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That’s how Lee Eclov began each of his weekly columns. He wrote 291, the final one submitted and published last week.
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He suggested in that piece that after Easter we may have "the post Holy Week droops." Our people and churches "plug along much of the time." Nothing much spectacular. But he reminded us how "Christ’s resurrection guarantees that our labor here and now, like our bodies, has a resurrection destiny—immortal, honored, and powerful."
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On Wednesday, April 8, Lee went to his resurrection destiny. It was sudden and unexpected. His wife, Susan, and their son and daughter-in-law, Andy and Rikki, survive him.
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Lee and I met 45 years ago. We were both young pastors in Pennsylvania. Our churches were separated by 150 miles, but we bonded over preaching. We wrote our sermons out word-for-word, which made detailed discussion possible.
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Lee was relentless in his quest for precise words, accurate shades of meaning, and any linguistic strategy that might take a listener into Jesus. Because his churches were never large, he was the primary preacher. He had tremendous affection for pastors who create fresh material week after week.
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Along the way Lee added readers to his audiences of listeners, marshalling words in a different manner but reaching the same hearts. He wrote over the years for, among other publications, Leadership Journal, Preaching Today, and CT Pastors.
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Words were his craft, encouragement his currency. He drew from a deep reservoir to build up others. Sometimes those interactions did not show on the calendar. He always had a new coffee shop encounter story. Over the years those numbered in the hundreds.
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Add to that all the pastors who sought a slot on his calendar. They came in a steady stream for his wisdom. The sum of those confidential conversations allowed him to speak with quiet authority regarding the joys and challenges of church life.
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Lee also taught part-time at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School and Denver Seminary. His students remembered what they learned and how much he cared for them.
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As a pastor in the trenches that well of encouragement sometimes ran dry for himself. Last week’s column detailed a season of discouragement and two men who prayed over him. He wondered over the years why, with all the care he gave to the communication process, he did not have the opportunity to preach to bigger congregations.
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Maybe that’s because he did not aspire to be an organizational man. He once asked me to spell out how leaders conjure an official written vision for their place. His conclusion after my explanation: I don’t get it and I’m not much interested in it.
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Instead, he was a shepherd, and a shepherd to shepherds. He constantly highlighted the link between our faithful toil and its eternal impact. Where does plugging along much of the time get us, or our people? "Throw yourselves into the work of the Master, confident that nothing you do for him is a waste of time or effort." (1 Corinthians 15:58 MSG) It counts, all of it. He loved that verse. That was his theme.
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Early this year we began working to renovate CT Pastors. Lee was integral to those discussions, never allowing them to meander far from what a shepherd really needs and experiences. We are the beneficiaries of his faithfulness.
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I’ll conclude with Lee’s sign-off to me all the years I’ve known him, and to all of us in every column: Be Ye Glad!
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—Thomas Addington
COO, Christianity Today
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Submit a note, memory, or tribute. We'll select some to add to our tribute article and we'll share them all with Lee's family.
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