GRAAFF-REINET NEWS — 'When we came over the mountain and saw Graaff-Reinet, we both decided this is the place we would stay,' said the Rev John Harman to the Advertiser this week.

He recently announced that he would relinquish preaching after collapsing in the pulpit of the Trinity Methodist Church on Sunday, January 14.

He did, however, finish his series "Hang in There", sitting in a chair on Sunday, January 21.

The Rev Harman was the Trinity Methodist Church circuit minister with headquarters in Graaff-Reinet for 23 years.

He was called to Graaff-Reinet in 1988 and was retired in 2005 - he was the longest-serving minister in the Church's history.

He entered the ministry as an intern in 1980 in Southern Suburbs in Johannesburg and served for five years in Linden after which he was called to Graaff-Reinet.

Rev Harman still remembers and smiles when he recalls how Derek Hobson "looked him over" at the Queenstown conference where he was ordained.

He had many calls, but he and his wife, Maria, struck root in Graaff-Reinet.

Rev Harman and Maria (who died in 1995) "loved this wonderful place" they had been called to.

They have two children, Bruce and Cynthia, who are twins.

After his retirement, he was called by the church to serve in De Aar from 2006 to 2010. He met wonderful people there.

At the end of the Rev Harman's retirement, he served the Trinity Methodist Church faithfully until the day he collapsed.

His integrity was highly respected in Graaff-Reinet and his in-depth ministry of the Word was with such great compassion and "waiting on the Lord" that it brought great assurance of salvation and peace of mind to his congregation, who love him dearly.

He said he had found that the rural areas, and especially the farming areas, had a different outlook life which the Harman family treasured tremendously.

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