I said yes

Bob Baker wanted Joe Abbott to come preach at his little church. Joe was the Vice President of Pastoral Care and Counseling at the Baptist Health System in Birmingham, Alabama. Joe’s office was on Montclair Road, about two miles from the church. Bob was the Vice President of Baker Dairy, which was also located on Montclair Road between Joe’s office and the church. Ruffner Valley Baptist Church did not have a pastor at the time and Bob kept calling Joe day after day, week after week because Bob was preaching at the church every Sunday he could not find a guest minister. I had just sat down in Joe’s office one day when Bob called. Joe said no to Bob again and Bob asked if he knew anyone else who could preach. Joe said yes and handed the phone to me. Bob asked me and I said yes.

I had just moved from Jackson, Mississippi to Birmingham, Alabama to enter the Residency in Pastoral Counseling at the Baptist Health System. Joe Boone Abbott was my supervisor and teacher. Ironically, Joe spent the next two years saying no to me and cancelling meetings with me because something else was always more important. I had a window into my future on that fateful day in September of 1983 and did not recognize it.

While a seminary student in Louisville, Kentucky, I had served as pastor of the First Baptist Church of Thomasboro, Illinois. The church had about 25 members when I started in the fall of 1979. We added about 25 members over the next two years, but there were still only about 25 members when I left in 1981. Being located outside of Chanute Air Force Base gave us lots of prospects for membership, but the Air Force took members away about as fast as we added them.

Ruffner Valley had about 35 members when I showed up that first Sunday. Statistically speaking, Ruffner Valley was 40 percent bigger than First Baptist Thomasboro during my tenure, but it felt like home to me anyway. I loved the people immediately and they loved being loved. I can’t remember if they asked me to become their interim pastor that Sunday or the next Sunday, but I said yes.

Note: I could not find a picture of Ruffner Valley Baptist Church, but this one reminds me of it.