Sometimes God surprises us. Just ask Vickie Sweetman. At more than 80 years old, she can look back and, with a smile, remember the surprises that God had in store for her and her pastor husband more than 25 years ago when they unexpectedly moved to Georgia.

After pastoring a church for more than two decades in the Washington D.C. area, Richard Sweetman was told by his doctor that the South’s gentler climate would benefit his deteriorating health. Giving up their church – along with the salary, benefits, and home provided by the church – was difficult. Yet, the Sweetmans did what they felt they had to. Close to retirement age, but not quite old enough to receive Social Security, the couple packed up and moved to the Atlanta area, where their oldest daughter lived.

They had no income and no home, but they had a lot of faith. And God did not disappoint.

Luthersville Baptist Church, then a small country church south of Atlanta, was looking for a pastor. It had always had a “halftime pastor” – one who would preach at their church two Sundays a month. Richard Sweetman was willing to preach every Sunday and even do more pastoral duties as his health allowed.

It seemed a perfect fit. Yet, one issue created concern. With only halftime pastors, Luthersville Baptist Church had never had a pastorium, and the Sweetmans, even at their advanced ages, had never owned a home.

Such a situation is a common dilemma, and it is one that is very personal to Leonard Dupree, specialist in Georgia Baptist Church-Minister Relations. When he was 52 years old, he and his family found themselves looking to purchase a home for the first time. Today, he encourages churches to provide an adequate housing allowance so that ministers and their families can have their own homes.

Owning a home while actively serving in ministry allows a minister to build equity so that he can afford to own a home upon retirement. Also, he says, “There is a certain sense of security and personal dignity in owning your own home.” If a church currently owns a pastorium, he recommends either selling it or using it for specific church activities.

The housing dilemma for the Sweetmans gave the Luthersville Church opportunity to act generously. Although Luthersville Church was smaller than any of the others the Sweetmans had served, they were discovering that it was a “little church with a big heart,” according to Vickie Sweetman.

With a down-payment gift from some of their former church members in the Washington D.C. area, the couple bought a home, moving it to a lot adjacent to the church. Bob Trammell, who was chairman of the deacons at Luthersville Church at the time and whose family owned the land, acknowledges the church’s generosity in the housing solution, but he also affirms the Sweetman’s ministry. “Yes, Luthersville is a very loving church ... and it was easy to love the Sweetmans!” he says.

The Sweetmans began their ministry, and were surprised when the church, each month, gave the couple three checks: one for the pastor; one for his wife, who was actively involved in ministering; and one for a housing allowance.

The couple joyfully served their little loving church; yet Richard Sweetman’s health problems persisted and he died in 1983. Again, members of Luthersville Church put their love into action, giving the Sweetmans two burial plots in this, their last field of service together.

Already touched by the church’s generosity, Vickie said that, during her time of grief, their “love flowed like soothing ointment to see me through those days.” She knew she needed a home, but she also sensed that she needed to move so as to ease the transition for the new pastor. The church, generously, offered to buy the house from her, so that she would have the needed funds to purchase another home.

“Have you ever seen the love of God so strongly expressed as it has been through these wonderful people of God?” asks Vickie Sweetman.

Seeing a church care for its ministers – both active and retired – also brings joy to Keith Hamilton, Georgia Baptist specialist in Church Financial Services. Such a loving relationship is how it should be, but not how it always is, he says. His role with Georgia Baptists is to help ease the financial burdens faced by many retired ministers and their spouses, and he is thrilled when a church does its part to help ease those burdens also.

Today, Vickie, ever grateful to the little church with the big heart, lives in her very own home in Jonesboro and is actively involved in First Baptist Church, Jonesboro.

Much like the little church with the big heart, Vickie continues to give. She writes letters to shut-ins; she prays with people over the telephone; she teaches a Bible study; she visits individuals in the hospital, even driving into Atlanta if necessary. Friend and fellow church member Judy Walker says, “Vickie gives her life, not just a little bit of herself, but her whole life, to others.”

To those who know her, that is no surprise.