Falls Creek and Halloween During 1978

            What do Falls Creek and Halloween in 1978, have in common on Faith_Family_Farm? The answer would be John and Susie Crowley. The only blog post I have written that touched on Halloween featured a funny photo of these two.

            John Crowley pastored the Ralston Baptist Church from 1974 through 1979. John served as a vocational agriculture teacher prior to being called by the Lord to preach the gospel. With that background, Dad thought John had a head start on so many pastors coming to a rural community. He understood so many issues of rural residents that urban-based pastors might not.

            Mother often commented on Brother John’s series on the book of Revelation. Ralston Baptist Church was one of his first pastorates, but she mentioned how he tied other Biblical prophetic passages so succinctly with the Revelation, the final book in the Bible. My grandma, Gladys Smith, believed teaching end times events as Brother John did spurred believers to lead others to faith in Jesus. Grandma and Grandpa listened and turned to the many Bible passages Brother John used in his messages.

            John, Susie, and their young family enhanced the congregation during his ministry in Ralston. Susie always had something funny to say. Her humor is featured in the only Halloween blog post that appeared on Faith_Family_Farm. (To access the blog post featuring Susie go to https://bernadeanjgates.blogspot.com/2014/10/when-preachers-wife-went-crazy.html). Yet this young pastor’s wife sewed, cooked, and managed on a small church pastor’s salary, stretching the money to provide a loving home for their children, Darren and Shawna. Later while at Ralston, Scott, their youngest, was born.

            Recently, I discovered the Falls Creek photo from the summer of 1978. I had not seen this photo in years. Brother John was only 32 years old and Susie only 30 in this photo. As with so many of the men who pastored the small-town church, John cared for those in his congregation and the community. His utmost desire – wanting each person to have a life changing salvation experience - remained constant.

Front Row - Dorothy Hutchison, Donna Evatt, Gay Lynn Rice, Donnell Tucker, Sheaila King, Pam Estep,

Nancy Hutchison, Cathy Tanner, and Ginger Hopper

Middle Row - Susie Crowley, Bernadean Gates, Linda Tanner, Connie Evatt, Mattie Hutchison, Nikki

Brown, Betty Chapman, and Pat Myers

Top Row - John Crowley, Gordon Renfro, Bobby Coble, Michael Bartlett, David Carter, Robbie Rice, 

Huey Keeling, Robert  Wilson

            John dedicated time each summer to pray, promote, and lead the church to provide transportation, camp facilities, and food minimizing expense to the youth attending Falls Creek. His energy, willingness to laugh, and wholehearted devotion to preach and teach God’s Word expressed to the young people of our church and any Ralston teen that he and Susie loved them.

            Susie and John returned to the church’s centennial celebration in 1997. That would be the last time the people of Ralston Baptist Church who loved Susie so much would see her on earth. Sadly, Susie passed away in 2005, at the age of 56 after battling heart issues.

            After 38 years of marriage, John found himself alone with his children grown. He began corresponding with a missionary in South America grieving the death of her husband. John introduced Jan, his wife, to Ralston friends at my parents’ 60^th wedding anniversary. They returned on the church’s 125^th anniversary and reconnected with so many who loved John. What a wonderful comment was made when Jan encouraged hearts of widows as she shared about her widowhood and listened compassionately to their grief-ridden journeys! 

Jan and John Crowley with Bernyce Gates at the 125th
Anniversary of the Ralston Baptist Church on 
November 13, 2022.

            Many pastors served tirelessly proclaiming the Gospel in church services, in homes in Ralston, and in their everyday encounters. Paul’s letter to the Romans came to mind. After laying out the road to salvation, he asked, “How shall they hear without a preacher?” in Romans 10:14. He asked another question in verse 15, “And how shall they preach unless they are sent? As it is written;

How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the gospel of peace, Who bring glad tidings of good things!

In verse 15, Paul quoted from the prophets, Isaiah and Nahum in Isaiah 52:7 and Nahum 1:15, respectively. When the Holy Spirit inspired the same thought, which appeared three times, it became necessary the trio of reminders be taken to heart. As followers of Jesus, we must imitate the examples of godly pastors and preach with our lives and words so that, as our present pastor Mike Brock exhorts, "you take as many people as possible to heaven with you.”