationships with coaches, students and other referees, and those relationships have allowed him to share the gospel with people he otherwise wouldn’t have gotten to. As a result, he’s been able to lead some of them to Christ.
“Some people have told me I’m crazy to turn to officiating as an outlet,” Barber said, chuckling, “because referees get criticized even more than pastors do.”
Fellow referee Don Lyles said Barber has had his back on the field and off. That included a couple of years ago when Lyles was hospitalized for more than two months with a life-threatening illness.
“I wasn’t expected to live,” Lyles said. “Bill prayed for me a lot.”
Lyles fully recovered and is now back in stripes, calling games throughout the area.
Barber, once named Rookie of the Year among football officials in the Middle Georgia Football Officials’ Association, seems never to be flustered by angry coaches, Lyles said.
“He’s a good official, and he’s a good preacher,” Lyles said. “I enjoy listening to his sermons. He’s an old-school-type preacher, the kind everyone enjoys listening to. He’s a down-home, good guy who walks the talk. There’s no fakery with him. He’s a class act.”
Lyles recalled a time when an irate coach was fuming about a controversial call Barber had made.
Barber stopped the coach’s colorful tirade with a simple sentence, Lyles said.
“He told him, ‘I just want to let you know I’m a Baptist preacher.’”
