By Steve Holt, Copy Editor
Drs. Jack and Jeanene Reese are quick to say that in their ministry together, God is driving and they are along for the ride, albeit bumpy at times.
Jeanene knows this all too well.
When Mike Warren was killed in an explosion in 1974, Jeanene lost more than just the $12 she had in the bank. She and her late husband had been committed to ministry together, but when the nitroglycerin truck blew up that Monday night, a part of her perished with him.
“I lost my dreams, lost my vision, lost some sense of my identity,” said Jeanene, assistant professor of Bible, missions and ministry and director of the Center for Women in Christian Service.
Gray-haired women at church surrounded Jeanene, supporting her through the struggle many of them had experienced themselves-but trading in her dreams of ministry for the title “widow” was the last thing she wanted to do during her senior year at ACU.
Today, she and her husband Jack, dean of the College of Biblical Studies, form a team that has ministered to nearly all ages and walks of life over their 25-plus years of marriage.
“We have been partners in ministry from the very beginning,” Jack said. “She was passionate and articulate and probably the greatest servant I had ever known and have ever known. We get to have offices 50 feet from one another, and the partnership continues.”
Jack took the blueprinted road into the ministry. After an active undergraduate time at ACU in which he earned Bachelor and Master of Arts degrees, Jack earned a Master’s of Science from the University of Oklahoma and a doctorate from the University of Iowa School of Religion. He has served as a minister in Missouri, Oklahoma, Iowa, Tennessee and Texas before becoming an assistant professor in the College of Biblical Studies in 1988, and then dean of the college in 1997.
“My passion was, from the time I was little, to preach,” Jack said. “I knew when I was 10 that I would preach. Nothing has changed in all that. But what became a possibility when I was in graduate school was teaching and preaching.”
Jeanene is a relative newcomer to professorship at ACU, having only been on the Bible faculty since the early 1990s. Before that she stayed at home with the couple’s three children: Jessica (Goudeau), Jocelyn and Jay.
“People who knew me at those times always snort through their nose laughing at me being a mother at home because I was always very involved in ministry,” Jeanene said.
In 1994, while completing her first master’s degree, Jeanene made a proposal to the administration about her vision for The Center for Women in Christian Service, whose main purpose would be equipping women for ministry. Since the center opened shortly after with Jeanene as its director, an increasing number of women have received various degrees in Bible, missions and ministry, and even more have received spiritual guidance or counseling from the center.
Jeanene said she recently was doing a retreat for a relatively large church, and her introducer asked any women who had been affected by the center to stand up. Of the 400 or so women, Jeanene estimated that two-thirds to three-fourths rose from their seats.
Jeannie Hufstedler, graduate student from Garland in the Graduate School of Theology, has Jeanene as her graduate mentor.
“She is incredible,” Hufstedler said. “She is motivated by God to do amazing things and not be ashamed by that. She lets God work in her and through her.”
Jeanene teaches a class entitled Women in Christian Service, which Jamie Slagle, junior elementary education major from Friona, was enrolled in the fall. Slagle said it is obvious that her interests lie beyond simply conveying facts or ideas to a class.
“She genuinely cares for students in class,” Slagle said. “When she calls on students, she calls them by name. She also makes it clear that if we ever need to talk to her outside of class, we can.”
Jack is also a popular professor, in addition to his role as dean. Dan Redden, student in the Graduate School of Theology from Redding, Calif., was in Jack’s Christian Worship class. He said Jack is much more than the dean.
“It makes me feel good knowing that this is not only a job for him, but he considers it a ministry,” Redden said. “He feels he’s got several gifts that the Lord has given him to teach to others.”
Other Bible administrators notice this also. Ken Cukrowski, associate dean of the College of Biblical Studies, said that Jack values relationships while getting things done. He added that one of Jack’s strongest suits is balance.
“He is a good team player as part of the whole university and at the same time is a strong advocate for CBS,” Cukrowski said. “That’s a hard line to walk, but he balances those well.”
Jeanene said her first husband’s death, coupled with growing up in an alcoholic family, has given her a “jaded” but valuable view of life.
“I don’t accept things at face value,” Jeanene said. “I think it has given me eyes to see, sometimes, the dark places and the pain that others suffer. And when I meet people there I’m not coming as a novice.”
She said that the Reese ministry is effective for two main reasons: they “asked the hard questions” and have kept Christ in the middle of their relationship. Jeanene said one of the questions they discussed when the two began dating was whether their ministry would be more effective together or separately. She added that their views on marriage were set from the beginning.
“Very early on we developed a theology of marriage: it’s not two, but three,” Jeanene said. “What it means to be one flesh isn’t just about physical relations, it’s about God joining you together for life.”
She said Jesus’ teachings on divorce paint an invaluable picture of marriage-that a man and a woman are yoked together to work for the kingdom of God.
“What if, at every wedding, we had that image of God putting a yoke on the couple,” Jeanene said. “I think it would take care of some things.”
Jack said he can’t see he and Jeanene leaving their respective ministries in Abilene.
“We’re here for the long haul,” Jack said. “I think that there are some opportunities here to use some of my God-given gifts in a unique way. Besides, Jeanene is a wonderful teacher; I can’t imagine wanting to move somewhere where she couldn’t do what she does now.”
Whether the Reeses stay in Abilene or eventually move elsewhere, they are yoked together for ministry. They have always sought out the areas of ministry in which they are most needed and adjusted accordingly.
One thing remains constant, however. Overcoming adversity and challenges in their lives meant relying on God to pull them through.
“Our partnership and marriage goals were set before we were engaged as to how we would work together, and those have not changed,” Jack said. “There is a sense that we know where we are headed and we are along for the ride.”
