After more than 37 years leading the Bradford Baptist Church, Pastor Tim Walker has officially retired.
This past Sunday, Mayor James Leduc and Coun. Jonathan Scott, were among the many to honour Walker for his service to the community.
“Sincere thanks for your ministerial work and valuable contributions to not only the Bradford Baptist Church, but to our entire community,” Leduc said to Walker. “Your leadership and teachings have been a gift to us all, as we watch your many accomplishments grow in celebration and love."
As a pastor's kid himself, Coun. Jonathan Scott also paid homage to Walker.
"We really owe the Walker family a lot for all they’ve done over nearly four decades of ministry in Bradford, and I can’t wait to see how they serve next.”
For Walker, receiving that recognition from the community meant a lot after nearly 40 years of service.
“It’s very humbling because we had no idea we would be at this church for this length of time,” he said. “The average pastor moves around and most are five to eight years in a community and for me after 37-and-a-half years it’s humbling to feel that.”
When the Walker’s came to Bradford West Gwillimbury, the population was less than 15,000 and the small-town feel is what they fell in love with.
“It was nice to go into stores and people knew who you were and called you by name,” Walker said. “As the town gets bigger and bigger, that still remains. You build so many relationships with folks here over the years.”
Stepping away after all this time has been tough for Walker, but he also knows it’s leading to an important next chapter of his life.
“It hasn’t been as extensively emotional as I thought it might have been,” he said. “Partly because I believe God’s been prepping me for this change. I’m sad yes and there will be elements I miss, but I’m not hanging up my gifts. I’ll be carrying on and using my gifts and I’m excited about what that’s all going to look like.”
Although still early on in his next steps, Walker plans to continue his work in counselling as well as becoming a mentor and life coach.
“I’ve been counselling inside and outside of the faith community since 1994,” said Walker. “I’m also planning to mentor young pastors. The younger generation is way more open to being mentored and there’s young bucks who would love to work with senior guys who have been through the fire."
Despite Walker no longer leading Bradford Baptist Church, his love for preaching and teaching won’t go away and he expects to continue speaking at churches in the community and could even see himself stepping in to cover for churches without pastors in the area.
