From the cockpit to the pulpit
After career in air, Cox is grounded by his faith in God
BY GREG THOMPSON THE NEWS-ENTERPRISE Mar 6, 2026
Don Cox, a retired pilot, is pastor of College Heights Methodist Church in Elizabethtown. His head and heart may sometimes be in the clouds, but his faith is grounded.
Work is being done in the original chapel of College Heights Methodist Church. Pastor Don Cox said the space is going to be made into a youth ministry area. Barn wood will be installed as the background for the cross.
As a young boy on the family farm in Webster in Breckinridge County, Don Cox often stood looking up.
Pointing up at the sky as a plane flew over, and his head tilted back as far as it would go, he’d tell his parents, “I’m going to do that someday.”
Cox never knew why, but he’d always had a “bug” for aviation. Perhaps it was because of the stories told by nearby neighbors, Ray and Mildred Claycomb, who both served in World War II.
“I was enamored by his stories, and her stories, also,” Cox said.
Cox joined the Air Force where he flew the T-37 and then the T-38 for more than eight years of active duty. He also flew in the Air Force Reserves.
Upon retirement in 1995, he was hired by Southwest Airlines, where he would spend the next 25 years, including 20 years as a captain.
The aviator turned pastor said the best education he received was in vocational school. He took machine shop as a high school junior and senior at Breckinridge County Area Vocational School. Upon graduation, he worked second shift as a machinist at Henry Vogt Machine Company while attending the University of Louisville J.B. Speed School of Engineering during the day.
Cox said, as a youth, he never desired to be a pastor.
His wife, Pam, played a pivotal role in Don’s faith formation.
“She was always more grounded in her faith than I was,” Don said.
Married for 41 years, Don remembers when their children arrived, it was Pam who made it clear that she wanted them to attend church.
“I couldn’t just sit at home and let the family go,” Don said. “I went with them.”
Very little did Cox and his family attend church while growing up. The only times his two brothers and he would go to church were when their uncle, Ranny Stith, picked them up.
What really sealed the deal between Don and God was Emmaus Walk 90 that he attended around 2003.
“Basically, a three-day, 72-hour vigil with Christ” is how he described the spiritual weekend. “That’s when I feel like I got serious about my faith.”
Don began teaching a Bible class not long after the Emmaus weekend concluded. On occasion, he would fill in for a Sunday evening service. In his heart, Don was simply helping out. The desire to be a full-time pastor still wasn’t there.
In 2008, he took his first seminary course. A dozen years later, Cox received his degree.
Around 2010, he filled in at Cecilia United Methodist Church.
“They didn’t have a pastor and they couldn’t afford one,” Cox said.
A moment he will never forget: Cox recalls an overwhelming calm and peace that came over him, that he had never experienced before in his life.
It would be another 10 years to finish his seminary education and before he would walk away from the high-in-the-sky vocation of flying that so soared through his veins.
“I felt like God was calling me to the ministry full-time,” Cox said. “I was praying for a way to leave flying, because I loved it.”
It was then that COVID hit.
Southwest Airlines offered the best package to pilots to leave during that time. It was five years of reduced pay and benefits.
Cox still struggled with deciding to walk away. He really didn’t want to leave, but he believed God had other plans.
Cox eventually came to the idea that if he didn’t take the severance package, there might be consequences.
“Now, that’s totally Don-driven - that’s not God-driven, there’s nothing theological about that. That was my take on it.”
The only thing that puts a sparkle in Cox’s eyes, other than soaring above the clouds, is the work God is doing at College Heights Methodist Church in Elizabethtown, where he has served as pastor for nearly five years.
Had Cox not listened, he and Pam would not have been able to experience the fruits of their labors at College Heights.
“She does all kinds of stuff around here. She is the best pastor’s wife that you could ever imagine,” Cox said. “She’s smart, she’s loving, she leads classes, she’s just, hmm.”
A children’s ministry and youth ministry are being established and some members who had left over the past few years have returned. Sunday worship, at both the 9 and 11 a.m. services, have grown exponentially.
The parking lot has been doubled in size, new windows have been put in place, new heating and air system installed. So many upgrades have taken place and a lot of the labor has been done by Coz and the church members.
Cox was able to bring Neil Janes on as a co-pastor. The two worked together for several years at Memorial Methodist Church in Elizabethtown.
For Don, Pam, Neil and members of College Heights, they feel it has been such a blessing to see their church grow in remarkable ways.
While God has Cox’s faith grounded in service and leadership, he still enjoys flying and serves on the Elizabethtown Airport Board.
The old saying on stickers and car plates that reads “God is my co-pilot” is totally worded wrong, according to Cox.
“That phrase is wrong, by the way,” Cox said. “God is my pilot - I’m his co-pilot. God should be your Captain.”
Greg Thompson can be reached at 270-505-1414 or gthompson@thenewsenterprise.com.