John Thomas: A local pastor and his Georgia alligator

Published 10:36 am Monday, December 7, 2015

When “Pastor John” opens the top, the scent of formaldehyde wafts through the air, as if the monster reptile is still thinking up some sort of get-even tactic for a fight lost to a capable hunter a just a few years prior.

By LYNDA LAYNE

Observer correspondent

ILWACO — When John Thomas relocated to the Peninsula in February to become pastor of the New Life Assembly of God Church in Ilwaco, he brought with him his wife, their two daughters and about one-fourth of a deceased 13-foot 5-inch alligator named Levi. Seriously.

In the church office, Levi’s huge taxidermied head, jaws wide open, rests forever in a big glass case. When “Pastor John” opens the top, the scent of formaldehyde wafts through the air, as if the monster reptile is still thinking up some sort of get-even tactic for a fight lost to a capable hunter a just a few years prior. That hunter was no other than Pastor John Thomas.

Snagged in a Southern lake, Levi was a record-setting catch. Thomas proudly recites, “He was the number five alligator of all time for the State of Georgia.” And Thomas believes that Levi’s head is still listed as the largest one ever harvested from there. It was estimated, head and all, that this scaly critter weighed about 700 pounds.

Thomas presently has no plans to attempt a repeat catch. This was pretty much a one-time only venture. But hunting was nothing new to him when he captured Levi in 2012.

Born and raised in Georgia, Thomas recalled, “My dad had been taking me hunting since I was three years old. I was just tagging along. But then, when I became able, it because less about tagging along and more about having a hunting partner, a buddy.”

On this successful alligator hunt, his dad was with him on the boat. So was a man named Chris, who acted as guide — a man who, the year before, had caught his own record setter. Chris had hunted that area before.

Alligator season had just started up about a dozen years before. “For so long, they were endangered,” explained Thomas, recalling the facts and memories from his church office. For years, he said, “Everybody was taking care to try and get the numbers back up. But I can assure you,” he paused and smiled, “they are in no way endangered now.”

Speaking of a typical situation on a Georgia night, he said, “You shine lights across the lakes and it’s just eyeballs everywhere.”

So there they were, in a boat, with alligators aplenty. But Chris wanted to be sure they didn’t get just any alligator, but the alligator.

Thomas recalled that Chris knew this was to be a one-time hunt to get a trophy catch, though he says now, “I’m not sure that trophy is the right word.”

Then bam. They hooked one. Thomas remembered, “When we had the first hook in him, he didn’t even know it. He was down on the bottom, trying to hide from the boat.” They hadn’t yet even seen this gator, other than its nose.

Chris knew that Thomas and his father were looking for something in the 10-foot class, so he asked if, based on the pull and fight, if they thought this one would be big enough. They soon found out, when they got a second line in (a Georgia state regulation) and as Thomas recalled, “He knew he was hooked and came alive. He came out of the lake like a Tarpin and tail-walked across the water. I told Chris, ‘Yeah! He’s big enough.”

“We fought him for a couple hours. Most of the time, he stayed on the bottom and just pulled the boat around,” said Thomas. When the fight was over, Thomas figured the gator had died on the bottom of the lake, but by Georgia regs, they had to be sure. “Normally, you have to dispatch them by pulling them right up next to the boat. And usually, by the time you do that, because they’ve pulled the boat around, they’re spent and don’t have any energy left to really fight you. But in our case, he was defiant and had refused to come up.”

They had to be sure. Thomas added, “Just a little word of caution. There’s no such thing as a dead alligator. They can never be too dead.” So, a pistol made sure it was over.

Thomas explained how he named the gator. “I call him Levi, short for Leviathan,” a literal animal that is described in vivid detail in the book of Job. “There’s a reference where God asks Job, ‘Who can catch the Leviathan or stick a hook in his jaw?’ And the last thing God says to Job in that section of scripture is, ‘The hunter who attempts it will have an experience he never forgets.’”

Levi is surely a fascinating sight for the children in New Life Church. Father of two girls ages 8 and 11, Thomas understands youngsters well and is proud of the youth there. “We have a pretty solid children’s group. I think we had seven this past week and it seems to be growing. We have a phenomenal children’s leader, Debbie Patana from Chinook. And of course, we do background checks on all our children’s leaders.”

On the Sunday before Thanksgiving, the children were seated at a table decorating gingerbread houses. And even though, after the service, the adults were lining up to load their plates for a Thanksgiving potluck, the children were so focused on their projects, they were hesitant to leave the table to get their meals.

They have also been working on a play, which they’ll present at the service on the Sunday before Christmas. Thomas said, “They’re very excited about that.”

In January, the children will start a new curriculum. Thomas said, “We’re going to be doing What’s in the Bible, by the creators of VeggieTales. It’s all online and interactive. Then, they’ll have followup lessons in conjunction with the material that they watch online.”

This is a 13-video series, said to be fun and engaging that covers stories from Genesis to Revelation, as Buck Denver explores what truly is in the Bible.

Thomas has a history that basically prepped him for pastoring.. He credits years in the Air Force for that. “When I got out,” he said, “I was a Captain. I’d been a section commander in Alaska. That was a phenomenal assignment and I cannot think of anything I’ve done that has prepared me better for what I do now.”

He relates to his congregation, both young and old. During a recent service, as a Christian rock song was being played, lyrics flashing on a screen, he stood in front of the first pew, clapping and foot tapping to the rhythm. Without looking down, he peeled off his suit jacket and dropped it onto the fabric coated seat. He is energetic, enthusiastic and rocks out with his church members.

The pastor he replaced in February moved on to another church, but one within the same Northwest district. But according to congregation members, Thomas arrived earlier this year with his family — and his alligator — and fit right in. He commented, “I see a lot of correlation with the former pastor and myself, a lot of common interests.”

And, he thought it ironic that the other pastor’s wife worked for Great Northwest Federal Credit Union and so does Thomas’s wife, Sundrea.

Thomas explained that the previous pastor had “brought the church to a point where he was comfortable stepping out. And I just sort of picked up where he left off.”

If Thomas misses anything about his former years, it’s hunting in Georgia with his father (who still lives in the South) and also the beauty and expanse of Alaska. But he’s finding similarities with Peninsula fishermen he’s met here and those he knew far up north. “They’re similar types of folks. Kindred spirits.”

New Life is a welcoming church and probably the only one in Washington State with an alligator in the office. Check them out online: www.facebook.com/NewLifeChurchIlwaco.