Charisma Leader | Serving and empowering church leaders

We continue to honor author/pastor Jamie Buckingham with a month-long tribute on the Ministry Today website. Before his untimely death in February 1992, Jamie served as editor of the magazine for several years.

If you missed it, we invite you to visit the special section by clicking here. There you can read some of Jamie's best "Last Word" columns for Charisma that were chosen by his family and the magazine's article on Jamie's passing.

Additionally, you can also check out the Jamie Buckingham Photo Gallery and the Jamie Buckingham Video Montage.

You can also read the comments below from more readers who pay tribute to Jamie with their own reflections about him.

Get Spirit-filled content delivered right to your inbox! Click here to subscribe to our newsletter.

Ray Pile, a pastor for 35 years in Fredonia, Kan., knew Jamie from reading his columns and books.

"I remember as a young pastor reading Daughter of Destiny," he recalled. "It really impacted my life. What Jamie wrote did not so much elevate and glorify Kathryn Kuhlman as much as it highlighted what God can do thorough a flawed but yielded vessel. I grew in my appreciation of God because of Jamie's book."

Steve Bowen, community outreach pastor for the Dayton Vineyard in Dayton, Ohio, also knew Jamie from reading his columns. "To me, one of the most impactful stories Jamie penned was when he went to a retreat with a group of guys," Bowen said. "He was wanting to show the model of servanthood, so decided to go and clean the toilet. While cleaning, he then decided to let the guys know about his humble act of service.

"He nudged the door open with his foot, so the guys could see how humble he was," Bowen added. "Suddenly, he heard the Lord say, "Yep, just what I would do, Jamie.' Needless to say, he was humbled and realized his act of opening the door to be seen by men wasn't the path of servanthood. ... Seems to me in today's generation, some 'great men of God' would better themselves by cleaning a few toilets in private."

Dallas Henry, pastor of Hosanna New Testament Church in Oxford, Maine, remembered Jamie coming to New England as a keynote speaker for the New England Leadership Conference in Manchester, N.H. Henry, who served on the organizational committee of the event, said Jamie was "a very interesting and honest man."

"The thing I remember about him is his continual revelation of his personal struggles and using them to help others; there was nothing fake about Jamie," Henry said. "That characteristic is rare today. Jamie was a great influence during the charismatic hey days. He brought clarification and order to an otherwise chaotic movement. His graduation to heaven was way too soon and the Christian community experienced a great loss."

Richard Love, associate pastor of Cornerstone Christian Community Church in Deltona, Fla., said that no minister was "a greater source of fellowship, guidance and encouragement than Jamie Buckingham."

"His straightforward honesty, profound awareness of his own weakness and utter dependence upon the operation of the Holy Spirit in his life and ministry served both as an example and a ongoing lesson impacting my own ministry," Love, 73, recalled. "A trip to Mount Sinai with Jamie and several other men (including Steve Strang) remains as a major highlight in my life. It's hard to believe that Jamie has been gone for 20 years. I still miss him greatly. I am so grateful for the years that he was part of my life and for the impact that he had—and still has—on my life!"

Jim Gaffney was on staff at the Tabernacle Church in Melbourne, Fla., a nondenominational church Jamie founded in 1967. "Being on staff at the Tab allowed me to experience Jamie in many personal ways," he recalled. "He became my personal encourager in ministry and soon there were traffic jams every Tuesday night at the church. In 1988, Jamie ordained me as a minister during a church service in his true story-telling style while comparing my congregation to a pack of limping blind in one-eye dogs that often mistook carpet for grass and answered to the name of 'Lucky.'

"He stated that Jesus always had a heart for broken people, but he was glad that he could now send the worst of the litter in my direction," Gaffney added. "In the next four years, I visited Israel with Jamie and was an eyewitness to some of his greatest triumphs as well as his fight against cancer. What a joy to be 'one of Jamie's young bucks' following his unique footsteps of ministry."

Get Spirit-filled content delivered right to your inbox! Click here to subscribe to our newsletter.


Dr. Mark Rutland's

National Institute of Christian Leadership (NICL)

The NICL is one of the top leadership training programs in the U.S. taught by Dr. Mark Rutland. If you're the type of leader that likes to have total control over every aspect of your ministry and your future success, the NICL is right for you!

FREE NICL MINI-COURSE - Enroll for 3-hours of training from Dr. Rutland's full leadership course. Experience the NICL and decide if this training is right for you and your team.

Do you feel stuck? Do you feel like you’re not growing? Do you need help from an expert in leadership? There is no other leadership training like the NICL. Gain the leadership skills and confidence you need to lead your church, business or ministry. Get ready to accomplish all of your God-given dreams. CLICK HERE for NICL training dates and details.

The NICL Online is an option for any leader with time or schedule constraints. It's also for leaders who want to expedite their training to receive advanced standing for Master Level credit hours. Work through Dr. Rutland's full training from the comfort of your home or ministry at your pace. Learn more about NICL Online. Learn more about NICL Online.

Charisma Leader — Serving and empowering church leaders