December 12, 2024
ANKENY, Iowa (BP) — Preaching and telling others about Jesus has been everything to Ed Gregory for 58 years. When his time as a full-time pastor ended, he joined the Pastoral Ministry Team of the Baptist Convention of Iowa as an encourager and mentor.
These days his voice is weaker, but his message has never been stronger.
A December 2022 cancer diagnosis led to chemo and the eventual removal of his stomach – yes, his entire stomach. The treatment very nearly took his life, but he began to heal in May 2023.
“I had retired from being a full-time pastor but continued to work for the state convention,” Gregory said. “I felt like I needed to continue to do that. The Lord gave me strength, and I began a new normal.”
There were no more signs of cancer until April of this year, and the news was serious.
Three to six months. Probably closer to three.
“When I started with BCI 20 years ago Ed was on the staff,” said Eric Schumacher, Pastoral Ministry director. “He was a gentle and wise resource for pastors like myself. He had decades of relationships in that state and pastors he has counseled."
Gregory isn’t the type to stop working, especially when it comes to preaching the Gospel. He blew through the three-month marker. On Nov. 1-2, more than six months since the diagnosis, he led a breakout session at the Baptist Convention of Iowa’s annual meeting. The session lasted over an hour, with Gregory preaching the closing message the next day.
His pace is measured, making every breath count, and has come with a motto developed during the gauntlet he has endured these past months.
Go as strong as you can for as long as you can by the grace of God for the glory of God and then come home.
Gregory didn’t take a break after speaking at the state annual meeting, held at First Family Church in Ankeny. He was in a pulpit the next day for a church’s 60th anniversary service. He is scheduled to preach at another church on Nov. 17.
The reality, though, is his health has started to decline. He has less energy. His message on Nov. 2 to Iowa Baptists was titled “A Guided Journey: Reflections & Lessons from 58 years in Ministry.” He acknowledged to those gathered it was likely his last message in such a setting.
“The Lord has left me my mind and my voice,” Gregory told BP. “So I can still contact pastors and preach most Sundays.”
There were treatment options after his April diagnosis, but the side effects would be similar to what he experienced earlier. At best, it would slow the cancer’s effects. He and his wife, Cynthia, prayed through it and decided against treatment.
The motto came to him soon thereafter.
“The Lord put in my mind the image of a glass half-full/half-empty,” he said. “I’d rather be living on the half-full side. Make the best of what you have. Focus on the things you can do. Don’t worry about the rest of it.”
His doctor advised Gregory not to plan speaking engagements more than a month out. There was concern he wouldn’t have the strength to speak at the annual meeting, but Gregory leaned on a tall table for the breakout session that lasted an hour and 15 minutes.
“They had a chair ready if I needed it,” he said. “But I was totally exhausted afterwards. Saturday was much shorter, about 15 minutes.”
Gregory’s work places him with pastors sailing rough seas within their church body. The living example of ministry during his own physical struggle isn’t missed.
“His witness has shown such a strong confidence in the goodness of his Savior and his desires to glorify God by loving the church,” Schumacher said. “And that’s not unique to Ed for the last six months. He’s been like that ever since I’ve known him.
“The cancer journey hasn’t changed him as the Christlike brother he is, but the genuineness has become more displayed as his mortality has become more apparent.”
Traditionally, he has introduced new pastors at an evening banquet following that final session. Gregory went back to the hotel and rested so he could do just that.
“It was a blessing, and I’m thankful they asked me,” he said. “If God makes me able, I’m willing. I was moved, emotionally, to be able to be a part of it one more time. Unless the Lord intervenes, I’m doing some last things.”
Born and raised among cotton fields in north Mississippi, Gregory began ministry there before going on to Tennessee. He then went to Cedar Rapids, Iowa, for 17 years before going to Anchorage, Alaska, for more than nine years. He returned to Iowa and served with the state convention as Missions Team leader/associate executive director and on the Pastoral Ministries Team.
“Since we moved here in 1982, this place has been my heart,” Gregory said. “I went from being a Mississippian who transferred to Iowa to being an Iowan who just happened to grow up in Mississippi.”
He and Cynthia raised four children there. Those grew up and have brought 12 grandchildren into the mix.
“Iowa became our home,” he said. “It’s where we plan to be buried.”
But for the moment there are still pastors to encourage, places for him to preach.
“I have the voice, mind, and energy God supplies by His grace and the confident assurance that at the end of the journey, I get to go home,” he said. “I just want to finish well, so that He is glorified in what I’m doing.
“I have a steady, confident assurance that He is with me. He’s going to carry me through.”
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This story first appeared in Baptist Press.
