a layman could do that by John Arlon Hawke Find out more about the Free Will Baptist Board of Retirement by calling toll-free (877) 767-7738.

He drove from Missouri to Tennessee in the early 1960s to tour the Free Will Baptist National Office Building at 3801 Richland Avenue, just down the street from Free Will Baptist Bible College. He was warmly welcomed and escorted through the three-story structure that had once been considered part of Nashville’s Mansion Row.

“What I remember most about the tour,” the retired layman says, “was that everybody I met was named Reverend this or Reverend that. I kept thinking to myself, ‘They need some laymen here. Laymen could do some of these jobs, and we could turn those preachers loose to go pastor or start churches.’”

A Place to Work

The layman who met all those Reverends in one building was Fred Green. He and his wife Cathy had just returned from the Free Will Baptist Home for Children in Greeneville (TN), because, as Fred says, “After we heard the Children’s Home director speak in Monett (MO), we decided that we wanted to work for Free Will Baptists, and we drove to Greeneville.”

However, when they arrived at the Children’s Home, they discovered that the kind of help the home needed most was milking cows and mending fences. “I couldn’t do any of that,” Fred says, “so we drove back to Missouri and waited for God to open a door for us. One day in 1967, right out of the blue, Sam Johnson called and offered me a job with the Church Training Service Department.”

Mechanic’s Son

Fred came to Missouri the long way. He spent his first 11 years in Alhambra, California, before his dad, a mechanic by trade, moved the family to Springfield, then down to Arkansas, and back to Missouri. He was converted at age 12. While in Springfield he met Cathy who became his wife in 1961 at Grant Avenue FWB Church when Fred was 22.

A man who prefers staying active and staying outside, Fred took a job with the Missouri State Highway Department when he finished high school. For the next 10 years, he spent a lot of time studying gravel and rocks used in highway construction. But Fred and Cathy wanted more than highway work.

Then came the week when the director of the Tennessee Home for Children conducted a meeting in Monett. That’s when Fred and Cathy decided they wanted to serve Free Will Baptists.

God Opens a Door

Fred spent the next 20 years doing just that—working for Free Will Baptists in jobs and places he had never imagined. He invested seven years with the Church Training Service Department as director of production and distribution. During that time, he and Cathy enrolled in FWBBC, taking classes as they could.

He later accepted a position in Durham, North Carolina, where he served seven years as manager of North Carolina’s Bible Book Store. “That was my biggest challenge,” Fred says, “moving from the CTS Department to manage the bookstore. What exciting days and demands came our way.”

Then it was back to Nashville when Randall House Publications called, and Fred found himself again working in printing preparation and promotional areas. By 1985, he had completed his work with Randall House and opened his own bookstore near Rivergate Mall.

“That’s one thing I’d probably not do again, if I could start over,” Fred notes. “I love books and everything associated with them, but the area where we started the store did not support it. We sold out, and I began handling literature for two publishers before landing at Thomas Nelson Publishers where I spent 13 years in shipping and warehouse work before I retired.”

“I was always interested in books and publishing,” he continues. “I don’t write articles, but I like to take my time and read a good book at my own pace.”

Layman in Retirement

Fred joined the Free Will Baptist retirement program in 1971. When he retired in August 2005, he chose a joint-lifetime annuity that provides a monthly income as long as he and Cathy live.

“The retirement plan was all I thought it would be,” he says. “Of course, my monthly check would be larger now if I had contributed more in those early years. When I worked at Randall House, I had funds automatically deducted from my check. It was a convenient and easy way to put money aside for retirement.”

The monthly check from the Board of Retirement supplements their income. “They told me the truth about the program,” the 68-year-old layman says. “I’d advise younger laymen and ministers to start as early as possible, and put in as much as the law allows.”

Flower Children

The slender, 5’-7”, hazel-eyed layman has been a Free Will Baptist deacon 35 years. He and his wife are active members of Donelson FWB Church in Nashville. Their two children (Tammy and Jeremy) both live in the area.

Fred and Cathy maintain their own flower garden. Fred likes to walk and exercise outside as much as possible, reluctantly moving inside YMCA facilities when the weather turns hostile. He’s a reader of novels, all flavors, especially those written by John Grisham.

“Looking back,” he says, “what I liked most was opening up new bookstores, the excitement of bringing all the elements together—property, fixtures, stock, and meeting customers.”

Fred was right 40 years ago when he decided that a layman could do that. After all, the two most influential people in his life are laymen—Lee Evans (father of Bill Evans who directs the FWB Foundation) and Sam Johnson, the lay leader whose phone call launched Fred and Cathy into a ministry with Free Will Baptists.
Fred Green the layman has served his denomination faithfully on local, district, and state levels as a deacon, bookstore manager, production and shipping director, and promotional representative. Sure, Fred, any layman could do that!

John Arlon Hawke is a freelance writer and journalist with a wide range of publishing experience. He currently makes his home just south of Nashville, TN. Find out more about the Free Will Baptist Board of Retirement and Insurance by calling (877) 767-7738 or by visiting www.nafwb.org.