On Monday, March 27, heaven welcomed Dr. Peter James “Jim” Flamming through its gates.  Dr. Flamming was Pastor Emeritus of Richmond’s First Baptist Church (FBC), serving from 1983 to 2006.  I can imagine Shirley, his beloved wife, and their son, Dave, together with all the saints, welcoming him and God saying, “Well done, good and faithful servant.”

Dr. Flamming was a dear friend and mentor to me.  I keep a handwritten note from him in the front of my preaching Bible.  When I step into the pulpit, I sense his presence.  Once when we were at breakfast, he talked about his method of discernment and decision making.  He gave me 1 Corinthians 14:33 – “For God is not the author of confusion . . .” and said that it was his “go-to” passage.  He said, “Bob, God’s will is not a state of confusion.  Sometimes it feels confusing, but God will never lead you to a permanent state of confusion.”  This verse has stuck with me, and I have it on a post-it-note in the front of my devotional Bible.  I remember going to him after I was contacted about the opening at HRBC.  Dr. Flamming looked at me, and with a pregnant pause, said, “That’s a good church, Bob.”  What a blessing it was to have seen both Dr. Flamming and Shirley at my installation service here in March, 2015.  With his health challenges, it was quite an effort to make the trip. 

Our connection with First Baptist dates back to when Melanie’s mom and dad, Margaret and Roger Webb, lived in Richmond from 1960 to 1964.  Her dad worked at G.C. Murphy store on Broad Street and her mom worked at Reynolds Metals.  While in Richmond, they were members of FBC and were active in teaching children’s Sunday School.  Dr. Theodore F. Adams was pastor at the time.  Melanie and I moved to Richmond in 1995 so I could attend seminary at BTSR.  We visited FBC and never went anywhere else.  It quickly became our church home.  There were several friends of Melanie’s parents still in the church which made it a special connection.  During our first year in seminary, we were asked to teach a young couple’s class.  My second and third years of seminary, I did my internship under Rev. Ralph Starling, who was the Single Adult minister.  Those were some of the most formative years of my seminary experience.  Dr. Flamming and the staff enabled me to have opportunities well beyond my internship requirements.  I attended a staff meeting, learned how to conduct funerals and even got to preach on a Sunday night in the sanctuary.  I will never forget how Dr. Flamming gave me two hours of his time one day to teach me how he did funerals.  To this day, I rely on his service order at the graveside.  For example, he taught me to sprinkle flowers during the committal.

It wasn’t until after he retired from FBC in 2006 that our friendship and mentorship grew.  He and Shirley purchased a home in the neighborhood adjacent to my former church, New Highland Baptist (NHBC) in Mechanicsville.  I spent a number of hours sitting with him on the dock at their pond.  Shirley was a potter and had a studio in the house that overlooked the dock and pond.  In those years, Dr. Flamming enjoyed writing the books he had planned for his retirement.  The first one is entitled, Healing the Heartbreak of Grief which I give to our members after they go through loss.  He also wrote Never Stop Starting, which is a great book for senior adults (but really for anyone).  It is useful for someone who needs encouragement and purpose.

One day, I stood up to preach at NHBC and looked out at the congregation.  There sat Dr. Flamming in the very back row at the 8:30 contemporary service.  I was so nervous!  Here was the man I had so admired, who taught preaching and wrote books and articles on preaching, sitting in the sanctuary.  Yet, he was gracious and kind as he worshiped with us.  Dr. Flamming wanted to give Dr. Jim Somerville, the new pastor at FBC, some space, so he worshiped with us for about a year before returning to FBC.  Over the ensuing years, we would go to breakfast at the Hanover Café or lunch at Arby’s.  I will forever cherish those conversations and his mentoring.  It was great a joy to sit at the feet of such a godly, caring and humble man whose simple invitation to pray was, “Please bow.”

Dear, God in heaven, thank you for Dr. Peter James Flamming.  Thank you for his love of Jesus.  Thank you for his devotion to his family and to his church.  Thank you for the many people who found hope through his ministry.  Thank you for the way he invested in the next generation of pastors.  Thank you for the way he managed to serve large churches with the compassion and care of a small-church pastor.  Thank you for the way he did justice, loved mercy and walked humbly with God (Micah 6:8).  Amen.

To read Dr. Flamming’s obituary and to watch the video from his 60^th Year in Ministry Celebration, please visit https://fbcrichmond.org/dr-peter-james-flamming/

In Christ’s care and service,