The Ohio Independent Baptist, April 1971

• A Tribute To Mrs. Willetts We salute an Ohio lady, who ha ser\'ed faithfully in many capacities. She has been and is a sweet example of a spiritual, God-fearing woman and faithful to any task committed to her. Who is she? She is the dear wife of Rev. Earl Willetts, a very faithful ervant of the Lord in his church. He has served faithfully in the Ohio A sso– ciation on the Council of Ten, and with H ome and Camp for our young people and had a vital concern for our senior citizens in the establishing of Hilltop which regretfully in the hearts of many was dissolved. To– gether they have faithfully ministered to the sick and shut-ins and shared the burdens, sorrows and heartaches of many through the year s. Now he has resigned as p astor of the Berea Baptist Church, Berea. However they have not resigned from serving the Lord. Yes, Mrs. Willetts, we salute you v. 1 ith our love and our prayers! This Man Was My Pastor! This is the testimony of R ev. Lynn E. R ogers , pastor of the Northfield Baptist Church , Northfield, Ohio. Bro. L ) nn also serves as Chairman of our OARBC Council of Ten. The Grayton R oad (now Berea) Baptist Church had only existed seven year s when the little flock of about a hundred found itself without an un– dershepherd. In its brief history it _ h ad already distinguished itself as a church enJoying strong male leader- hip . That was the very kind of a church to which God called a man's m a n , arl . Willetts, leaving a much larger congregation in Bellefontaine a nd assuming the spiritual leadership of the little church, JUSt off the end of the outhwest runway of the lnter– nalional leveland Hopkins Airport . One of the things I ' ll alway re– n embc.:r about P astor Willett was the 111a1 ner in \:vh ich he counsell ed n1e ~ l1en I told hi 111 I was goi ng off to 1 od}' Bible lr1 t itu te. He aid , ul- )'nn , don' t b a preacher if }' OU c n do an~ 1 thi 11g el e." At the time I 1l1ougl1t , .. Wl1at · ind o t a 111 ing i th t to a ?", e ·pect ing 0 111e en- ourag n nt . \Al I I ok l,ack ar,d lll n ' d 1, cau e lie d id h a \'C lO I "1t 1 11 e individt1 lly a nd call to 1l1e r tliat He ,._ anted n1 d . l1ing 1111, 1 b d i 1 ine l t 11111 r r ult 11 , ' ' ts m J pr 11 pc1 ." As 1 app l> r 11 11 n un 11 m OHIO I, 10 D NT BAPTI later they asked me the question , "What would you do if omeone came to you with a problem and you didn't know the a nswer?" I imply said, ' I would a k my pa tor ." And I have many times over , the e 17 year that I've been in the ministry, been grateful that God called Earl Willetts to our church. God gave our church a pastor who is a capable coun– sellor. In reflecting upon the years I sat under his ministry s I remember his messages were almost always expo– sitory sermons. He loved to open up book at ter book of the Bible and take us through it a few verses at a time. A s he preached the Word, comparing Scripture with Scripture, it seemed to me as a listener, that he must al– ways be memorizing new passages, because I would hear verses quoted that I had never heard quoted be– fore. I thank God that in His provi– dence God gave us a pastor who is a man of the Word. Through the years of preparation and then the years since, when I have been pastoring here at Northfield, many, many times I have phoned my pastor, not necessarily to counsel with him or to simply pass the time of day, but because I sensed a great need for prayer support and I knew Pastor Willetts would pray . The outstanding example that comes to mind is when my wife, LaVerne, was in acute pain. I took her to Huron Road Hospital where our Christian surgeon was on the staff, and after a quick X-Ray examination, Dr . Woodham came out into the waiting room and a ked for permission to perform urgery immediately. We prayed together eek1ng God's guidance and I said, "You have my permi sion." The next five-and-a-half hour of waiting for the doctor to return with a report were like an eternity. I felt the need to find a place in the hospital where I could be alone, so that I could bea r my w1fe and our doctor friend before the throne of grace. I did , howe er . make t\.\ o phone call before l found tha t pl ace - one to our church ecre– ta ry so tha t he could let peopl e o l o rthfie ld Baptist cht1r h ~now, and o ne to 111} pastor becau e l knew. P,,sror Wi/lerrs is a 111an of pra)'er. "he 11 , too, as l reflect upon the l>lessing Pastor Willett s has been to n1e tl1rough the )'Ca rs, I m u t sa ' that o nt: f the things tha t h as b en a onsta11 e an1plc to n1c is tl1at he is a n1an charac te1iz d b )' con. i. t c 1 ) '. o 1 1, t t r ho" ' t1igh o r ho,v lov. 0 111 o tl in tl1e l1t1r 11 fel t at ci1 1c , it l\va ' tl1ot1gl1 l'a t r ill tt ,va an1c . H c: k 1 \ \ }1 " t o ' r j o i , i t t1 t 11 s tl1 t r joi , a nd " p , itl1 tho tl1 t weep, ' ' but he always presented an image of tability to me. The circum- tances would seem to paint in the background all black, but he would be able to see good in what was hap– pening: or I would be so exuberant about something that I would be just about in orbit when he would ay a word that would bring me back to re– ality again . Since the Lord is immuta– ble, "For I am the Lord, I change not." Mal. 3: 6, I am glad he brought into my life a pastor who is a living demonstration of a consistent Chris– tian walk. Finally, as I pay tribute to the man who has been my pastor for 24 years, I want to say that I thank the Lord that when, in His providence, He took my dad to be with Him when I wa but a child of eight, He brought on the scene, as the spiritual under- hepherd at our church, a man who would be like a fa ther to me. Such has been my pastor, Rev. Earl V. Willetts. 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