Making a Difference – Part 2: Richard Horn

My son’s name is Richard Lee Mann. Lee is a family tradition. The oldest male for several generations has received the middle name of “Lee.” Richard’s first name however carries a bit more significance. This blog is about that name and the significance of it.

Mentors. We don’t get these individuals in our life by the bushel full. They come along infrequently and often without warning. Richard Horn is the first man in my life that I would call a mentor. He had as strong an impact upon me as anyone in the field of ministry. His impact was so significant, that my son is named for him.

I will never forget my first encounter with Richard Horn. The church I attended following my father’s dramatic conversion saw the pastor resign and move to another city and begin a new ministry. The pastor who left was the man who preached the message God used to change my Dad’s life. So his resignation was no small deal. I even dated this man’s daughter for one summer. I was about 18 at this time and starting to struggle to find my way in the world.

The church went many months without a pastor, until they called Richard Horn as the new pastor. I was at work and missed his first Sunday. His second week he came up leaned over, shook my hand and said, “Richard Horn . . .” in a manner that implied he was giving you his name asking to hear yours in return. The amazing thing is he did the same thing every time he met you until he knew your name. In a church with over 700 on Sunday morning each week, he quickly learned every name. I have to admit, however, that I thought he was a little strange in that manner of learning names. In the end, he was right, and I was wrong.

Richard Horn was a very interesting fellow. He was my Dad’s age, similar to my Dad in many ways, but so unlike my own father in many others. He lived a life of faith the entire time I knew him. He is still pastoring in the northeast area of Georgia, last I heard.

My early memories of Richard were interesting. He had some very unorthodox methods of getting folks attention and laying out clear expectations as a leader. A couple stories will help here.

Incident #1 – My home church had a bad reputation before Richard Horn came. Okay, that sounds vague so let me clear it up a bit. I mentioned earlier the resignation of the pastor who was instrumental in my Dad coming to faith. He was only at the church for 3-1/2 years. I soon learned that was typical. The pastoral tenures were brief. I did not learn exactly why until later.


There were several men in our church who had a reputation for chasing off pastors who did not do their bidding. They would harass the family, and who knows what else. Richard Horn had been duly warned. Richard was not a brash person. He was actually pretty humble as an individual when you knew him. But this one got him.

After he had been there for about six months to a year, the activity started in his home. Then came the fateful showdown. I will never forget the Sunday morning of the climax. After the worship service was over, instead of pronouncing a benediction or giving a closing blessing and prayer, Richard had everyone sit down. (My memory may be a bit sketchy on the details, but the general story is very accurate.) After everyone was seated he said something to this effect:

“I was told when I came here that there were some men who would try to run the church and would harass my family, or whatever it took to be in control. Those men have now started in on me and my family. Now, I want you to listen very carefully to me. You think you are anonymous. But you are cowards. I know who you are. You have called my wife while I was not home. If you continue to call my home and harass my family, you will get what you want. I will resign this church. I will then come to your house and beat you with my fist. Do you hear me? I do not know what you have had before, but you have a man in this pulpit now. You will not . . . I repeat . . . you will not treat my family like that! Now stand up and let’s go home.”

With that he walked out without a word. The church stood stunned. The calls stopped and he stayed as pastor of the church for 20 years.

Incident #2 – Teenagers have been known to be a little unruly in church. That is no secret. In our church the teens would sit in the balcony away from their parents to . . . well whatever, but not listen to the message.

One Sunday evening, they were a little bit too loud. Richard, as he had in the past said, “Young men and women in the balcony, you are being a little loud and disturbing those who are trying to listen.” They were so loud in fact that they did not hear him. Now remember, there were about 350 or so in attendance on Sunday evenings.

After several attempts to get their attention, he stood ON TOP of the pulpit waved his arms and yelled, “High O Silver!!” Believe me; he had everyone’s full attention now! The teens looked at him. He said, “Now that I have your attention, young people, you are disturbing the folks trying to listen. Please be quiet.”

They did. And so did everyone else!

Incident #3 – Our church was a typical southern church. We had an hour service on Sunday morning, a 90 minute service on Sunday evening, and an hour long service (called a prayer meeting, although I never understood why) on Wednesday evening.

One Sunday evening in the summer, it was a bit warm, folks were sort of listening to the message, sort of not. Now Richard was a good preacher, so it is not as if he was bad. I was sitting about 1/4 back on the left of the three sections, and was also guilty of not giving it 100% attention.

All at once, without warning, he said “You aren’t listening, I'm going home.”

With that, he closed his Bible, walked out the side door, got in his car and drove off. His wife was still seated. (They came to church in separate cars each week so he could arrive early.) We all sat stunned. The windows were open and all 300 of us heard the car start up and heard him drive off. We slowly closed our Bibles, and walked out.

Believe me when I tell you that the next week everyone was listening!

Something about Richard won me over. He loved his church and cared for them like no pastor I have known since.

Every funeral director in the area knew him. Every nurse, and most doctors, at the hospital knew him. He cared and would visit anyone.

He showed me a lot about ministry, and much of it was intentional. During a trip home while in seminary, Richard invited me to go with him to a funeral home to meet with a family at the first viewing upon the death of their mother. In the car ride over he said, “Terry, Do not feel any pressure to say anything. Most pastors say way too much in these situations. I have learned they just are glad you are here and care. Simply say, ‘You have my sympathy.’ Don’t quote the Bible or offer any advice. Just care and show that you do.”

And believe me, he cared and everyone knew it was real!! They loved the man who stayed longer than anyone in the church’s history.

I used the word mentor to describe this man earlier. That is a strange way to put it actually. The most accurate wording would be to call him a “reluctant mentor.” He often reminded me not to put him on any pedestal. He said, “Terry, men will fail you. Jesus will not.”

Richard Horn performed the marriage of my wife and me which included an overnight stay out of town three hours away. He refused any honorarium or reimbursement. He simply said, “Terry, I am your pastor. This is part of being your pastor.”

That affected me. To this day, I will not accept honorariums for a wedding from any persons who belong to my church.

Richard impacted my life in ways that are still bearing fruit. I doubt he would ever believe me if I told him. I know, several times I tried. He made a difference in my life and the life of everyone I will ever touch in ministry owes him a huge debt.