Retirement plan includes serving God

When the Rev. John Weston retired from the Southwest Texas Conference in 1994, he prayed for a plan on how he’d be spending the rest of his life.
“You have to have a plan when retirement comes along,” Weston said. “My wife and I always wanted to spend more time with our children, so that’s what we’re doing.”
Weston describes his four children as his “pride and joy.”
“My family is very important to me,” he said. “Every chance we get, we spend it with our children. We have the time to visit with them more and spend time with our eight grandchildren and two great-grandchildren, too.”
Weston, 77, and his wife, Shirley, have been married 57 years.
“John’s still my best friend after all these years,” Mrs. Weston said. “I just love having him around. We get to spend so much more time together now that he’s retired. It’s great to have more of him now.”
Mrs. Weston described their retirement trips as “fun and refreshing.”
While the couple is enjoying their retirement together and with their family, they said they find time to serve God wherever they’re called.
“It doesn’t matter where you go,” Weston explained. “God is always there giving you opportunities to be a witness for him.”
The couple sings in the choir at Highland Lakes UMC, Buchanan Dam. He’s on the finance committee and serves as a consultant for the church.
“I enjoy sharing ideas and setting goals that will enhance the future of the church,” Weston said.
Weston steps into the pulpit, too. Whenever his pastor, the Rev. Grady Roe, is out of pocket, Weston fills in.
Born in 1927 in Refugio, Weston spent a lot of time in his hometown church but never imagined himself in the pulpit.
“I come from a family of engineers, so I thought I wanted to go into the same profession,” he said. “But it didn’t happen that way.
“When I was 17, God called me into the ministry, so I was obedient and responded with a ‘yes’ to his calling.”
His path to the pulpit began at South Bluff UMC, Corpus Christi. That’s where the Rev. Darrel Gray, pastor of First UMC, Corpus Christi, at that time, planted a ministry seed in him during his teen years.
“He asked me if I might be interested in full-time ministry,” Weston explained. “I wasn’t really sure about it. But he planted that seed, and it grew.”
Forty years later, Weston is still grateful to pastors like Gray who are able to discern the gift of ministry in others.
His first appointment was in the Central Texas Conference in 1945. After graduating from Perkins School of Theology at Southern Methodist University in 1954, Weston served in nine Southwest Texas Conference churches before his retirement.
Weston said he was called into ministry to give back to God for all of the blessings he’s received for his family.
“Through ministry I was able to do just that,” he said. “I’m still giving back now. I’ll continue to be used by God for as long as he has me.”

Former Staff Writer Julie A. Wiley and current Staff Writer Claudia M. Williams contributed to this story.