The first time Jase Robertson heard Jim McGuiggan preach, “I couldn’t understand a word he was saying,” said Robertson, star of the reality TV show “Duck Dynasty.”
Jase Robertson
For Robertson, born in “parts unknown Louisiana near the local swamp,” McGuiggan’s Northern Irish accent was a challenge. But “what I did get about Mr. Jim was that this was about a person,” Robertson said as he held up his Bible during a memorial service for McGuiggan, who died July 29 at age 88. The Northside Church of Christ in Nashville, Tenn., hosted the service.
Born in Belfast, McGuiggan was a graduate of Sunset International Bible Institute in Lubbock, Texas. He preached for Churches of Christ in the U.S. and Europe and launched a school of preaching in Northern Ireland.
“Uncle Jim read 10 to 12 new books a week,” said his nephew, Billy McGuiggan, minister for the Three Chopt Road Church of Christ in Richmond, Va.
Jim also was a prolific author. Among his most-read works is “The God of the Towel.”
He was 4 years old when he endured the Belfast Blitz of 1941. He suffered abuse at the hands of those charged with protecting him during World War II, said Stan Cunningham, a former minister for the Northside church and Jim’s son-in-law.
Jim McGuiggan
Jim was a lightweight boxer before he met his wife, Ethel, and became a minister. Ethel, who contracted scarlet fever (strep) as a child, suffered from multiple health problems and required Jim’s constant care until her death in 2009.
“This is a kid that grew up knowing what suffering looks like,” Cunningham said. Jim’s sermons often focused on the Christian response to suffering.
Jim was a dedicated worshiper, said Acappella Ministries’ Keith Lancaster, who led hymns during the service, including “Father Hear the Prayer We Offer.” The minister “would pull back the curtain of the eternal and allow us to peer into heaven and to see God because he walked with God,” Lancaster said. “That’s what worship is about.”
“This is a kid that grew up knowing what suffering looks like.”
Jase Robertson suffered abuse as a child from his father, Phil Robertson, before Phil became a Christian and patriarch of the “Duck Dynasty” family. Jase Robertson found solace in Jim’s teaching on suffering. Despite the differences in their ages and accents, Jase and Jim became friends and coworkers in Jim’s final years. Jase, who never intended to become a public speaker, corresponded with Jim as he prepared Bible lessons to share with the audience he acquired through his reality TV fame.
Jim McGuiggan’s legacy lives on, Billy McGuiggan said as he addressed the minister’s children.
“If someone tells you that Jim McGuiggan is dead, don’t believe it. Don’t believe it,” his nephew said. “For your daddy has gone on the best trip ever. … Your father’s never been more alive.”
