Malambri leads memorial service that remembers 52 departed saints
The Rev. William F. Malambri leads a memorial service remembering 52 saints. Photo by Matt Brodie.
By Jessica Brodie
GREENVILLE—Lifting up the valiant, Christ-led example they offered, the Rev. William F. Malambri preached a memorial service at Annual Conference Tuesday celebrating the lives of 52 clergy and spouses who died over the past conference year.
“These servants sought to proclaim the message of Jesus Christ,” Malambri proclaimed. “They sought to plant; they sought to water. Some did it with big booming voices and song, and some did it in gentle conversation, holding hands and praying softly in earnest.”
Regardless, these 52 men and women showed the world how to walk with Christ.
And now, Malambri said, “They have left the work ... to you and to me.”
In his sermon, “In the Presence of God,” which drew from 2 Timothy 4:1-8, Malambri shared how his own experience running a marathon reminded him of the encouragement these departed saints brought to others. When he was 42 years old, he decided to run the Charlotte Marathon, a 26.2-mile endeavor. He trained diligently, and all was well on race day—for the first half. Then he grew weary. Around mile 22, he came across one man who held up a sign encouraging him: You got this!
“I believed him,” Malambri said.
And with that, he completed the marathon.
As he enters his sixth decade, he said he’s realized, “I’m running a far more consequential race now—one I want to finish well.”
He knows one day, people will reflect on his life and how he ran the race of life, just as those gathered today reflect on the race run by those saint now departed.
“What they gave and gave up for Jesus is consequential,” Malambri said. “It was consequential when they did it, and the effects continue. People’s lives are better and the church is better because they served.”
Now they’ve passed the baton to us.
“And so as the apostle Paul invited Timothy, so we are invited to look to them for our example and our encouragement, which we need,” he said.
“They’ve shown us. Let’s show others.”
As the bishop read the names of those honored, a candle was lit on the altar and a bell rung in remembrance. Those named are as follows:
Retired Clergy: James Edwin Alewine, Archie Rufus Bigelow Jr., Lee Curtis Bines, Timothy Jacob Bowman, Thomas Nesmer Brittain, Billy Bowman Brown, Robert Brown Claytor, Joseph Bruce Cleasby, Lee Cothran Jr., David Willard Cox, Barbara Ann Derrick, Jerry Mills Hill, Richard Douglas Hopper, James Lewis Hyatt Jr., Milton Lee McGuirt, Patricia Pepper Orr, Harvey Ottis Peurifoy, Calvin Lee Smith, Rufus Horace White, Thomas Byars Wilkes Jr., Alfred Truman Wright and Ellen April Younker.
Spouses: Elizabeth Woodward Barber, Theodore Cathcart, Lee Dean Cox, Sammy L. Cruell, Linda Mumford Hall, Cynthia J. Hicks, Vicki Vassy Holler, Edith Fulton James, Patricia King Mims and Lee Ann Ussery.
Surviving Spouses: Mary Helen Bedenbaugh, Mary Jewell Bennett, Betty Mobley Bynum, Charlotte Crawford Cowart, Delores Jones Giles, Eartha Lee Goodwin, Eloise Pate Graham,
Malinda Jennings Holroyd, Joyce Edna Kelly, Mary Katherine Millwood, Ruby Elise Templeton Osborne, Susan Culclasure Parker, Gladys Matilda Pyatt, Patricia Thompson Reynolds, Iola Elvenia Davis Risher, Corra Clare Sheffield, Alice Betty Smith, Eliza Victoria Sumter and Pauline Estelle Jackson Williams.
Other: Hazel Key Colcock.
The service ended with the closing hymn “Because He Lives” and a benediction.