Eyesight fading, bishop envisions new role as evangelist

Anybody can fish, Bishop Frank J. Beard likes to say.

“Catching,” he is quick to add, “Now that’s another matter.”

As the veteran angler describes it, United Methodists often struggle to follow the biblical call to be “fishers of people” because they don’t catch like Jesus.

“I believe that Jesus can catch fish anywhere,” he said. “And if we would follow the example of Jesus, we would catch fish as well.”

At 68, the longtime pastor and bishop knows quite a bit about getting fish to bite and drawing people to Christ. However, a particularly acute form of glaucoma forced Beard to step aside last year from his work as an active bishop overseeing the Illinois Great Rivers Conference — a role he had held since his election in 2016. Now, he is on long-term disability leave as he adjusts to living with only partial eyesight in one eye.

While legally blind, Beard still has an unclouded vision for how he can serve the church.

Instead of simply hanging up a sign that says, “Gone Fishing,” the bishop and his wife, Melissa, are embarking on a new ministry to help the church get catching.

In September, the Beards officially launched “Catching Like Jesus Ministries” — an evangelistic effort that combines the couple’s mutual enjoyment of fishing with their passion for reeling in people with the Gospel message.

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