Mission Yearbook: Rev. Tony Larson explores ministry beyond the walls of a church

Some of the most meaningful ministry the Rev. Tony Larson engages in is well outside the walls of the church he serves, Trinity Presbyterian Church in Surfside Beach, South Carolina.

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Larson, Co-Moderator of the 226th General Assembly (2024), recently delivered the second part of the Woods Lecture Series in Blades Chapel at the University of Dubuque Theological Seminary. View Larson’s talk, “The Church’s Witness in the World,” delivered as part of a worship service, here. The Co-Moderator’s remarks begin at the 21:05 mark.

He told about “how I ended up on the front page of the local newspaper” in the early years in ministry with the first church he served, Springs Community Presbyterian Church in East Hampton, New York.

Larson discovered he could rent a fishing boat every Thursday from a couple named Buck and Bernice, who operated a boat and fishing gear rental business at the nearby marina. After he’d fish, Larson would join others at the marina to catch up on the local news. Eventually, he became a pastor to people who weren’t about to attend any church, Buck and Bernice included.

Larson grew close to Buck and Bernice. “By the alchemy of faith, I was becoming their pastor,” he said. One day, Buck brought over a bottle of whiskey rather than the cold beers he usually served. “This will be the last drink we have —at least for a while,” Buck told Larson. “Bernice is pregnant, and so we won’t be drinking for a while.” Hugs were exchanged, and then Buck asked, “Would it be possible for you to baptize our baby?”

“As your friend, I’d be hard-pressed to turn down that request,” Larson told the expectant parents. But as a Presbyterian pastor, he’d have to ask them to make promises on behalf of their child — promises to God and to those gathered for the baptism. Come to church one Sunday and check it, Larson suggested.

Two weeks later, Buck and Bernice surprised everyone by walking through the church doors. A few months later, they made professions of faith and joined the church.

They named their baby Bailey. A few weeks after her birth, Larson stopped by to prepare the family for baptism. When you give her a bath, remind her of her baptism, he suggested. When someone tells her what she can and cannot do, remind her of her baptism, and her belovedness. Springs Community Presbyterian Church will help you and Bailey, he said, and Buck and Bernice told him, “That is exactly what we wanted.

“They wanted Bailey to know she was God’s beloved child,” Larson said.

No matter how many theological arguments Larson made, the parents were convinced one bowl of water would not be enough for their big event. They got permission to hold the baptism at low tide near the marina, where the church gathered.

Despite the baptism occurring in July, Larson showed up in his robe. “We began to draw onlookers,” he said. Buck and Bernice confessed their faith, and the four of them waded out into the water. Larson took a clamshell from his pocket, dipped it into the water, and baptized the baby in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. “Bailey, you are held in love that will never let you go,” he told the child.

The next Wednesday, the newspaper published the story of the unusual baptism on its front page. “There was other news in the world that week, but that news was important for that community,” Larson said. Early on in his ministry, “I had the notion I could take off my [clergy] collar and not be identifiable as a disciple of Jesus Christ. I learned from that relationship with Buck and Bernice that’s not really an option.”

Twenty-three times in the gospel accounts, Christ invites people to “follow me,” Larson noted.

“Make your life look like my life” is the way Larson puts Jesus’ invitation. “The invitation is to follow, and the commandment is to love. It really is as simple as that, and oh so challenging.”

Mike Ferguson, Editor, Presbyterian News Service (Click here to read original PNS Story)

Let us join in prayer for:

Stephen Smith, Business Analyst, Trust Services, The Presbyterian Foundation
Katie Snyder, Project Manager for Digital Fundraising, Annual Giving, Administrative Services Group                              

Let us pray:

Lord of illumination, use us to reflect your light, so that your radiant grace may be shared with the world, and all people may be blessed with your life-giving love, through Jesus Christ, the Light of the world. Amen.