By Bill King
I realized my life’s calling at the beginning of my senior year of high school. It was not anything I had ever imagined myself doing. My work experience back then included helping my dad in his coal and building supply business, cutting grass, working for my neighbor in his auto-clean-up shop, and working for my brother in his auto-paint-and-body shop.
I had also spent a couple of falls picking cotton. I did not feel compelled to spend the rest of my life doing any of those things, especially the cotton-picking thing. When I was 13, Dad closed his business and spent the remaining two years of his life doing long-haul trucking. Since he was rarely home, I decided then and there I didn’t want to choose that for my profession. Early on, I had fanciful thoughts of becoming a veterinarian. I have always loved animals and still do. Like many kids who get a guitar and actually learn to play, I also had pipedreams of becoming a rock star. At one point, like many boys in the 70s, I even had the hair for it.
In the early 70s, there was a great spiritual awakening among teenagers and young adults in this country. It was called The Jesus Movement. In the early part of 1972, there was a great youth revival at Second Baptist Church in Fort Payne. It spread to other nearby towns and churches, including those on Sand Mountain.
A great number of young people made decisions for Christ during that time, including me. Many sensed a calling into ministry. Later that year, I sensed my own calling to a life of ministry.
On a Wednesday night, Brother Max Tucker, pastor of Second Baptist, gave me my first opportunity to speak. I used all of 7 minutes to say everything I had planned to say, and some I had not. Not long afterward, Brother Nolan Ford, pastor of my home church, Broadway in Rainsville, invited me to “fill the pulpit” on a Sunday night. I was already getting long-winded. That time I lasted 12 minutes. Those early years were during the days of youth revivals, special youth Sundays, bonfire services, and retreats. Suddenly, I had more opportunities to speak and sing than I ever imagined. I also used my guitar for a new purpose. I played Christian music on it and sang a new song. I even turned some of those old rock songs into Christian songs. At the old age of 21, while still in college, I was ordained and began pastoring my first church.
I still remember the words my next-door neighbor, friend, and fellow church member, Mr. Ernest Patton, spoke after that second sermon. He said, “Bill, if Jesus doesn’t return first, you’ll still be preaching 50-years from now.” Fifty years seemed like an eternity to me back then. Now, 50-years later, it seems like the blink of an eye, and although Mr. Patton is long gone, his prophecy has now come to pass.
This past Sunday, my sweet wife and daughter put together a celebration of my 50-years in ministry, as well as my retirement from Tuskegee Lee Baptist Association. Even with snow falling, and Covid rising, many of the ministers from our association, and their wives, came to celebrate and congratulate. Tables were filled with pictures and memorabilia from my years in ministry…oh, and edible goodies. Friends, colleagues, and former church and staff members sent cards and notes, which I greatly enjoyed reading. Thank you to all who had any part in those 50 years, Sunday’s celebration, and especially to my family. I am indeed one blessed man!
