EASLEY, S.C. (BP)–For layman Terry Ballenger, a gratifying result of the revival that broke out in Easley, S.C., in the early 1970s is hearing the preaching of those who were called into the ministry and how their spiritual gifts have developed over the years.
By Ken Walker
Baptist Press
EASLEY, S.C. (BP)–For layman Terry Ballenger, a
gratifying result of the revival that broke out in Easley, S.C., in the
early 1970s is hearing the preaching of those who were called into the
ministry and how their spiritual gifts have developed over the years.
Ballenger, communications manager at Blue Ridge
Electric Cooperative, is equally pleased with the vast numbers now
serving as deacons, Sunday School teachers and Christian influences in
the workplace.
After listing examples in nursing, accounting and
the federal government, Ballenger said, “You’ve got folks like that I
can name right and left who went into secular work like me.
“In 1970 I saw myself going to seminary. I told my
boss when I came here, ‘I’m giving you one year and if I feel the Lord
calling me, I’ll have to go.’ But I never felt the Lord calling me.”
Ballenger isn’t fond of the notion that God’s call refers primarily to becoming a pastor, missionary or Christian educator.
He noted that the tendency to see pastors as a
church’s primary witness leads to members expecting the pastor to do
all hospital and home visitation when not all pastors have that gift.
“My prayer is more people in the church will get
involved in ministry,” Ballenger said. “When the church is the church,
that takes the load off the pastor so he can spend his time praying and
studying and preparing sermons.”
A pair of church members touched by the Easley revival are among those who have lived out this call over the past 30 years.
Cathy McQueen, who has worked in a variety of
occupations, including currently managing a prison industry for the
South Carolina Department of Corrections, said she shares her faith
whenever the opportunity arises.
“If we relied on the pastoral staff to do
everything, it couldn’t be done,” McQueen said. “My calling has been to
be what I can, to be where I can, where God wants me.”
McQueen, who often led spiritual discussions at the
coffeehouse in Easley where the revival began, noted that it couldn’t
be identified with Baptist, Presbyterian or with any other denomination.
“It was Jesus-centered,” McQueen said. “I honestly do not think I would be where I am in my faith had I not had that when I did.
“If people don’t have a group to bond with, it’s
like trees in a forest,” she added. “If one is alone, the wind could
blow it over. But if it’s in a cluster, the wind may blow off a few
branches, but it won’t fall.”
Then attending Glenwood Baptist Church in Easley,
McQueen was a student at the University of South Carolina when the
revival broke out.
Though active with Campus Crusade for Christ, McQueen often drove home on weekends to attend coffeehouse meetings.
“The coffeehouse ministry and all it entailed felt
like a safe place,” McQueen said. “The early ’70s was a different time;
there was a lot going on. What Terry and Greer [Ballenger] did to hold
that together was mind-boggling.
“They gave a lot – to give us the foundation they
did. I feel like we’ve been their children because they never had any
children. They were willing to answer a call they heard and give us the
freedom to find our own call.”
Members of Northside Baptist Church in suburban
Columbia, S.C., for 24 years, she and her husband have been Sunday
School teachers, choir members and athletic coaches while raising three
children. However, because of serious parental illnesses in recent
years, they dropped such activities to act as caregivers.
Such strains help McQueen appreciate the spiritual lessons she gleaned from the Easley revival.
“There are times I feel the pull of that
foundation,” McQueen said. “Even if things get rough, I can pull back
and center myself. That truly is what keeps my life together.”
Gene Odom, a veteran in sales who now works with an
executive search firm in the Atlanta area, has been an active church
member ever since the Easley revival.
He and his wife attend an interdenominational church
where they are active in two small groups. Over the years he has been a
Sunday School teacher, youth leader and hosted home Bible studies. The
Odoms also started a Young Life outreach while living in Edwardsville,
Ill.
Odom grew up at Park Street Baptist Church in Easley and first attended college at Anderson University, then a junior college.
When the revival spread from Easley to Anderson,
Odom and a friend formed a music and speaking team that traveled to
various high schools, including his alma mater.
“Once I went down there I was hooked,” Odom said of the Easley coffeehouse. “It was a mainstay in the community.”
The revival had a key impact on his life, Odom
recounted. While attending the “Explo ‘72” evangelistic event in Dallas
with a group from Easley, he met a group from Greenville (Ill.)
College, where he had been invited to play for the baseball team. And
he met a couple there who offered to help pay for his schooling since
Greenville didn’t offer athletic scholarships.
After enrolling at the college, he met his wife.
“This was a turning point in my spiritual career,”
Odom said of the chain of events that led him to Greenville. “Next to
my salvation, the best thing that happened to me was meeting my wife.”
The coffeehouse also showed him the reality of
following Christ in daily life, after previously having seen numerous
church members act one way on Sundays and differently during the week.
However, at the coffeehouse, kids had a chance to
fellowship in a setting that proved to be authentic, Odom said, noting,
“I had an opportunity to see people live their faith during the week,
not just on Sunday,” Odom said.
“That has stuck with me all my life. I believe
that’s why all our [three] kids love the Lord. We are no different this
afternoon than on Sunday.”