• strict warning: Non-static method view::load() should not be called statically in /home/glencoenews/www/www/sites/all/modules/views/views.module on line 906.
  • strict warning: Declaration of views_handler_argument::init() should be compatible with views_handler::init(&$view, $options) in /home/glencoenews/www/www/sites/all/modules/views/handlers/views_handler_argument.inc on line 0.
  • strict warning: Declaration of views_handler_filter::options_validate() should be compatible with views_handler::options_validate($form, &$form_state) in /home/glencoenews/www/www/sites/all/modules/views/handlers/views_handler_filter.inc on line 0.
  • strict warning: Declaration of views_handler_filter::options_submit() should be compatible with views_handler::options_submit($form, &$form_state) in /home/glencoenews/www/www/sites/all/modules/views/handlers/views_handler_filter.inc on line 0.
  • strict warning: Declaration of views_handler_filter_node_status::operator_form() should be compatible with views_handler_filter::operator_form(&$form, &$form_state) in /home/glencoenews/www/www/sites/all/modules/views/modules/node/views_handler_filter_node_status.inc on line 0.
  • strict warning: Non-static method view::load() should not be called statically in /home/glencoenews/www/www/sites/all/modules/views/views.module on line 906.
  • strict warning: Non-static method view::load() should not be called statically in /home/glencoenews/www/www/sites/all/modules/views/views.module on line 906.
  • strict warning: Non-static method view::load() should not be called statically in /home/glencoenews/www/www/sites/all/modules/views/views.module on line 906.
  • strict warning: Non-static method view::load() should not be called statically in /home/glencoenews/www/www/sites/all/modules/views/views.module on line 906.
  • strict warning: Non-static method view::load() should not be called statically in /home/glencoenews/www/www/sites/all/modules/views/views.module on line 906.
  • strict warning: Non-static method view::load() should not be called statically in /home/glencoenews/www/www/sites/all/modules/views/views.module on line 906.
  • strict warning: Non-static method view::load() should not be called statically in /home/glencoenews/www/www/sites/all/modules/views/views.module on line 906.
  • strict warning: Non-static method view::load() should not be called statically in /home/glencoenews/www/www/sites/all/modules/views/views.module on line 906.

Local pastor to retire … again

The Rev. Joe Clay, pastor at Church of Peace in Glencoe and Friedens County Line in Norwood Young America, will be officially retiring at the age of 82 on Sunday, June 18.
His road to ministry began in Mingo County, West Virginia, where he grew up in a family of 13 children. “Growing up where I did in West Virginia, there was a feeling of happiness by being in the church,” the Rev. Clay says. “We called it fellowship. Fellowship is what attracted me to the church. My minister was very, very shepherding and he thought I should be  minister and so I said, ‘I’ll think about it.’ Over the years, I was able to get the tools so I could become a minister and fulfill not only his vision for me, but my own vision of being able to serve people.”
Clay related the struggles he faced trying to achieve his desire to become a minister. “I’m one of 13 children. I was third in line and growing up I was pretty much on my own in terms of who I wanted to be and what I was going to make of myself. I had very little support in terms of material blessings from my own little family. My dad was a coal miner and my mom was busy raising kids. And the thing that drove me in terms of becoming a minister was an inner voice saying ‘You can do it. You can become a minister.’ And so I followed that leading.”
Clay was able to afford to go to college thanks to his talent as a football player. As a senior in high school, he accepted a full-ride scholarship to Marshall University to play football. After his success at Marshall University, the Philadelphia Eagles reached out to him, requesting that he come try out for their football team after college. He respectfully declined and instead chose to attend Crozer Seminary in Pennsylvania, where he met Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. several times during Dr. King’s visits back to the seminary. Clay was ordained in 1960 at the age of 25.
 

See the full story in the June 7 edition of The McLeod County Chronicle.