Harold Ray is being honored for his 50 years of service to God and the United Methodist Church at a reception on Sunday, March 26, from 2 to 4 p.m. The reception is being held at Burks United Methodist Church located at 6433 Hixson Pike.
Rev. Ray has served as the visitation pastor for Burks since his retirement from active ministry in July of 1998.
“Any church that has ever had the pleasure to have Harold as its pastor has truly been blessed,” said Dr. Dwight Kilbourne, senior pastor at Burks United Methodist Church. “You can’t help but feel closer to God when you talk with Harold or hear him preach. His faith and his passion for bringing people to God are powerful.”
A native of Middle Tennessee, Rev. Ray worked his way through college at Middle Tennessee State University and later attended the School of Pharmacy at the University of Tennessee Medical Division in Memphis. At 19, while attending a Billy Graham Crusade revival in Nashville his life completely changed. That’s when he gave his life over to Jesus and became saved. He found himself being led by God in a completely different direction than he had planned.
He withdrew from the School of Pharmacy and returned to MTSU to finish his degree. From there he went on to attend the Vanderbilt Divinity School, where he received his Master of Divinity Degree in January of 1960.
Rev. Ray’s service to the United Methodist Church began in 1956 when he served as a student pastor for a series of small churches in Middle Tennessee. On June 29, 1958 he celebrated two happy occasions. He was ordained as a deacon at the Tennessee Annual Conference meeting and he married Hilda Fay Huffines at Hickory Grove Methodist Church in Kempville, Tn., one of the first churches he served as a student pastor.
Upon graduation from Vanderbilt, he transferred to the Holston Conference and began his full-time pastoral appointments at a various churches in Johnson City, Knoxville, Cleveland and Oak Ridge. He came to Chattanooga in July of 1990 and served as senior pastor at Tyner Methodist Church for 8 years before his retirement. During his years in the ministry he has brought many people to God including his wife, father, mother, son and daughter-in-law.
To say that Harold Ray is retired is a little humorous. He spends the majority of his time visiting members of Burks who are ill, have suffered a death in their family or are in some other way in need of someone to talk to. There are very few church members who have not been touched in some way by his ministry.
Rev. Ray’s service to the communities in which has lived has not been limited to the church. He has been a member of the Ruritan, Lions and Kiwanis Clubs. He served on the Cleveland City Schools Board of Education and was the founding president of the Cleveland Boys and Girls Club. He was also a City Council member and vice mayor for the city of Harriman. He was also a member of the advisory committee that recommended the merger of the Knoxville and Knox County public schools.