Burleson pastor serves double duty to help less fortunate

By Taylor Short/reporter3@trcle.com

Some may expect a church pastor to visit members of his congregation during hard times or stints in the hospital, but one Johnson County pastor offers extra time for those who may receive no visitors at all.

Dr. Terry Williams, pastor at Boulevard Baptist Church in Burleson for 26 years, spends his time away from the pulpit at the Trinity Mission of Burleson, a more than 120-bed facility opened about 35 years ago that specializes in skilled nursing and rehabilitation, said Marketing Director Carolyn Hanke.

“Some people come for rehab and then go home, but some people come because of dementia or some other reason they can’t care for themselves and they stay there the rest of their lives,” she said.

Those who do find themselves at the facility can expect a visit from Williams.

“He just sees something and knows how to minister to somebody. He’s got kind of an eagle eye. He’s constantly looking to see who he can serve, and he goes to see people, and we never ask him to do anything,” Hanke said. “He came to us and asked to volunteer and we said, ‘Great,’ and we never have to call him to do anything. We may call him to say so and so passed away or whatever, but he’s always here.”

For seven years, Williams has been the chaplain at the facility, volunteering to minister to the residents and offer a friendly smile.

“I did one funeral here back, just this last year, where this man passed away. He absolutely had no family or anybody; it was just me and the funeral directors and two of the workers from the nursing home attending his funeral service,” Williams said. “So, there have been situations like that, where someone doesn’t have anyone. Both of my parents were in a nursing home for a while before they died, so I just kind of felt like it was an area that needed help.”

Before arriving in Burleson, Williams was the pastor at a church in California for eight years. Before that, he earned his doctorate in theology from Baptist Bible College in Springfield, Missouri and Trinity Valley Baptist Seminary in Fort Worth.

He said he discovered his calling in high school in his hometown of Cleburne.

“I felt like when I was in senior high school, I just felt like the Lord was calling me to minister, you know,” he said. “I felt a spiritual call, so I swore my life to the Lord, and one thing after another happened.”

Williams said he’s happy to back in the Metroplex area and happy to be involved with a church where about 400 attend services on Sunday.

Even with his duties at the church, he said it is fulfilling to visit with those who may have no visitors besides the staff at Trinity Mission.

“They do good work there taking care of the residents,” he said. “But there are some residents in the nursing home that have maybe outlived their family, or they don’t have much family. And some of them don’t have that many visitors come see them.”

Three of his four children, who all attended Burleson schools, have also taken up ministry and are successful missionaries around the world.

“My oldest son is in Russia and my two daughters — one is in Argentina and one in Scotland as missionaries,” he said. “They’ve been over there a few years, but they are doing the Lord’s work over there, and all of them have churches going, and they’re doing good.”

In an e-mail from Hanke to the Times-Review, she recalled an instance when Williams visited a resident in the intensive care unit.

As the resident drew closer to the end, Williams was there to minister and comfort the grieving family.

With several more examples of his work, he has many friends at Trinity Mission.

Residents Andy Sullivan and Elizabeth Taylor were all smiles as they visited with Williams at the facility Wednesday.

“As a pastor, my duties are to bring the sermons every week, to be there for counseling, to take care of our church family and our needs. I visit the sick and the shut-ins, you know, we just try to be there to minister to our people.”

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