Dr. David C. Hall

Wednesday evening, February 23, Ruthi’s father, Dr. David C. Hall was promoted to heaven. These past several days I have had had time to consider Dr. Hall’s impact on my life. In many ways my relationship with Dr. Hall was unique. It began when he extended a gospel invitation during a revival service and I received Christ. He baptized me and became my pastor. As my pastor he challenged me to follow Christ and nurtured within me a passion to see people saved. He led the Seminole Heights Baptist Church in Tampa, Florida to employ me on their staff and to ordain me to the ministry. He gave me Ruthi’s hand in marriage. I served as his Assistant Pastor for seven years. Then God led me to my first pastorate and I became a neighboring pastor. Not only did he preach revivals in churches where I pastored; I preached for him. On several occasions we shared the platform at evangelism conferences and simultaneous revival events. Most of what I know about the ministry and reaching people for Christ I learned serving with him. It is obvious that Dr. Hall had a tremendous influence upon my life and for that I shall be eternally grateful.

Dr. Hall’s life cast a lasting shadow across the Southern Baptist Convention in his generation. The churches he pastored averaged baptizing more than 200 people per year for more than 50 years of ministry. He was the finest local church evangelist I had the pleasure to know. He was an innovator long before church innovation was in vogue. He was an outstanding student of God’s Word reading through the Bible once every 21 days in retirement. He was an outstanding preacher and prolific writer.

While much could be said of his accomplishments, possibly his most important accomplishment will be overlooked. In each church he pastored scores of young men and women committed their life to Christian ministry and our still active serving the Lord. All across the Southern Baptist Convention there are pastors, staff members, minister’s wives, denominational workers and missionaries who trace the sense of call to ministry and/or the encouragement to follow ministry to Dr. Hall. Because of this his ministry continues even though He has gone from us. I am glad to have been one of his “preacher boys.”

Please pray for his dear wife of 67 years, Marcine, for Ruthi and the other siblings, David C. Hall, Jr., Dr. Judi Briant, Mary Sue Clark and Dr. Mark Hall as they adjust to his being gone from our presence.

Attempting to connect the dots…

Wayne
Romans 1:16

Quotable:
“Our greatest life investment is in the people we influence for Christ.”
~ RWB