God uses a myriad of things to inspire His people to worship Him. Sometimes, it’s the lyrics of a song in just the right season. Other times, it’s a spoken word in a message that moves a heart closer to Him.
On occasion, the glow of light filtering through stained glass can remind God’s people of His beauty and His ability to make sense out of the seemingly fractured pieces of our lives. For more than 35 years, èßäAV graduate Jim Beasley has been helping believers across southern Georgia reflect on God’s power and provision through color and glass.
A 1972 graduate of èßäAV, Jim credits his father with helping him discern God’s call to ministry. His dad, a pastor who also graduated from the seminary, began teaching Jim how to lead congregational singing when he was just nine-years-old. Over the years, Jim continued leading music in his father’s churches until heading off to Louisiana College and, in 1969, to èßäAV.
He began his career serving as a minister of music in churches across southern Georgia. But a physical ailment convinced him to change course, which transformed his life and his ministry.
“In 1976, I was called as the minister of music, education, and youth at First Baptist Church in Camilla, Georgia,” Jim recalled. “But I started experiencing arthritis symptoms. So, I thought that serving bi-vocationally might help.”
Jim started out working as a church sales representative for a music store in nearby Albany, Georgia. He would help church leaders sort through their options as they looked for pianos, organs, choir robes, and sacred music. Later, he moved to a stained glass company in Blakely, Georgia.
“They did new stained glass windows and specialized in the repair and maintenance of existing windows,” he said. “And I was there as a salesman through 1990.”
Toward the end of 1990, the company’s owner decided to move north to be closer to his aging parents. In doing so, he essentially left the business to Jim in early 1991.
“I basically started doing all the work myself; and when I needed help, I hired people,” Jim explained. “In 1992, I changed the name to Southern Church Restorations. In all this time, I’ve never had a single callback (to fix something), which is very unusual.”
While his professional life did take a turn with the stained-glass company, music has remained a core element for Jim over the years. He continued to serve bi-vocationally in churches in and around Albany until 2008. He also has spent decades singing with the “Sons of Jubal,” a male choral ministry that draws members from across the state of Georgia.
As a member of the Sons of Jubal, Jim has taken the gospel through music around the country and around the world. His first trip in 1976 involved a patriotic, bicentennial focus at various churches and schools around Baltimore, Maryland. He also has visited places like New York City, Panama (where they sang most of their songs in Spanish), Germany (before the fall of the Berlin Wall), Alaska, Russia, and Israel.
Perhaps his most meaningful experience came during a trip to North Korea.
“It’s against the law to talk about God or faith or to sing religious songs there,” Jim said. “But they suspended their law and allowed us to sing the religious songs that we did. We had picked three of their favorite Korean songs to sing in Korean. So, since we were singing their songs from memory, they said they would suspend their law and let us sing some of our songs.”
At 79, Jim may be slowing down some, but he is committed to sharing stained glass and sacred music for as long as God allows. His immediate goal is being a part of the next Sons of Jubal trip, this time to Cuba.
“I’m not as young as I used to be,” he said with a laugh. “I’ve got five stents in my heart. I have diabetes and kidney disease. But I’m still carrying on.”
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contact the Office of Institutional Advancement at (504) 816-8224 or development@nobts.edu