Most of all, I would like to have been able to say, “Thank you.”

thank you

by D. Ray Lewis

On Thursday, July 30, 2009, a memorial service was held to honor the life of Lora Shutes. I’m grateful I had the privilege of participating. Like many of you, I had never met Sister Shutes, but through the years I developed a great deal of respect and appreciation for her and her husband, the late Rev. K. V. Shutes. This couple (pictured above) helped to lay the groundwork for the present ministry of the Board of Retirement.

The Shutes first learned of the superannuation program (as it was called back then) while pastoring in Georgia in the late 1930s. The program provided an insurance annuity retirement benefit for pastors. After reading an article written by Joe Fort, they became burdened for the work. Mrs. Shutes said, “We were interested from the beginning and conscious of the need for a retirement plan for pastors.”

A New Agency

During the annual convention in Tulsa, Oklahoma in 1955, the Superannuation Board hired Brother Shutes as its first and only promotional secretary. After resigning his pastorate, he moved the family to Nashville, Tennessee, to set up the office. Due to insufficient funds, however, they were unable to set up an office in the headquarters building on Richland Avenue. C. F. Bowen, direc