By Brian Blackwell, Message Staff Writer
RUSTON – K. Marshall Williams, Sr. believes a “Greatest Commandment” revival is on the horizon and he is hoping many Christians join him in fasting and praying for it to take place.
Referring to Matthew 22:37-40, Williams, pastor of the Nazarene Baptist Church in Philadelphia, Pa., said he is praying “every blood-bought believer” would be inspired by the power of the Holy Spirit “to model unconditional love, humility, brokenness with radiant obedience to the Lordship of Jesus Christ.”
He said this “will bring inexplicable unity in the Body of Christ” which is key to “revival of evangelism and discipleship in the Church and a spiritual awakening in the land.”
Since answering the call to ministry 38 years ago, evangelism has been at the heart of his ministry, Williams said.
After graduating from Augsburg College in Minneapolis, Minn., in 1978, Williams said he joined Sports Ambassadors, a basketball evangelism ministry team, and toured the Philippines, Hong Kong, Tokyo and five countries in Africa, using sports as a platform to share Christ. When he returned to the U.S., he enrolled at Palmer Theological Seminary in Philadelphia, Pa., where he served as an adjunct chaplain and Bible expositor for the Philadelphia Phillies, Eagles and 76ers. After earning his degree, he was called as the sixth pastor of the now 120 year old Nazarene Baptist Church.
During his tenure, Nazarene Baptist Church has completed a $3.2 million building expansion on its campus, a Parking and Community Beautification Project and now has set out to transform a 93-acre camp ground near the church into a multi-service Christian camping and conference center, he said. Moreover, the congregation has remained active in evangelism through such efforts as a community Thanksgiving service and dinner, handing out gifts to children whose parents are incarcerated, training members in sharing the Gospel and participating in the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association’s My Hope outreach in November 2013.
“We are committed to evangelism as a way of life and intentional discipleship because of the call by our Christ to the Great Commission,” he said.
Williams also is active in the community, serving as director of community outreach for Germantown Academy of Fort Washington, Pa., and as a founding trustee of the Community Partnership School in North Philadelphia, he said.
Likewise, he is active in Southern Baptist life.
He served as president of the Baptist Convention of Pennsylvania and South Jersey in 2006 and 2007, was president of the State Convention Presidents Fellowship in 2008 and was elected as president of the National African-American Fellowship of the SBC in 2014 and 2015.
Williams and his wife, the former Constance L. Jones, have three children and one grandchild.
