Ministering to a pastor in a time of grief

Last fall, after 30 years of marriage, George Perkins, pastor at First Baptist Church of Bullhead City, said goodbye to his wife, Shelly.

George and Shelly have done ministry together since the ’90s, serving on three multi-week mission trips in Africa and at multiple churches in Arizona — often smaller churches that required George or Shelly to have an outside job. Shelly served alongside him, involved in women’s and kids ministries.

“That was just our ministry,” George said. “We decided a long time ago that God would provide for our ministry [support], not the church. … We believed that small churches need to be led, too. And somebody has to have that calling.”

Shelly died on September 2, 2024, not long after receiving a cancer diagnosis. She had been in the hospital earlier that year with related health issues, but it wasn’t until August and a return hospital visit that the family got that diagnosis.

“They gave her about six months, and she lasted six days,” George said.

After the Perkinses’ decades of faithful ministry in Arizona, the news impacted many. The family waited until October to hold the memorial service, allowing time for people Shelly ministered to and with to travel for the service. Due to its more central location and larger size, First Southern Baptist Church of Kingman hosted, George said.

To help offset the expenses related to the service, the Arizona Mission Network of Southern Baptists offered Perkins financial assistance from the Ministers in Crisis Fund, one of eight ministries supported by the Arizona Mission Offering.

The family used the money to cover travel expenses, ensuring that Shelly’s four adult children could attend the memorial service.

“I have a son in Florida, and his wife,” George said. “I had another in college at the time (in Glendale). Getting everybody home, getting hotels booked because you quickly run out of space … it makes a big difference when there is extra support to help the entirety of the family who is struggling, to alleviate the financial burden of everything that you’re already going through.”

At the memorial service, family and friends shared stories and honored Shelly’s life.

“It allowed everybody to say their goodbyes … ” George said. “It allowed us to celebrate the life she gave us and the blessings that came out of it.”

This year, the Arizona Mission Offering aims to raise $225,000, with $28,150 going toward each of the eight supported ministries. Monty Patton, the network’s executive director, said the Ministers in Crisis Fund allows the network to help pastors dealing family deaths, emergency financial needs or situations that require professional counseling or coaching.

“It is good for churches and pastors to know that they have 460 churches that support, pray and want to financially help them during their time of greatest need,” Patton said.
In the Perkins family’s case, Bruce Cannon, director of the River Valley Baptist Association, facilitated that connection, George said.

“The first time, [Shelly] was in the hospital for over a month,” he said. “And we got a little help even then. There was some financial assistance from the association and the state as well.”

The Arizona Mission Offering and the support it offers for ministers in crisis provides a way for believers and churches around the state to support one another without ever knowing “who you’re going to affect,” George said.

“Emotionally, it was very encouraging to know that I wasn’t just sitting out there alone,” he said. “I had people I knew I could contact.”

Learn more about the Arizona Mission Offering at azmn.org/amo/.

Johanna Willett, a freelance writer living in Tucson, is a member of Mountain View Baptist Church, Tucson.