By RJ Walters, Editor
Terry Euper isn’t a man who hungers for accolades or notoriety, but he is exactly the kind of United Methodist leader the church draws its strength from.
June 30 was the Reverend’s final day of seven years of service as the clergy assistant to the Bishop, the final stop on a 42 –year ministry expedition that included pastoring at multiple local church stops and a 5-year stint as a district superintendent.
The Detroit Annual Conference in May was a sort of reflective celebration for Euper and his wife Jackie — also newly retired, from her position of project director for the Flint District — and it gave confidants young and old a chance to appreciate the wit and wisdom of a family who has helped define the path of the conference for years and generations.
Annual conference as a stepping stone
As a high school junior in 1963 Terry was still getting familiar with the church. He was active in his congregation in Whitmore Lake and had his sights set on college — which in his mind meant preparing for an education at the University of Michigan.
That is until his pastor Rev. William Johnson asked him to join him as a church delegate for annual conference at Adrian College. His parents were already going as adult delegates, so he figured ‘why not?’
“I believe in the call of ministry, that people are called to be in the ministry, but I also believe that my pastor, Rev. William Johnson, somehow saw something and he helped to shape and focus that cause,” Terry said. “He was finding ways to use gifts and talents I didn’t even know I had.”
He said he was riveted by the fact the United Methodist Church was much bigger than the small congregation he came from, and he also became “fascinated by (the idea of) being part of a community on that small a campus.”
So four years after first meeting Jackie at middle school youth group, and after his first major church conference, Eueper’s path started pointing toward Adrian College, where he developed many of the skills needed for a career in ministry.
By 1972 he was an official conference clergyman and as he puts it, “God has surprised me every step of the way,” ever since.
A legacy that spans the family name
It’s hard to wipe a smile from Euper’s face when he’s talking about what God has done in his life.
He’s been a part of work teams in Haiti and Liberia, he’s travelled to Korea for the World Methodist Conference and his family lived in England one summer through a summer-pulpit exchange.
“Our experience with the Detroit Annual Conference just goes way out. We get weekly phone calls from people in Liberia, Africa,” he said. “It’s an amazing thing — we’re sponsoring a young person there who is going to college. We also have pastor friends there and seldom a week goes by where we don’t get a call from someone internationally.”
Those phone calls are a far cry from anything he could have imagined as a youngster.
Euper wasn’t really introduced to the church until middle school, when his parents joined and helped start a youth group in Whitmore Lake. He said that example was the perfect model of “involvement in the life of a church” and his family has followed.
Son Steve will continue the family legacy of ministry in the Detroit Conference, serving at his latest appointment, New Hope UMC.
Of the highest regard
Without looking too hard it’s easy to find Euper joyfully hugging comrades and engaging in smile-filled exchanges at any church related event.
But it is the affirmations of his closest colleagues that bring the significance of his work and dedication full circle.
“He’s been an advocate for the things I’ve needed to get done. He is a person I believe is called, so that has made a difference. Somebody took a picture of us my first year when we were sitting in worship and I don’t know who took it and brought it to us — but it is on the top of one of my cabinets where I sit,” Bishop Keaton said. “I have also felt like if I had to go into a war, one of the persons I would really want on my side is Terry.”
Keaton said Euper had the knack for being a catalyst of positive change as the clergy assistant, a trait that demonstrates the kind of respect people give him when he speaks.
“One of the things about my role as the assistant to the Bishop, is I felt it was my job to be a calm presence when people came to us,” Euper said. “Quite often when people call our office they’re not calm and they’re worked up about something, so I tried to be a voice of reason, somebody they could talk to and who would respond them.”
Bill Dobbs, previously the Heartland district superintendent, officially stepped into Euper’s old office on July 1, and he has nothing but adulation for his predecessor.
“It’s hard to follow someone like Terry. He did a great job in this position in the years he was here and on the one hand it’s hard to live up to that kind of person,” Dobbs said. “The other sense however is that he made it easy because he set such a good path that it’s easy to follow in his footsteps.”
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