Pam Willingham
Pam began her role as minister to single-parents and their children at the Richland Hills Church of Christ in June of 1999. Her introduction to this ministry took place just a few months earlier at a workshop for single-parents and their children sponsored by her church. At that workshop, Pam had the opportunity to see firsthand the tremendous need attached to a metropolitan, 5000-member church in a county where 700 new children a month are touched by divorce.
Nine months before accepting her job, Pam lost her husband, Doug, who for seventeen years had suffered from the effects of MS. His disability caused him to retire at age thirty-two, and from the time her twin daughters were twelve, Doug was confined to a wheelchair. Because of Doug’s serious illness, there were many ways in which Pam’s life had resembled that of a single-parent. She experienced financial changes, added stress, moving to a smaller home, multiplied household responsibilities, and the transition from a-stay-at-home mom to an employed mom.
After Doug’s death, Pam knew she wanted her life to count for more. And because both of her daughters had married men who were in full-time ministry in different cities, Pam felt completely available to follow wherever God would call her. She began the process of prayer, seeking wise counsel, and allowing the Lord to lead her life. Little did Pam know that the Lord would be taking her to this role with single-parent families.
Having been a member of the Richland Hills Church of Christ for thirteen years and being well acquainted with the families and leaders there has been a tremendous resource to Pam’s single-parent ministry. Serving on the board of Open Arms, a nonprofit organization that ministers to abused women and their children, also helped prepare her for this work. The availability of Adopt-a-Family (a ministry offering housing and job training), a food pantry, and a counseling center all work together to make the Richland Hills Church of Christ an ideal home for a ministry to single-parents.