By Dave Stafford
The Herald Bulletin
ANDERSON, Ind. —
A minister whose life’s work has helped generations of people rebuild their own lives shed tears Wednesday as he accepted the city’s highest honor.
“When I think of this town and all the good people in it, I think, ‘why me?’” the Rev. Lloyd Lambert said, wiping away tears after receiving the Key to the City from Mayor Kris Ockomon. “There are so many people who are more deserving.”
But Ockomon and a delegation of local officials begged to differ. They gathered at the Isabel Harter House to present the honor to Lambert, 85, who in 1953 set the foundation for a local mission that became the Christian Center.
Ockomon said Lambert was “a true hero to people throughout this community.” Ockomon, a former police officer, brought former Sheriff John Gunner; County Commissioner Jeff Hardin, also a fixture in local law enforcement; and others to honor Lambert.
All of them spoke of how Lambert’s efforts through the Christian Center had helped countless people break away from drug and alcohol abuse and homelessness.
“He is — I’ll say it again — one of the greatest people I’ve ever known,” Gunner said.
Lambert said his work began as an Army veteran returning home to Decatur, Ill., at the end of World War II. “I was homeless and hooked on drugs — alcohol — and the Lord came into my life.”
He came to Anderson in the early 1950s to pursue a study in ministry and put his faith into action, visiting the jail and taking up the central message of the 25th Chapter of the Book of Matthew — that salvation lies in selfless acts such as feeding the hungry, taking in and clothing the needy and visiting those in prison.
“I was deeply concerned the men (in jail) who made a spiritual decision to improve their lives had nowhere to go,” he said. That’s when he started what he still refers to as “the mission” that became the Christian Center. “I think a lot of people thought I was off my rocker,” he said.
With the help of his wife, Dorothy, the center began its mission, Lambert said.
But it was the help of people in the community that made the center a place where people in need could turn for help. “The Christian Center has been blessed by the rest of you here,” Lambert said. “It was a divine thing that could not be denied.”
Scott Richards, now executive director of the Christian Center, called Lambert “a mountain of a man” and his personal mentor in the four years since he took over leadership of the center. Richards said Lambert left giant shoes to fill.
“Lloyd is a treasure for Anderson,” Richards said. “This is a day for Anderson to be proud of one of its own.”
Lambert has seen Anderson through good times and bad, and he’s seen plenty of people who have little left but the hope of a better life. But he remains optimistic.
“I told the mayor a long time ago,” he said, “the economy was not going to last forever — the bad economy.
“Anderson is a town that won’t die,” Lambert said. “It will come up in a flash, and it’s already on the way.”
Contact Dave Stafford: 648-4250, dave.stafford@heraldbulletin.com
