The Rev. Bynum Orr sits on his 2002 Road King Classic Harley Davidson. The 72-year-old pastor from Thomasville has come out of retirement to lead the Brentwood Baptist Church congregation. SONNY HEDGECOCK | HPE
Retiring from First Baptist Church a year ago, Orr, 72, officially came out of retirement last month to become the pastor of Brentwood Baptist Church in High Point. Brentwood Baptist Church, located on Gordon Road, is Orr’s seventh church that he has pastored in his 52-year career in the ministry.
Orr, the chaplain of the Thomasville Police Department and the High Point Harley-Davidson Chapter, replaces the Rev. Robert Scott who left the church in April for Alaska.
“I’ve been preaching here for several months,” Orr said. “They asked me if I would be their interim pastor. I told them ‘no’ because usually when you do an interim, people say ‘He is going to leave so we won’t come.’ I said, ‘If I am going to help you, I’d just rather be your pastor and stay until I feel like the Lord says it’s enough, and I will do something.’ ”
Orr’s career as a pastor has led him to preach in cities like Bluefield and Martinsville., Va., and Asheville. In 2000, he retired from Southside Baptist Church in High Point, but later served as an interim pastor at Carolina Memorial Baptist Church in Thomasville and Holloways Baptist Church in Lexington.
After a long career, Orr still has a passion for the ministry.
“It’s special to do what you feel like God put you here to do,” he said. “I enjoy people. I enjoy ministering to people. It’s very rewarding because you can see some lives change. You can see some people who get excited about what the Lord wants to do in their lives and the church. It’s very exciting.”
As pastor of Brentwood Baptist Church, Orr hopes “to reach some people” and try to see if he can get the church a “little more established.” The church currently has about 100 members, he said.
“We are hoping to change the name of the church,” Orr said. “It used to be on Brentwood Street, and Brentwood doesn’t mean a thing to these people in this community. I think they are going to vote on changing it to Gordon Road Baptist Church.”
BYNUM ORR
Residence: Thomasville
Family: Wife, Betty; children, David, Dale, Deborah; six grandchildren.
Military: U.S. Naval Reserve, 1957-65.
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