GOSHEN, Ind. — Laurence Milton Horst, whose kind, upbeat demeanor epitomized the gentle, yet wise servant leader, died Sept. 7 at Goshen General Hospital. He was 96.
Horst served with Mennonite Board of Missions (a predecessor agency of Mennonite Mission Network) mentoring church leaders in Ghana from 1969 to 1978 during a time of great challenges. The West African nation, which won independence from Great Britain in 1957, was struggling as disillusionment set in among Ghanaians who felt improvements hadn’t come fast enough. Horst made a huge impact helping Ghanaian leaders stabilize Mennonite churches there.
While studying at Goshen College in 1945, Horst was asked to lead a group of college volunteers in Chicago—an effort that eventually grew into Mennonite Voluntary Service.
Later, Horst taught at Hesston (Kan.) College and pastored Catlin Mennonite Church in Kansas. After finishing seminary in Texas, he was called to Union Avenue Mennonite Church in Chicago. When this was removed by the construction of the Dan Ryan Expressway, the congregation had to relocate to Englewood on the south side of Chicago. Horst was also the founding pastor of the Evanston Mennonite Church in nearby Evanston, Ill.
The big city experience sharpened the man who was raised a farm boy in Peabody, Kan.
“By the time he went to West Africa, Laurence was a very experienced seasoned leader,” said Wilbert Shenk, who was then the vice president for the overseas missions. “He brought great leadership to that very trying situation. The people (in Ghana) were lovely, but the government was not during that time. Laurence was highly respected as he worked alongside the church people and brought stability. He developed local leadership. I always appreciated his sound judgment and pastoral gifts. He did not run over people or force them into decisions, but exhibited real sensitivity and care.”
He was also street smart.
Shenk chuckled as he recalled an incident at a police checkpoint, while they were driving in Accra. Horst had recently bought the car and had temporary registration tags, which were in order. However, the officer, who had something else in mind as he told Horst to get out of the car, said the tags were a “big problem.” Horst just smiled as he read the officer’s badge number.
“He told the cop, ‘Now, if my supervisor finds out I gave this bribe, your supervisor will find out and then we’ll both be in trouble.’ The cop hurried Laurence back into the car and we laughed. Laurence was no pushover,” Shenk said.
Horst’s daughter, Ramona Bailey, who spent three years of high school living in Ghana, said he was a “people person.”
“He would talk to anybody. It was embarrassing when I was a kid,” Bailey said. “In the elevator he would talk to people. He never met a stranger. He smiled with his whole face, with his eyes.”
Bailey said that her father often said that as long as the Lord gave him strength, he would seize any opportunity to serve.
He was true to the end. Recently, while at the Greencroft retirement community where he lived, a woman became highly upset and had to be calmed down. She asked to speak with Horst.
“I don’t know if he knew her or not, but he couldn’t even walk; they had to wheel him down there,” Bailey said. “He was able to talk to her and pray with her and make her feel better. That’s how I will remember him. He was a committed man.”
Horst was born in Peabody, Kan., on Feb. 17, 1915, the fifth child of Jacob and Anna Grabill (Beck) Horst. He loved singing and music. He was ordained at age 21.
Horst met Marian (Messner), his wife of 47 years, while both were teachers at Hesston College. They married in 1949.
He was preceded in death by Marian, two brothers and three sisters. Horst is survived by his daughter; son-in-law, David Bailey; and two grandchildren, Jordan and Dinah Bailey.
The memorial service was held Sept. 10 at College Mennonite Church in Goshen.
Memorial contributions may be made to Mennonite Mission Network, Greencroft Foundation, or College Mennonite Church.
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Mennonite Mission Network, the mission agency of Mennonite Church USA, leads, mobilizes and equips the church to participate in holistic witness to Jesus Christ in a broken world. Media may contact Andrew Clouse at andrewc@mmnworld.net, 574-523-3024 or 866-866-2872, ext. 23024.
