Torkelson: 50-year ministry is still vibrant

By Jean Torkelson, Rocky Mountain News (Contact)

Published November 28, 2005 at midnight

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Judy Keesler hoped she had a treasure in the 36-foot-long Christmas Village display she's been quietly putting together for 15 years. Finally, on Sunday, she revealed it for the first time to the congregation that her dad, Pastor Tommy Moore, has led since 1955.

Set up in the back of Messiah Baptist Church in north Denver, Keesler's creation is a charming scene featuring 1,000 winking lights, nearly 50 tiny businesses, churches and homes, and miniature residents tramping through drifts of cotton snow.

But even with the admiring looks of onlookers (Marissa Miller, 8, was especially entranced by a blue waterfall tumbling into a fluffy valley), the real hidden treasure within these drafty, creaky, radiator-clanging walls just might be Keesler's parents themselves - Pastor Tommy and his wife, Del.

"Not too many can say they're in ministry for 50 years," says Pastor Tommy, a slim, gallant gent of 77 ("I'll be 100 years old in 23 years," he announces, as if he can't wait.) Silver- haired, with a blazing smile and a ready quip, he vaguely resembles a fellow native Nebraskan, the late comedian Johnny Carson.

But Moore would rather be compared to California preacher Robert Schuller of Crystal Cathedral fame. Moore believes he and Schuller have two of the longest-running ministries in the U.S. And like Schuller, "I was on radio and television and all that," said Moore, adding, "At one time, we had 1,000 in Sunday school."

That was back in Lakewood, 30 years ago, before Jefferson County took the church land in an eminent domain case, according to Moore. The court fight impoverished the ministry and split the church.

"I don't want to talk about that," Moore says softly. His wife, Del, says the split was one of the most difficult trials of their years together.

"It was sad, but the Lord taught us not to retaliate. You give it to the Lord," says Del, who met her husband at an Omaha Bible school when both were in their teens.

So the Moores started over. They ended up here, at the corner of Irving Street and 44th Avenue, in a stolid, 1920s-era church with Spanish-style curves and a gorgeous, 95-year-old Kimball organ.

"This building captivated me," Moore says, though the membership never fully rebounded. About 30 worshippers listened attentively Sunday as Moore's grandson, Tom, the assistant pastor, led Christmas hymns. (Moore's son, Darrell, has his own church, and the other three Moore kids are all "in service to the Lord," says Del, 79.)

But the irrepressible Moores still dream big. In 2001, they proposed to the city of Broomfield a 160-acre, $20 million theme park called Messiahville, which would feature a full-size replica of Noah's ark. The project has yet to be greenlighted, but Moore has been honored by the Denver City Council for his extensive community work, which includes his Save A Child organization and programs for the poor.

"It's not to be left to government to take care of God's people, but the church," Moore told his congregation Sunday (one senses, not for the first time).

Never give up - the watchwords of a ministry that believes Jesus will take care of everything. As his little flock headed out the door, Pastor Tommy reminded them there was also a 6 p.m. service Sunday.

"Now don't you sit down and watch television," he joshed them. "You come on back and hear me preach!"

torkelsonj@RockyMountainNews.com or 303-892-5055

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