Young Ministers

Articles

What Was It Like to Pastor at 17?

February 18, 2019
By H.B. Charles Jr.
  There I am, preparing to speak. Someone introduces me, who does not know me personally. So he reads from my bio. Two things capture the congregation’s attention. First, my name – H.B. Charles Jr. “Just in case you’re wondering,” he says, “H.B. does not stand for anything.” I am going to be asked about that later. Usually, I simply answer, “What can I say? My father did it to me. And I did it to my son.” Then the second, bigger details comes up. “H.B. succeeded his father’s forty-year pastorate at the age of seventeen, a senior at Los...