Leona Gerber watches as her husband, the Rev. Allan Gerber, find a favorite scripture. The Gerbers will be leaving First Baptist Church, where he has served as pastor for nearly 19 years. They have been in the ministry for 46 years. An open house is planned for them at the church on Sunday, Aug. 24. (Jean Schlegel/VCTR)

By Jean Schlegel
Valley City Times-Record

The Rev. Allan and Leona Gerber of Valley City are retiring from full time ministry after 46 years. More than 18 of those years have been at First Baptist Church, south on the Kathryn Road.
Allan said he doesn't like the idea of leaving, but “it's time,” he said. He is happy to be leaving on good terms with the congregation. The church is in good standing, and both he and his wife are in good health.
Sunday, Aug. 24, will be his last Sunday of ministry at First Baptist. There is an open house planned for the Gerbers that Sunday at the church from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m., with a program at 3 p.m. He officially retires on Aug. 31.
The Gerbers will take one month of down time before they will be available for interim ministry. This could take them any place in the United States.
“There will be a different emphasis and demands with interim ministry,” Allan said.
The Gerbers came to Valley City and to the Baptist church here on Jan. 1, 1990. The church was in the second phase of a large building project at the time. Their family was already grown, married and gone when they moved to Valley City. They have four children and five grandchildren.
The Gerbers came to Valley City from Ashley, where Allan was minister of the Baptist Church for 12 ½ years.
Both Gerbers are from western Canada. Allan attended the seminary in Sioux Falls, S.D., from 1959 to 1962. They have their 48th wedding anniversary coming up on Aug. 27, and were married in Canada in 1960.
Leona attended Taylor Bible College in Edmonton, Alberta, and has been ministry assistant at First Baptist.
After seminary, the Gerbers moved to New Leipzig, N.D. (by Mott). This was his first parish, and they stayed there for three and a half years, before moving back to Canada.
Allan's second parish was in Drumheller, Alberta, where they stayed for five and a half years. This was 130 miles from his home.
The next move was to North Freedom, Wis. They served there for five and a half years, before leaving for Ashley and then Valley City.
“We enjoyed the church and the community,” Allan says of their stay in Valley City. “It seemed like it was time for us and the congregation that we move on,” he added.
The church membership has grown since the Gerbers came to Valley City, and they now minister to about 150 people.

For full story, see Friday's edition of the Valley City Times-Record.