Davis and Kathy Duggins

L-R Davis and Kathy Duggins, Ray and Marlene Pritchard

One of the best parts of this trip to Pennsylvania has been seeing Davis and Kathy Duggins again. Kathy served as the church secretary at the church in Oak Park for 11 years. I know because when I asked her on Sunday, she immediately—I mean instantly—replied, “Eleven years.” And then she grinned. I think if I had asked for the months, weeks and days, she would have known that too. Kathy always knew everything there was to know during her time at Calvary. Several years after she took the job, Davis became my executive pastor. When I say “my,” I don’t mean that in a possessive way because Davis manifestly served the whole church, but I do mean that he had this amazing, unparalleled ability to listen to my wild ideas, sort through the chaff to find the wheat and figure out how to make dreams come true. He also laughed at my jokes, shook his head at my exaggerations, and smoothed things out whenever there was (as Cliff Raad liked to say) a pebble in the road.

There is another way to say it. Davis is the only person I’ve ever known—at least the only pastor I’ve known—whose would get up in the morning and think, “Do I have a meeting to attend today?” and if the answer was yes, he felt good. Okay, that’s another one of my exaggerations but that’s one reason why we got along so well. He loved meetings and timelines and task forces and figuring out how to make things work. He really loved the machinery of church life. Maybe that’s an exaggeration—another one!—because he often told me that he really preferred being in a smaller church where he could preach and teach. That’s the truth. And so in July 2005 he and Kathy left the church in Oak Park and moved to Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania to become the pastor of the Berean Bible Fellowship Church. On Sunday I was privileged to speak there. We loved the church, enjoyed the fellowship, thought they had a super praise team, and found out what we already knew, that the people love Davis and Kathy and they love the people back. It’s a very happy marriage of pastor and people.

After the service we went next door to the parsonage where Kathy served us a wonderful lunch that included (among other delectable items) green beans and potatoes. The last two items came from their garden in the backyard. Davis told me they often see deer walking across their property. We had a great time together and have seen them every night at Pinebrook, which is only about four miles from their home.

Davis had told the congregation that I would tell stories on Kathy but clearly the reverse would more likely be true. We were sad when they moved to Pennsylvania, but now we see clearly what God intended all along. They are happy as clams at the church in Stroudsburg, and seeing them so happy has made us happy so for all their friends back in Chicago (and elsewhere), I am glad to report that Davis and Kathy are doing just fine.