Friedens United Church of Christ in Hecker bid farewell to its pastor of 17 years, marking the end of his lengthy career in ministry and what will hopefully be his final, well-earned retirement.

Ivan Horn was born in St. Louis but grew up in Waterloo, ultimately graduating from Waterloo High School.

He attended McKendree College in Lebanon before studying at Eden Theological Seminary at Webster Groves, Mo., having made the decision to enter the ministry during his sophomore year at McKendree.

Horn furthered his education as he earned a master of divinity from Eden in 1969.

Though he made the decision in college, Horn recalled in an interview with the Republic-Times that his initial calling to life as a pastor came as he was attending Good Friday services at St. Paul United Church of Christ in Waterloo.

“It was a spring night, and I was walking along the side of the church, and as I walked along the side of the church, I heard and I felt a voice saying, ‘This is what I want you to do,’” Horn said. “That, I would narrow in, is really the calling that I had.”

As recorded in a June 30, 1965 issue of the Waterloo Republican, Horn served in a number of churches prior to his ordainment.

While at Eden, his field work assignments included St. Paul UCC and St. Paul’s UCC in Oakville, Mo., as well as St. Peter’s UCC in Granite City. He also served as assistant pastor at Salem UCC in Quincy.

Horn’s first ministry alongside his wife Vivian was at Payson Congregational Church near Quincy in June 1965.

Vivian noted how the place where the family stayed during this ministry was a parsonage said to have been built by Mormons in 1838.

Quite a small community, Horn spoke positively about his experience in Payson.

“Lots of opportunities to really get to know the people,” Horn said. “It was  good, kind of a short term, but it was filled real good.”

In November 1967, the Horns moved to Newburgh, Ind., near Evansville, for Horn’s ministry at Zion UCC.

This was Horn’s lengthiest ministry, as he and his family stayed in Newburgh until January 1989.

“It was an opportunity for a good long term,” Horn said. “And I’ve always been a person to be committed to a longer-term ministry.”

As Horn, Vivian and their son Philip recalled, Horn was fairly active in the community for his first two ministries, even outside the church.

In Payson, Horn was active in a Lions Club, and he likewise participated in Newburgh’s Kiwanis Club.

Horn was particularly active in Newburgh, serving for a time as president of the town’s council.

The family spoke much about Newburgh, having spent so much time there as Philip and his sisters Anita and Rochelle went through school in the community.

They noted how, though Newburgh has grown over the years, it was quite rural when they were there, a strong farming community with developing industry.

After Newburgh, the Horns traveled to Dittmer, Mo., for Horn’s ministry at St. Martin’s UCC, where he served for 14 years until May 2003.

Speaking on his ministry through that point, Philip made note of his father’s work with individual church-goers as well as his general emphasis on community.

“That’s always been kind of his specialty is grief counseling and elderly,” Philip said. “I remember growing up in Newburgh, I think just about every Sunday… after church, we’d go to the nursing home, and he did the service at the nursing home on Sunday afternoon.”

Though Horn retired as he left Dittmer, his reprieve was very short-lived as his family moved back to Waterloo and he found St. John UCC in Maeystown was in need of an interim pastor.

He served there beginning in October 2003 – just a few months after his retirement – before getting called to Friedens UCC in June 2007, where he served until his latest retirement in November.

Horn and his family spoke about various aspects of his ministry over the years.

Philip noted his father’s appreciation for serving as a pastor among smaller congregations – namely in Payson, Maeystown and Hecker – given the connections this allowed for.

“Smaller communities and smaller churches I think appealed to him because of the more personal contact with the members,” Philip said. “All the churches, I think, he built a personal relationship with a lot of the members.”

Horn was pleased with his experiences in both Maeystown and Hecker, speaking to the relationships he made with the folks who came to church each week from all around the area.

“Both opportunities were a broad range of people and their backgrounds and ministries,” Horn said. “They were good, solid farming background primarily.”

Horn also spoke generally about his satisfaction with serving as a pastor and his approach to ministry, saying he “always enjoyed the ministry, pastoral ministry and what is connected with that in terms of serving people.”

On his latest retirement, the Horns discussed how he came to the decision to step away primarily given his health as, though he generally feels well now, he has visited the hospital a number of times in recent memory.

“One of his trips in and out of the hospital was kind of his deciding factor for letting go because of his health issues,” Philip said.

While his ministry might finally be at an end, the impact of Horn’s work as a pastor will no doubt be felt for some time.

He and Vivian are presently enjoying their time together on the family farm in Waterloo, with Horn’s legacy remaining at a number of churches in Illinois and beyond.

“Whatever challenges there were with people, congregations and churches, I tried to help meet those challenges in a very open and positive and ongoing ministry kind of way and manner,” Horn said.