Fred Andrea confirms 'good ministers don't ever really retire'

Apr. 8—Downtown Aiken and the Hollow Creek community, near Salley, are separated by more than 20 miles, and the territory between the two has become more familiar over the past couple of years for the Rev. Fred Andrea III, one of Aiken County's most prominent pastors.

Andrea, a Greenville native who spent most of his teen years in Spartanburg, is largely known for his quarter of a century (1993-2018) as head pastor of Aiken's First Baptist Church.

His retirement may have brought a little leisure time, but his pastoral skills are still in high demand, and his focus is now largely on Hollow Creek, where Clinton United Methodist Church has him in the pulpit on Sundays and on duty as needed, in the tradition of a small-town minister.

He and his wife, Barbara Morgan, reside in Aiken, and the two of them combined have a thorough knowledge of the area's ups and downs, as she served as solicitor for South Carolina's Second Judicial Circuit for nearly 20 years.

Hollow Creek, in the corner where Aiken, Lexington and Orangeburg counties meet, is a rural area, with plenty of open acreage and an abundance of pickup trucks in the Clinton congregation's parking lot. Chicken farming is a major part of the local economy.

The Hollow Creek Volunteer Fire Department, about two miles away, is another major landmark. "Those two are the pillars that ... support the quality of life in that Hollow Creek community," Andrea said, confirming that his congregation has a variety of firemen in the pews.

"When I retired from First Baptist, I knew that ... good ministers don't ever really retire. It's part of your identity. It's part of who you be and what you do, and I knew there would be opportunities. I mean, there were immediately — the very next Sunday," he recalled.

"I've been invited to preach, and I stayed busy supplying for a few months — as many Sundays as I wanted."

He is a wanted man, in the positive sense, based on input from several of his neighbors. "I think he is one of the most kindest, caring persons that I've ever met, and I'm 75 years old," said Hollow Creek native Jennie Hydrick.

"He is dedicated to his church, he's dedicated to his Lord and he's dedicated ... to his community, for that matter," she said, noting that his roles include involvement with a variety of local organizations.

His associations over the course of decades have been with such organizations as the Alston Wilkes Society, Aiken Family YMCA, Area Churches Together Serving, Aiken Chamber of Commerce, and Aiken County United Way, along with a few that are much farther afield, such as the Savannah AIDS Interfaith Network and the Greenville Lions Club, reflecting his years of education and pastoral service.

His current base of operations probably has an average Sunday attendance of 60-70, Hydrick said.

Andrea described his current congregation as "incredibly generous of time, talent and treasure" and having helped create a smooth transition into his Hollow Creek role.

As for the question of Baptist vs. Methodist teaching and traditions, he noted that "it took me a while to figure out how to dunk somebody in that little baptismal font."

The Clinton United Methodist congregation, he noted, involves a variety of backgrounds. "I mean, many grew up Episcopalian, or Baptist, or Lutheran, or nothing, or Methodist," he said.

Andrea's background also includes pastoral experience in Westport, Indiana (1977-83) and Louisville, Kentucky (1974-76), dating back to his days as a student at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, in Louisville, where he earned a doctorate in sociology of religion.

One of Andrea's longtime neighbors in the clergy is the Rev. Ken Nelson, whose background includes service at St. John's United Methodist, en route to his current role as an Orangeburg-based administrator with the denomination.

Andrea, according to Nelson, is "about the journey — letting people be in the journey, where they are, and about creating a safe place for people to be able to explore what that means for how they live their lives in relationship to one another and the community."

"He takes seriously the idea of getting people to practice their discipleship in the marketplace," Nelson said.

Jason Holt, a longtime First Baptist member, added some insight. "He was involved in so many things beyond just the church itself. He was someone that cautiously offered me advice when I asked him," Holt said.

"He is absolutely the definition of high integrity. I mean, he is selfless ... He is probably one of most caring men I've ever known."

Andrea is eager to confirm that he is a work in progress. "Ministry, like law or medicine, is a practice. It is something at which you practice, and at which you are a lifelong learner and practitioner," he said, recalling a concept from a recent conversation.

He also cited a theme attributed to John Wesley, a theologian largely known as the founder of the Methodist movement. "The world is my parish," Wesley once proclaimed.

Andrea confirmed that while his calling to Aiken's First Baptist and later to Clinton United Methodist was extremely specific, his outreach is to be much broader.

"My larger calling is to be an agent of God's grace and love wherever I may go, with whomever I may find myself in contact. It is to be the very presence of Jesus to others and for others and with others, which is not altogether unlike the expectation — the claim, the call — of Jesus for all of His people, to be His presence, to be salt and light and leaven."

He called on a biblical concept, as expressed in Psalm 16:6, in describing his life in general: "The boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant places; surely I have a delightful inheritance."

That idea, he said, applies throughout his life, starting with growing up in a loving, supportive family, with both sets of grandparents living nearby. Childhood milestones included his baptism, in 1959, at First Baptist of Greenville.

"By the time I went to college, I was focused on perhaps becoming a lawyer. Maybe a history professor," he said, recalling that his early time as a Clemson student included "sort of an intentional, focused reflection about my identity, my giftedness, my God-given abilities and talents."

His thoughts turned toward guidance he had repeatedly received from his parents: "Fred, whatever you do in your life, do something to help other people." That concept, with reinforcement from Sunday school teachers, extended family members and friends, helped plant a seed for ministry.

"The lines fell to me in pleasant places all along the way, in ministry in various churches where I have served as the pastor, to work with the most wonderful, loving, gracious people and staff colleagues — pastoral colleagues — along the way."

He also touched on some exceptionally challenging times. "Even in my own life, grief, burying our youngest daughter, and then, four-plus years later, my first wife, I was the recipient of much grace and love and care — much more than I could ever have imagined giving, or much more than I ever gave. Much more than I could ever give."

He also touched on his movement back to marriage. "The lines fell to me in pleasant places, too, in the good humor of God, who has a wonderful sense of humor, to put Barbara and me together as a pair — a combination of grace and law, law and grace," he said.

They were married for several of Morgan's solicitor years, allowing the pastor "to experience, a little bit vicariously, the life of one who works with the law, and that was a gift, so the lines have always fallen to me in pleasant places."