ELDON – Jimmy Carter was president back then, and Southwest Baptist University (SBU) was still Southwest Baptist College (SWBC). It was February of 1977, and a young graduate, along with his wife Marilyn and their two daughters, drove from Bolivar to the Lake of the Ozarks in their Ford Pinto. Dan Duckworth was beginning his pastorate at Rocky Mount Baptist Church, just a few miles south of Eldon.
Dan had done some of his growing up in the area – his dad had pastored the West Union Baptist Church south of Versailles. But this wasn’t just coming home, this was embarking on a ministry legacy.
Back then, the Rocky Mount Baptist Church had a reputation as a fighting, squabbling, cantankerous group of hardscrabble Baptists in an area of the Ozarks befitting the name of “Rocky Mount.” But, over the years, with Dan and Marilyn’s patient guidance, the church became a loving and generous place shining the light of the gospel.
Pastoring a small rural church meant that Dan and Marilyn never had a full-time income from ministry. Marilyn served for many years as a secretary in the Eldon schools, and Dan worked as a concrete finisher. They raised their girls, Becky and Rachel, to be Christians who have passed the legacy of faith to their own kids and grandkids.
Seeing the very real need of hunger in the community, Dan started the Visions Unlimited Food Pantry in 1997. Though the pantry has certain hours of operation, no one in need is ever turned away. The pantry also provides an opportunity for volunteers from several other churches to serve the Lord. The food pantry grew and now has its own building, and they feed well over 100 families per month.
Because of his faithful service to the Lord through the church and food pantyr, SBU awarded Dan with their Life Service Award in 2018.
On June 1, after more than 48 years of faithful service, Dan retired from his pastorate at Rocky Mount. At 79 years old his health just won’t let him continue. He and Marilyn still serve in other ways in the church and food pantry. And, as a testament to how the character of the church has changed, the church is making the parsonage – the place the Duckworths have called home for so many years – available to them as long as they want to stay there.
There are many ideas of what successful ministry looks like, but certainly being faithful through all the challenges of life and ministry in one congregation for nearly five decades must be among them. May we all strive to be as faithful and bloom where we are planted for the Lord’s glory.