Zion Christian Church is welcoming the Rev. James Richardson to be the new pastor for its congregation this Sunday.

Richardson, 64, got his start in ministry 30 years ago at Oak Grove Baptist Church. He rose through leadership roles, starting as an usher and becoming a Sunday School teacher. After some time, he was eventually a trustee at the church, and he stayed at the church for 16 years.

Richardson got a later start than most in ministry, but he has enjoyed his experiences in the pulpit and with the community.

“The Lord revealed to me he was going to use me at a much later time in my life,” Richardson said.

Now Richardson is returning to his home at Zion Christian, where he had been assistant pastor for the last 16 months.

“They decided to ask me to become the pastor, but I really didn’t want them to. I wanted them to find someone younger,” Richardson said. “It’s really the trend now. But I am blessed to assume pastorship at Zion.”

Richardson started preaching in nursing homes, and even now he admits preaching and working in the nursing homes is still his favorite.

“I love to do it, because it does my heart well,” he said. “It really lifts me up.”

Richardson received his training at Roanoke Theological Seminary in Elizabeth City and Mount Carmel Missionary. Part of the training with the missionary was to go out to the community and speak the word of God.

While Richardson enjoyed going out into nursing homes and the community to talk about God, he was on the verge of quitting ministry. It took a 98-year-old woman to bring him back on his path to preaching.

“This 98-year-old woman crawled out of her bed and asked me to come back and talked to her, and I had no intentions of going back. I tried to slip through the back door,” Richardson said. “She met me at the door and asked, ‘Why are you running from God?’ That really did something to me.”

While Richardson loves being in his church and giving his sermons, he knows there is more to preaching than the pulpit.

“I never wanted a church. I know most pastors do, and there isn’t anything wrong with that, but I preferred to speak the word in hedges and highways,” Richardson said. “I do more ministry on the bus than I do in the walls of a church.”

Richardson has the support of his wife, two sons and the church every day, but through life experiences, he believes he must give something back.

“This journey, I love it, and the Lord has been good to me,” Richardson said. “I had a heart attack coming out of a nursing home almost a year ago, and since then I knew I had to give back.”