BonnerSprings.com

Forty years is a long time to just wake up and realize exactly what you’ve spent your life doing.

But that’s what happened to Norman and Ann Brooks as they prepare to celebrate this year their 40th anniversary as head of the Victory Assembly of God Church in Bonner Springs.

“They always asked me, ‘Did you plan to stay for 40 years?’” Norman said. “We didn’t, but we always felt like there was more to accomplish.”

“You just wake up, and it’s 40 years later,” Ann added. “We raised our children here, and our grandchildren now work here.”

Norman and Ann Brooks came to the church in May 1970. The original church had been closed, but five adults remained. They asked the Bonner Springs couple, who worked in the business world at the time, to help keep the church’s doors open.

The couple refused to accept a salary from the church in the beginning, and Ann kept working at her beauty salon, and Norman kept working at his grocery store, while the church grew.

In 1973, Ann said the church started the first bus ministry service in the area. By reaching out to Kansas City youth and offering them transportation of Sunday services, Ann said the church eventually had about 150 children in Sunday school and had as many as 500 children for the annual Easter egg hunt.

Ann said not too long ago, while eating at a McDonald’s restaurant, a young woman came up to her and said she been one of the youths who used the bus ministry.

“She said she remembers riding the bus and is comforted to know we’re still here. It’s nice for people when they can find a place that has not changed,” Ann said.

Norman was eventually ordained in 1989, and Ann followed years later. Both also quit their jobs in the 1980s to become fully committed to their church work.

In the state of Kansas, Norman said he was one of two pastors who have been with an Assembly of God Church for 40 years. He said it was uncommon in many churches for pastors to stay past a few years.

“I don’t know why we stayed,” Norman said. “But I’m glad we did because I’ve seen an impact on our children.”

The Brookses have two living children and one who died as a young child. Their son, Tracy, is also a pastor with the church and shares the pulpit regularly with his parents, and their daughter, Shelly Workman, is the youth pastor in the church. All of their grandchildren also attend the church.

While neither Norman nor Ann can see retirement in their future anytime soon, they agreed that they will be making some changes. With their son taking on more responsibility, Norman said the couple plans to do more traveling, spreading their message further than ever before.

But they’ll be back regularly taking their spot at the front of the church that they’ve held for the past 40 years.

“I’ve walked up these steps 1,000 times,” Norman said motioning to the front of the church with the pulpit. “There was always something to do, and we did it. It may have been 40 years, but time just passes.”

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