NEW LONDON, N.H. (ABP) — A pastor who served both historic American Baptist and Southern Baptist churches died Oct. 28, nearly six years after being diagnosed with cancer.
Jeff Zurheide
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In January 2004 Jeff Zurheide left First Baptist Church in Oklahoma City — a pulpit once occupied by the legendary Southern Baptist pastor/theologian Herschel Hobbs — to become pastor of First Baptist Church in New London, N.H. The congregation was organized in 1788 — shortly after New Hampshire became the requisite ninth state to ratify the Constitution, thus creating the United States of America.
Shortly after the move Zurheide was diagnosed with aggressive multiple myeloma, a malignant bone marrow/blood cancer related to leukemia and lymphoma.
Zurheide, 54, announced Aug. 23 he was applying for disability and stepping away from full-time ministry. He preached his last sermon in the 600-member New Hampshire church Aug. 30
The church's November newsletter includes a message from Zurheide saying that while stepping away from ministry was difficult, it relieved him from a level of stress needed to concentrate on a regimen of dialysis, doctor appointments and blood transfusions.
"While I miss my ministry among you, I do feel that it was the right decision for me to apply for disability and focus upon being as healthy as I possibly can be, under the circumstances," he wrote.
His widow, Karen, a former chair of the Baptist Center for Ethics board of directors, said Oct. 30 that Zurheide's condition declined gradually but fairly constantly over the past year. That included kidney failure, she said, but there was no expectation that Oct. 28 would be his last day until minutes before his death.
"So, while we did expect he might have months rather than years remaining, we are still reeling from losing him at this time," she said in an e-mail.
The New Hampshire congregation has already held one service in the pastor's memory, and the Nov. 1 Sunday service will add to that. A memorial service is scheduled to follow at 2 p.m.
Zurheide's former church in Oklahoma planned to place flowers in his memory for the morning worship service and set aside a special time of prayer for his family.
Zurheide's ministry at First Baptist Church in Oklahoma City followed in the tradition of Herschel Hobbs, an iconic figure who died in 1995 at age 88 after serving as president of the Southern Baptist Convention and as primary author of the 1963 Baptist Faith and Message confession. Zurheide's immediate predecessor, Gene Garrison, was pastor 23 years before retiring in 1996. First Baptist Church in Oklahoma City today is affiliated with the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship.
"It is important for us to remember that we would not be enjoying the current season of ministry that defines us now without the pastoral care and leadership that Jeff brought in a defining moment in this congregation's life," current pastor Tom Ogburn said in a letter to church members. "I am personally thankful for Jeff and for his deep care for the future of this church family."
Zurheide grew up in Hackensack, N.J., attending a Presbyterian church. In high school he and a few friends started a coffee-house ministry for disaffected youth. The experience started him on a path that led to divinity school and a calling to ministry.
He met his future wife, a native of New Hampshire, at a small Lutheran college in New Jersey and later transferred to Gordon College in Wenham, Mass. His first exposure to New Hampshire was on trips to her home in Lancaster.
Zurheide held a B.A. from Gordon College, an M.Div. from Golden Gate Baptist Theological Seminary and a D.Min. in pastoral care and counseling from Brite Divinity School in Fort Worth, Texas.
He is survived by his wife of 32 years, who currently works as executive director of The Fells. The organization is the former summer estate of American writer and diplomat John Hay, now preserved as a non-profit corporation to stimulate interest in the environment, horticulture and American history.
Other survivors include a daughter, Molly, a senior at Colby College in Maine, and a son, Andrew, a senior at Kearsarge Regional High School in North Sutton, N.H.
In lieu of flowers the family suggests memorial contributions to First Baptist Church of New London or a charity of choice to help persons in need.
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Bob Allen is senior writer for Associated Baptist Press.