<p>Tom Elkins, who became pastor of Ocean Park's United Methodist Church on July 1 had just three weeks to settle in before also leading Sunday's Vespers service at the Oysterville Church. Sydney Stevens said it was sort of a “trial by fire” for him, to get recruited so quickly for Vespers.</p><p></p>

    OCEAN PARK Charles Thomas Elkins, known best as Pastor Tom, began preaching when he was 16 years old, in Pine Bluff, Ark. Over the years, his road to life took many twists and turns which led him in and out of pastoring, but emotionally, he seemed tethered to the ministry and was always drawn back in.

    He considered himself officially retired after years of preaching at churches in Oklahoma, Texas and both ends of California. But a call came offering him the chance to replace René Devantier who left Ocean Park United Methodist Church to serve at the Methodist Church in Longview.

    So, on July 1, while Pastor Devantier introduced himself to his new Longview congregation, Pastor Tom did the same at the Methodist Church here on the Peninsula.

    When this opportunity came up, Pastor Tom said enthusiastically from the church office last week, I jumped at it. I was excited about it. And luckily, hes mustered up the energy to tackle the job head on. He nodded at the telephone on the office desk. This phone has been ringing off the hook. I cant believe how active this area is. He has already been attending meetings and has been asked to attend even more.

    Members of the church, he said, have just been so special. Theyve gone out of their way to do anything that needs to be done at the parsonage and help any way they can.

    Hes been at both the giving and receiving ends of requests. Before he even had time to unpack many of the moving boxes at the parsonage he was asked to lead the July 22 service at Vespers in Oysterville.

    Sydney Stevens spoke about Pastor Tom in her introduction Sunday, commenting that this was the first time he had even attended Vespers, So this is kind of trial by fire for him, she said, drawing quiet laughter from the many people in the pews.

    Leila Elkins, Pastor Toms wife of 39 years, sat in a pew midway between the pulpit and back wall. She watched his service and the warm acceptance given him by those attending. While he   didnt say anything there about how remarkable their lives have been, he did speak of it days before in his church office.

    As a young man, Pastor Tom had married, had children and went through a divorce, which brought upon a special task. He recalled, I wound up raising three teenage daughters by myself for five years. He smiled, remembering what it was like, then said humbly, But really, they raised me.

    He dropped out of the ministry during those years because, he reflected, All my time and efforts were set on raising them and getting them through high school.

    His oldest daughter eventually married and was the first to leave the nest.

    In a different geographical area, an old friend, also divorced, was busy raising her son by herself, which she also did for five years. It might have made a get-the-tissues-for-the-tears Lifetime movie, when Leila and Tom, who had not seen each other for a decade, met again in Hayward, Calif., at a funeral for Toms father.

    Four months later, Leila and Tom were married. Tom explained, We put the two families together, along with my widowed mother and a cat and dog. Between them, they now have four children, 11 grandchildren and 11 great-grandchildren.

    Tom said Leila was always very supportive about whatever venture he wanted to get involved in. She had been in real estate, and for a while the two of them spent some time in construction. He thought he was permanently retired from preaching, but the tether was tightening.

    I couldnt stay away from the ministry, he said. I went as long as I could. I finally got the girls on their feet and pretty well established and then one day, I told my wife, Youd better sit down. Ive got something to tell you. Ive got to go back into the ministry.

    Tom had been raised in the Church of the Nazarene, but was swayed by a friend, a United Methodist pastor, to attend Fuller Seminary in Pasadena, Calif. I went back to Fuller and got my masters degree and then pastored at a United Methodist Church in Pomona.

    After several years of preaching there, he made another attempt at retiring. But while he was  still preaching in Pomona, he had started a doctoral program at Fuller. Even after I was retired, I finished up that program in 2002.

    After suffering some disappointment with construction ventures when the economy went down the tubes, he and Leila moved to Winlock because her sister lived there. They assisted the staff at the towns United Methodist Church but remember now Pastor Tom was retired. But was he really?

    He is sure God has a sense of humor and definitely has a hand in changing plans. He explained. Oh, God might say. Those are your plans? Where was I included in that?

    Apparently, God is holding the permanent end of the tether that has always pulled Pastor Tom back into preaching and out of retirement, because thats what happened again now.

    In the office, he answers the phone, Ocean Park United Methodist Church. Pastor Tom speaking.