Local church pastor retires after 20 years

After 20 years of serving Faith Bible Church and the community, Pastor Leonard Reimer and his wife Darlene are retiring. Pastor Sulia Mason III will take his place after Sunday.

Reimer’s last sermon will be at 10:50 a.m. Sunday at 1402 Park Ridge Blvd., with a fellowship lunch around noon.

Reimer has been a pastor for many different churches for about 50 years.

“This is the fourth church I’ve pastored in that time,” Reimer said. “We began in (Dolores,) Colorado, pastoring at a small town church. I went to college in Grace University in Omaha. Then I met my wife there. While I was in my first pastor, we got married. Then we moved to Portland, Oregon, to go to seminary. After seminary, we went to a church plant in Omaha. We stayed there doing church planning for 25 years. We planted a church, daughter church and helped plant a granddaughter church of the first one.”

Reimer said he studied a Bible Program at Grace University, switched to a Priest Seminary Program, then got a Masters in Divinity.

Ministry touched Reimer’s life at a young age.

“I read a book by Billy Graham called World Aflame,” Reimer said. “That book caused me to turn to Christ. I bought a copy of that book for all of my friends and they thought I’d gone crazy. I bought 10 books, went back and bought more and the lady at the bookstore thought I was crazy. I was gonna play football at a church related college where I started going, but God redirected my steps and I ended up going to a Bible college and eventually got called into the ministry.”

Reimer said he’s retiring due to a lack of energy.

“I’m 75,” Reimer said. “I just don’t have the energy any longer to do the things I used to do. I need to turn it over to someone younger. He’s got a lot of vibrancy, a lot of energy. We’re planning on staying in the area and do what we can in ministering to help this young pastor and to help others. We’re also retiring because our grandkids are getting older and the nearest ones are 500 miles away. We want to spend more time going to see them. We have kids that live south and north of us so we want to go both directions.”

Reimer said his church is a Mennonite Brethren church.

“We’re not like the Amish or like the Mennonites back east,” Reimer said. “We’re basically west of the Mississippi. We’re an Evangelical Bible denomination that is seeking to help people break down the wall between them, God and one another and bring peace.”

One of the many community works Reimer was involved in is prayer groups.

“We constantly encourage our people to pray for the firemen and policemen, the homicides, gangs. We pray that God will protect people and that homicides will decrease. One of the things I’ve really prayed for ever since I came here was that sidewalks would be built. I felt that so many people get hit walking in the streets. People get killed every year it seems walking in the street. It’s amazing to me how sidewalks are being built now.”

In order to be a pastor, Reimer said “you have to be committed, in the good times and the bad times.

“During COVID, about 50 percent of pastors left the ministry,” Reimer said. “Suicide rate is high among pastors. Unfortunately, pastors really struggle a lot of times, but there are two things you can never replace. One is prayer and the other is studying God’s word.”

Reimer thinks Mason III will be a good replacement.

“I’m excited about him being here,” Reimer said. “This Sunday, I’m giving him the keys to the church and my office and passing the baton to him. He has a lot of energy and a commitment to God’s word and to prayer. He has a church that’s going to love and care for him, and God’s going to bless that.”

One of the most important things to have as a pastor is a supporting wife, Reimer said.

“Behind every good pastor, there’s a better woman,” Reimer said. “If your wife’s not behind you, you’re not going to succeed. If there are ministries in a church that a pastor’s not behind, they won’t succeed. You have to support your people and their ministries.”