Retired pastor takes age in stride

LEADING HIS FLOCK-To celebrate his 91st birthday, the Rev. Edward Bennett led a group of family and friends on a hike across the Golden Gate Bridge earlier this month. Bennett's daughter said the experience was so rewarding that the family plans to repeat it next year. The Rev. Edward Bennett, a retired pastor from Agoura Hills, proved he was every bit as tough as George Herbert Bush, the former president of the United States who celebrated his 80th birthday by parachuting from a airplane in Arizona.

On June 11, Bennett marked his 91st birthday by walking across San Francisco's Golden Gate Bridge and back, a distance of 3.4 miles.

Bennett gathered a group of 18 friends and family members at the San Francisco toll plaza and walked across what was once the largest suspension bridge in the world, to Marin County and back. Throughout the journey he stayed at or near the front.

Bennett's son Daniel, who lives in San Francisco, made arrangements for the trek and rented a car in case his father needed emergency transportation. But Bennett was able to walk the full distance.

Built in 1937, the bridge spans the famed Golden Gate, the entrance to San Francisco Bay from the Pacific Ocean.

Among family members who accompanied Bennett were JoAnn and Philip Runsten of Agoura Hills, Beth and Steve Breckenridge of Camarillo, Rochelle and Dennis Breckenridge of San Dimas, Peter and Laura Runsten of Culver City and Daniel Bennett, Kurt and Cathy Olsen of San Francisco.

Bennett has lived in Agoura Hills for 27 years, but hails from Belfast, Northern Ireland. His mother, who bore eight children, dearly wished for one of her sons to become a preacher. Bennett answered the call.

Bennett attended San Francisco's Berkeley Baptist Divinity School and Glad Tidings Bible Institute, where he was invited to speak when he was just 21. He served his first pastorate that same year at a community church in San Francisco.

In 1959 he obtained a degree in theology from Azusa Pacific University.

The First Baptist Church of Blythe, Calif. was Bennett's last pastorate, where he served for four years and conducted a weekly radio program. He also preached for the church's 75th anniversary.

Bennett does not consider himself retired. "(It's) not the label we bear but the faith we share," he said. Bennett leads a nondenominational group, the Evangelical Community Church, every Sunday at his Agoura Hills home.

Bennett considers himself a serious student of biblical history.

Also known as the "casket preacher" in San Francisco because his church was located next to a mortuary, Bennett admits that he has a "compassion for funerals" and has conducted several services at local Forest Lawn mortuaries.

This year, Father's Day was observed without his wife, Anna Louise, whom he married 66 years ago in San Francisco. She died in March.

The day was shared with his son-in-law Philip Runsten and daughter JoAnn, who has taught fourth grade at Camarillo's Cornerstone Christian School for 18 years.

Bennett's daughter said the hike across the 4,200-foot Golden Gate Bridge was such a rewarding experience for the entire family that they are planning a repeat performance next year.

Former president Bush, who went skydiving from an altitude of 12,500 feet, trained for eight hours with instructors from the U.S. Parachute Association.

Bennett prepared for his Golden Gate feat by walking six laps a day for a full week at the Agoura High School track.