Special to IFN

Rev. Steve Shoemaker, who has been pastor of Grace Baptist Church in Statesville since November of 2018, is retiring. His last Sunday will be May 4.

A covered dish meal will be shared after the service as part of the celebration. The public is invited to attend.

Shoemaker has been a huge proponent of Grace as a welcoming congregation for all, regardless of where they stand in their faith or their life choices. He has been a proponent of caring for the whole community, especially those who are traditionally overlooked by the church or in need of justice.

“I think if you draw the church as a Venn diagram and three circles as intersecting, one of them is belonging, one is believing, and one is loving – or caring about others,” Shoemaker said. “All three are essential, but I think today people need a place to belong like never before.”

Neil Gross, the chairperson of the church cabinet, said Shoemaker has distinguished himself.

“It is his true pastoral nature that has come through in both his service to our church and his writings,” Gross said. “It is a rare gift.”

Shoemaker and his wife Sue will remain active in the congregation at Grace and continue their work around the community. Shoemaker’s tenth book (under the name H. Stephen Shoemaker), is about worship. It will come out in about nine months. He and Sue have a children’s book near completion.

They have more literary projects in mind, and Shoemaker said he has a couple more books he would like to write.

Steve and Sue also plan to create a center for creative theology, which melds artistic expression and theology.

Shoemaker was involved in helping begin the Iredell Clergy for Healing and Justice, an interfaith and interracial group of clergy working to answer the question, “How can pastors and churches work together for the common good?” He hopes to continue that work.

Shoemaker received his B.A. from Stetson University in Deland, Fla.; his M.Div. from Union Theological in Seminary in New York City; and his Ph.D. from The Southern Baptist Seminary in Louisville, Ky.

Prior to serving at Grace, Shoemaker served former pastorates, including Crescent Hill Baptist Church in Louisville, Ky.; Broadway Baptist Church in Ft. Worth, Texas, and Myers Park Baptist Church in Charlotte, N.C. He also taught at Johnson C. Smith University.

When Shoemaker retired from Myers Park Baptist Church, he thought his pastoral years were over. When an opportunity to serve as interim pastor at Grace came along, he felt the pull to once again work in a pastoral role. At the end of that interim period, he felt called to continue to serve at Grace, and the congregation felt the same.

“It has been a grace to me to have Grace Baptist Church come into my life and give me nine years with what I think is a remarkable congregation,” Shoemaker said.

Grace Baptist Church is an intergenerational affirming faith community called and committed to a life of love and servanthood through the experience of celebrative worship, the development of each person’s gifts, and the work for peace and justice.