By Ruth M. Groover
My father said “yes” reluctantly, but I would have done the same thing under the circumstances.
My parents, Ernest and Ila Miller, were born in rural Georgia. My father knew how to raise corn and cotton, and he planned to make a living as a farmer. My mother was quite happy with life on the farm. But things changed.
Walter S. and Civilla D. Martin are remembered primarily for their work as Christian musicians. Harvard-educated, Dr. Martin”s strength was writing music. Mrs. Martin wrote the words. The beautiful hymn “God Will Take Care of You” is one of the many songs on which they collaborated. Mrs. Martin wrote the lyrics for the beloved song “His Eye Is on the Sparrow.”
The songs written by Dr. and Mrs. Martin will always remain dear to my heart. But a series of services led by Dr. Martin in July 1924, three months before I was born, affected my life forever.
SMALL CHURCH, LARGE CHALLENGES
Martin, who was working for Standard Publishing at that time, accepted the challenge of reviving my father”s home church, Midway Christian Church near Winder, Georgia. The church had been without a preacher for two years.
About half of the 300 people who attended the first service Martin preached were between the ages of 15 and 25. By the end of the two-week meeting, 30 young people confessed their faith in Jesus Christ and were baptized.
Martin reported in the Christian Standard* that a Bible class of 110 members was established at the conclusion of the series of services he had led at Midway and that “by the unanimous choice of the congregation of over five hundred people, one of them, Mr. Ernest Miller, was elected to teach the class.”
With no formal training, my father somewhat reluctantly accepted this responsibility. He enrolled in a Bible correspondence course within a few days. As he studied and taught, it soon became apparent that his future was not behind the plow but behind the pulpit.
By the time I was 3 years old, my father had become a student at Atlanta Christian College, and we had moved to a house near the campus. The opportunity of completing his studies at the college disappeared when it closed for several years as a result of the Great Depression, but he remained in the preaching ministry for 55 years. Only God knows how many lives my father touched for the cause of Christ.
SIMPLE STEPS, PROFOUND INFLUENCE
While my parents knew Dr. and Mrs. Martin, my brother, Roy, and I and subsequent generations of the family did not. But Dr. Martin”s work at Midway Christian Church set events in motion that have influenced our family in profound ways. My brother and his wife, Viola, dedicated more than six decades of their lives to the Christian ministry. My husband, the late Charles Groover, and I were also partners in ministry for more than 60 years.
The generations that followed have chosen to serve Christ in church-related work and otherwise. Twenty-four people related to Ernest and Ila Miller by birth or by marriage have attended Atlanta Christian College. One of them, my son, Dr. R. Edwin Groover, has served with the college for 37 years. From 1993 until 2006, he was president of the college. He now serves as chancellor.
When we answer the call to service, we never know how far-reaching it will be to ourselves and future generations.
How grateful I am that W. S. Martin came to a struggling country church in 1924. I thank God that, even though my father did so reluctantly, he said “yes” when he was asked to step out in faith.
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*W. S. Martin, “Bringing the Local Church Up to Par,” CHRISTIAN STANDARD, August 1, 1925.
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Ruth M. Groover writes from her home in Fayetteville, Georgia.
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