It was a calling that he said changed his path in life. A calling that he said he could not ignore, no matter how much he wanted to be a medical doctor or a scientist.

The Rev. Clarence William Landis, or “Pastor Bill” as his congregation calls him, said God calls people at different times in their lives to do different things. He said when he was leaving high school, God called him and he dropped everything and switched gears.

“I was called to be a pastor,” he said. “I wanted to be a scientist and then God called me to enter the ministry.”

And for 35 years now, Bill Landis has answered that calling at various churches across the state. He has spent the past eight years as the head pastor at Sycamore United Methodist Church, 160 Johnson Ave.

But for Landis, it’s not just about preaching, he said. The time he has spent in the ministry has been about finding new ways to get people involved, finding new ways to get people excited about worship and about finding new ways to show people someone cares, he said.

“I grew up in a time that was fascinating,” he said. “Growing up in the ’50s and ’60s, I experienced the Civil Rights Movement, I experienced the student movement, it was just an exciting time to be alive.”

This was where he said he got his start, where helping people turned from a job into a passion and a hobby.

“I was one of those Jesus freaks,” he said, “I worked with the street people or hippies, holding Bible studies at all times of the night.”

They were just small groups of people, he said, who would come together and worship because they all shared a common thought.

“This is something that I have done with people at every church I have served at,” he said. Getting people together in small groups to tackle large projects is a way to fill community needs, he said, and he is very passionate about filling those needs.

“When we see a need, we fill it,” he said. “People come to me all the time and say ‘we would like to do something to help.’ I tell them, ‘Get two or three or more people together and let’s see what we can do.’”

Sycamore United Methodist Church has various ministry teams made up of volunteers who want to make their community better, he said. Landis said they have organized ministries that fill all different needs in the community.

“People want to feel like they can make an impact,” he said. “And our ministry teams do just that.”

One team he is particularly proud of is a group of individuals who send care packages to men and women in the military. The group started with two or three individuals, he said, and now it has 15 or 16 people who regularly meet.

“We had a wife of a solider start attending our church and she asked if we could send him something. We asked how many people were in his unit; we sent them all something,” Landis said. “For some of those guys, that will be the only thing they get and that means something.”

Jo Landis, Bill’s wife, said he is always thinking about others, always thinking about new ways to help out.

“He feels very connected to other people,” she said. “It is natural for him to want to help people out.”

“He just loves people,” she said.

In honor of his 35 years of service and his dedication to the people around him, Jo Landis and the Rev. Harlene Harden, the associate pastor at Sycamore United Methodist, planned a special celebration for him in August.

“Bill does outstanding work,” Harden said. “Where I come from, throwing a celebration for the ones we love is natural.”

On Aug. 29, Harden surprised Landis by interrupting his Sunday service. The congregation, family, past mentors and friends then honored ‘Pastor Bill’ with a special service about his life.

“We had as many significant people in his life there as we could get,” Harden said. “It was a terrific moment; he heard the voice of the people and how they care for him.”

In the coming years, Landis said he will continue to concentrate on bettering the community and work with his congregation’s small ministry teams to fill the needs that local residents may have.

“We all do our part to change the world,” he said. “God chooses the last person you or I would have chosen. Here I am, not a scientist or a doctor – I am 35 years into serving the ministry.”