BATON ROUGE, Louisiana—Richard Rice, 67, a minister and employee of the Worldwide Church of God for more than 40 years, died unexpectedly Saturday morning, July 5, of a massive heart attack, although he had shown no earlier signs of heart disease. In fact, the previous day he and his son, Anthony, had mowed the lawn at the church where the Baton Rouge congregation meets.

The funeral took place July 9 in Baton Rouge. Carn Catherwood, south-central district superintendent, conducted the service. Representing headquarters were Pastor General Joseph Tkach and Mat Morgan, secretary to the church board of directors.

“This is certainly a sad event in our history as a fellowship,” Mr. Catherwood said, “but I am comforted by the realization that Richard, who always took the opportunity to focus our attention on Jesus, now lives in the presence of the risen Lord of whom he so often spoke and to whom he was so deeply committed. I know that he will be remembered for his loving kindness and particularly for his support for the ‘little ones.’ ” 

Mr. Catherwood went on to emphasize Mr. Rice’s gift of encouragement and above all his legacy of Christ-centeredness. He will be deeply missed by the thousands whose lives he touched.

Mr. Catherwood said that Mr. Rice’s wife of 46 years, Virginia “Ginny,” “has shown great courage, and she has expressed to me her deep gratitude for the prayers and support of her spiritual family.” Mr. Rice is also survived by their sons, Phillip, pastor of the Phoenix, Arizona, church, his wife, Lil, and their children, Melanie and Peter; Anthony, pastor of the Baton Rouge, Lafayette and Alexandria, Louisiana, churches, his wife, Karen, and their children, B.J. and Miranda; and Michael, director of Client Services at Universal Studios in California, his wife, Edie, and their daughters, Rosie and Richelle. Cards may be sent to Mrs. Virginia Rice at 16131 Indigo Ridge Ave., Baton Rouge, 70817.

Church history

Mr. Rice became associated with the WCG in 1947 and began attending Ambassador College in 1954. After graduating in 1960 he taught at Imperial Schools in Big Sandy, Texas. He was ordained an elder in 1963, and began assisting in the pastoral ministry in the Big Sandy area. In subsequent years he pastored churches in Shreveport, Louisiana; Birmingham, Huntsville and Montgomery, Alabama; and Glendale, California.

In 1972 he became director of the Mail Processing Center in Pasadena. He served on the Ambassador College board and the Worldwide Church of God board. In 1995, he was named assistant director of Church Administration for the United States, where he served until he retired in 1996 and moved to Baton Rouge. He was was a member of the Advisory Council of Elders until his death.

Tributes to Richard Rice

Gifted encourager

A while ago, I took the time to list the 10 people who were the most encouraging to me since my baptism, and Richard was one of the top five. He had a gifted tendency toward giving encouragement, and at times it seemed to me that he didn’t know how encouraging his comments could be.
Pastor General Joseph Tkach.

Advocate for greater focus on Christ

Richard always focused on what a person could do instead of what he or she couldn’t. He was a constant encourager who knew how to bring something positive to the fore. I have known very few people who could inspire hope like Richard could.

The first time I met Richard was 34 years ago, and he made me feel like he’d always known me. Many might not know that he was advocating for a greater focus on Jesus Christ as the center of the gospel well before the church began to change. Richard will be sorely missed by everyone who knew him. Mike Feazell, National Publications director.

Inexhaustible supply of love

For 15 years I had the honor and privilege of working with Richard Rice in Mail Processing and Church Administration. During that time as well as the years after I left Pasadena, Mr. Rice was the most influential Christian in my life in leaving a positive imprint on my life and ministry.

From 1990 through early 1996 I had the privilege of working in almost daily contact with him. I never saw him coast or stop at “good enough.” Rather, he exemplified his frequent admonition to MPC employees: “Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men” (Colossians 3:23).

The Holy Spirit gave him a seemingly inexhaustible supply of love and compassion for others no matter who they were. He gave each person the utmost respect. No one was insignificant and no problem was insurmountable for him to do what he could to help.

   This was especially evident during the crucial time in 1995 when the church was going through the greatest pains of transformation. He truly poured out his life as he along with his faithful wife, Ginny, visited local congregations throughout the United States nearly every weekend that year sacrificially serving others. The memory of our trips to and from Los Angeles International Airport and the chats we had have proved to be some of the best preparation for my own pastoral ministry.

I always had the utmost respect for Richard Rice, whose life was filled with compassion, discipline, enthusiasm, integrity, wisdom and balance. He kept his eyes on Jesus and walked in his light, his life and his love. I learned much about our Lord by seeing this dedicated servant in action in so many different circumstances over the years. Richard Rice was the personification of Paul’s letters to Timothy on how a faithful minister should live.

