Nance, Lester
1/1/1990
LESTER NANCE
Lester Nance entered the ministry of the United Methodist Church through the North Arkansas Conference in 1956. In 1969 he moved to Louisiana to begin a ministry that would carry him across this Conference. It began in Monroe and continued at Lake Arthur, Clinton, Zwolle, and Friendship. At his last pastorate, Farmerville, Lester and Elizabeth served for nine beautiful years.
Many qualities left their mark on our lives. Lester was not content unless he was growing spiritually. He knew that God had called him to preach the Word—and he did so in earnest and with great content. He loved music, and saw how the message of our Lord was enhanced by the Word in song. Lester was an encourager in the most wonderful sense of the word.
Of all the things I will remember most about Lester Nance was that he was a gentle man. In a day and time when many view with low regard such a virtue, Lester brought character to it. It was in gentleness that he was strong. It was a quality of our Lord, and Lester sought that Christ-like life.
He was survived by his wife Elizabeth and three daughters—Leslie Bullard, Robin Mills, and Allison Nance.
Lester and many others prayed for healing through the long illness. Through the resurrection, indeed he was. The words of the apostle are quite fitting: “For we know that if this earthly tent we live in is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, but eternal in the heavens.”
Lester Nance was buried in his ministerial robe. How fitting! As the apostle affirmed, “I do not count my life dear until myself, so that I might finish my course with joy—and the ministry, which I have received of the Lord Jesus, to testify the gospel of the grace of God.” It has been done!
Source: Louisiana Conference Journal, 1990; p. 229 Larry Stafford
