Jim Durkin received Jesus Christ as his Lord and Savior as a young man and was called to the ministry. He met and married Dacie Pearl James of Myrtle Point, Oregon, on May 19, 1948. Jim pastored various churches in northern California and Oregon. He was a real estate broker and owned Sequoia Realty in Eureka from 1966 to 1971. In the early 1970's he pastored Deliverance Temple in Eureka, CA..
In the summer of 1969 several young "Jesus People" approached him to rent a place to begin an evangelistic
ministry to the hippies. Though initially hesitant, he allowed the young group access to one of his apartment
buildings helping them establish a coffeehouse outreach program. As the ministry blossomed, they looked
to him for leadership. He acquired an abandoned coast guard station eleven miles outside of Eureka allowing
the young Christians to use this as their new home. This was named the Lighthouse Ranch.
In the winter of 1971 Jim and Dacie closed their real estate business and moved to Lighthouse Ranch to
provide leadership for the growing group of young people living in bunks on the Ranch and eager to learn
about Jesus. On Sundays everyone headed into Eureka to gather together at Deliverance Temple. Jim
taught the Bible, and he and Dacie trained the young men and women for Christian ministry and helped
many people enter a life of service in the gospel of Jesus Christ.
By 1972 the group had grown to between 250 - 300 active members many of whom were picked up while
hitchhiking on Route 101 and offered free food and lodging and never left. These newly converted hippies who
didn't know the first thing about living the Christian life were taught how to practice God's Word, the Bible.
The ministry of the Lighthouse Ranch and Gospel Outreach, expanded in size and influence far beyond any-
thing Jim expected. Businesses were started to employ and train the young people in life skills. There was a
Donut Shop which delivered door to door, a weekly advertiser called Tri-City, a grape stakes assembly, tree
planting for Weyerhauser, a leather goods business and vinyl repair . The young people became missionaries and church-planters
starting new churches from the West Coast to the eastern coast of the US and to Guatemala, Germany, Italy, Brazil, Nicaragua and
more throughout the 1970s and 1980s. God's movement among young people at this time has been called "The Jesus Movement." Radiance Media Ministry broadcast Jim's sermons and published books and a Gospel newspaper.
Deliverance Temple became Gospel Outreach Christian Center which Jim pastored for many years. He also owned New Life Service Company, a fire restoration business.
In their later years, Jim and Dacie were instrumental in supporting many of the activities of the Senior Center in Eureka, where they had made many good friendships. Though not particularly prominent in civic or political affairs, it is doubtful that anyone in this community affected more people's lives through one-on-one friendship, care and concern.
January 12, 1996 Jim went home to be with his Lord Jesus. Dacie joined Jesus and Jim March 23, 2011. Their legacy is not only their three children; John, Jim and Joy and their families, but also the many spiritual children they produced.
Gospel Outreach Int'l was officially dissolved in the late 1990's, not long after the death of founder, Jim Durkin.