I’ve thanked God often for having had the honor of knowing him and spending so much quality time with him through the years. He was a man of loyalty and integrity whose favorite hobby seemed to be disciple building. I truly believe that every positive aspect of my life and ministry has been instilled or refined in some way by the life, the words, the example and the legacy of Richard Rice. I miss him, but take comfort in knowing he is finally enjoying a well-deserved rest. Karl Reinagel, pastor of the St. Louis, Missouri, North and South churches.

Friendship, warmth, caring service

Richard Rice was a sincere, soft-spoken Christian who reflected the servanthood of our Master. Richard was a caring and compassionate Christian, in spite of prevailing ideas and notions, whether his caring ministry was thought to be politically correct or incorrect. 

He was a strong and resolute leader who lived out his convictions to our Lord and Savior. He spoke up for and was the champion for all of God’s children, and was tenderhearted in his ministry to all. I remember him best as the primary supervisor of hundreds of former employees who benefited from his leadership, among them part-time employees who were students at Ambassador in Pasadena.

The Rices leave a long ministerial legacy of friendship, warmth and caring service, and they are remembered by thousands of people for such a heritage. It was my pleasure to know all three of Richard and Ginny’s sons when they were in college, and they all, in their own way, reflect some of that same Christ-centered focus of their mother and father.

We will all miss Richard, but we are left with wonderful memories of his ministry and work. We are comforted by the assurance, the blessed assurance, that he is in the loving arms of our heavenly Father. G. R. Albrecht.

Sought the will of God

Richard Rice was a man of integrity who stood for what he believed regardless of the consequences. He constantly sought the will of God that he might make correct decisions.

  Richard had a desire to learn, but not just for the sake of knowledge for himself, but so he could help and teach others. He disciplined himself to work hard for the kingdom of God and to point as many people in the direction of the kingdom as possible. Eric Shaw, pastor of Altadena Community Life Fellowship.

Wonderful, humble, inspiring

As a student, I got to know him well when I had the opportunity to work for him under their student training program. He was a truly wonderful, humble and inspiring man. Bermie Dizon, pastor of the Pasadena NewLife and Los Angeles, California, churches.

Personal words of encouragement

Mr. Rice was such a godly man, a true servant of the Lord. He always inspired me, either through his sermon messages or his personal words of encouragement. Back in 1978, I heard a tape by Mr. Rice titled, “The Highest Dimension of Love.” I took that tape home from services and wrote it out word for word. A certain portion of it I wrote inside my Bible because I knew it was something I wanted to aspire to. It has helped me through the years and I continue to read it often.

I don’t think I ever heard Mr. Rice speak without focusing on love, and when I think of him, I think of love. Ellie Jones, Patterson, Louisiana.

Gracious and kind

Mr. Rice was one of my Imperial School teachers and then years later he was the adviser to the singles group in Pasadena. I have fond memories of him and his wife because they were always so gracious and kind to me and my family. Shirley Senay, Denton, Texas.

Kind, gracious and patient

I first met Mr. Rice in the fall of 1960, my senior year at Imperial School in Big Sandy. He, along with several others, had been sent from Pasadena to strengthen the faculty. One of Mr. Rice’s goals was to start an Imperial Choraliers like Pasadena had.

Since I was the only piano player in the high school at the time, I became the accompanist. This was challenging as most of the Imperial students had no prior music training. But through kind words and encouragement, Mr. Rice was able to get us into shape, and the Choraliers were able to perform, not only for the school and Big Sandy congregation, but for other local congregations as well.

I went on to Ambassador College and afterward married and lived in Pasadena. Years later, Mr. Rice and his family returned to Pasadena, where we renewed our acquaintance. When he was director of Mail Processing, my two oldest daughters, Joyce and Cynthia, had the opportunity to work for him.

I will always remember Mr. Rice as kind, gracious and patient with everybody. Joy Reese, Pasadena.

‘I may never see you again’

The week before my dad’s death, we had a guest speaker come to Baton Rouge. He was Peter Ndamba, a pastor from Zimbabwe. Dad and mom graciously hosted him in their home during his visit. I received the following e-mail from Pastor Peter Ndamba a few days ago:

“I am very sorry for what happened to your Dad, but one thing for sure, he is with the Lord. One thing you probably don’t know is that Mr. Richard, he blessed me a lot with three jackets and one suit, two pairs of shoes and $100. The Almighty knew he was about to finish his work when he gave me some of this things. Mr. Richard said, ‘Let me do this to you because I might not see you again.’ ” Anthony Rice.

More tributes to be printed next issue.

Copyright © Worldwide Church of God, 2003