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FEATURE FOR
WEDNESDAY, APRIL 10, 2002
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Brother Bud Merwin - Always a Pastor |
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 Paul
and Tillie Merwin of McKenzie live in a home that Paul
says "belongs to the Lord." Built with the help of friends
on land that was given to him, the home is a testimony to
his service to God and his people.
"This house is built out of lots of love," he says,
"Everything here belongs to the Lord; I belong to the
Lord. I try to die daily like Paul did," he elaborates,
referring to the scripture from Galatians that says, "I
have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but
Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by
faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for
me."
Better known as "Brother Bud", Paul's life began like that
of most depression-era boys. He grew up hard, starting to
work when he was just ten years old delivering groceries
for the S.M. Lawrence Grocery in Jackson. "It was all I
could do to get that five-gallon can up in that basket,"
he says, referring to the kerosene or coal oil customers
used as fuel in coal-oil lamps.
The family's main meal was potatoes gleaned from leftovers
when a farmer allowed Paul's father to browse his fields
after the harvest was done. "We never went hungry," says
Paul, who says his mother and father, a minister, lived by
faith.
But Paul's story is not that of a depression-era boy, some
folks have protested, realizing that by 1944, when Paul
was ten, the United States had pulled out of the
depression with the advent of social programs and World
War II.
But, Paul explains, "with 15 children, the depression
never left our house!" He laughs with dancing eyes, as if
the truth was the punch line to a hilarious joke. Paul and
his twin sister, Pauline, were the last of 15 children
born to Chauncey and Alice Merwin over a 20-year time
span. His father had chosen their names, but with his
brothers and sisters preferring the names Robert and
Roberta, they quickly nicknamed the new babies Buddy and
Honey, which in time was shortened to Bud and Hon.
Bud began working for the Kroger Company in 1951 at the
age of 17. By the time he retired in 1996, he had worked
for the company as a meat cutter for 43 years, having
taken a couple of years off in 1963 when he attempted to
preach full time after having been called into God's
service two years earlier.
He was 20 years old when he met Tillie, a 19-year-old girl
who lived three houses down in his Jackson neighborhood.
After Bud escorted her to a ballgame, Tillie returned home
declaring she would never go anywhere with him again.
By the end of the year, however, he called her and the two
began seeing each other regularly. "She liked me then," he
says, grinning, "I was so shy; you can't believe how shy I
was." They married the following year.
Tillie, whose given name is Gwendolyn, earned her nickname
at an early age as well. Her father was bed-redden with
tuberculosis when she was a baby and died when she was
just two years old. When he would raise his head from his
pillow and call her name, she would lift her head to see
him from her crawling position on the floor. Thinking she
looked like a little turtle, he affectionately called her
Tillie, a name that stuck.
The year before she and Bud met, Bud's mother had been
killed in a car wreck when he was nineteen. "My mother
couldn't ever tell me what to do again so I made up my
mind to live for Jesus. The Lord may have been dealing
with me even then," he says. He had been saved when he was
seven years old and he and Pauline were baptized at the
same time.
After he and Tillie were married, he continued to work
hard for Kroger, becoming the head meat cutter in the
Covington store two weeks later.
The couple's first son, Mark, was born on October 13, 1956
with Jerome following two and a half years later on April
15, 1959.
In March 1963, Brother Bud became pastor of Pleasant View
Baptist Church in Dresden for over a year and a half, then
pastored New Hope Baptist Church in Paris for over a year
and a half more. It was during his time at New Hope that
he realized he would have to go back to work in order to
make a living for his family. Throughout the years, though
successful in leading his flocks, he was never able to let
go of his secular duties.
"I prayed, 'Lord, let me quit making tents', but he
didn't," Bud says, once more referring to the Biblical
Paul, who was a tentmaker as well as a preacher.
He pastored Henry Baptist Church for a little over three
years until October 1969. It was then that Talmadge Kennon
took him out to a lot grown up with bramble bushes and
said, "Brother Bud, you haven't got anywhere to live. I've
been praying and the Lord wants me to give you this land
with the promise you will build on it."
"I was going to Bethel and she wasn't working," he says,
"but I knew the Lord wanted me to have that land. I
prayed, 'Lord, if you give me the land you can give me the
house.'" He shook hands with Mr. Kennon, promising to
build.
It wasn't long until he was called to pastor Bethlehem
Baptist Church, a little country church in the Bunn
Community where he remained for eight years. He recalls
getting the call from God to lead the church while sitting
in the congregation. There were 33 people enrolled in
Sunday School when he took leadership of the church.
Always an active leader, Brother Bud led the congregation
to build "one of the nicest educational facilities for a
little church you will ever find."
He also built his home on the land he had been given, the
year after he graduated from Bethel in 1971, with the help
of hired contractors as well as friends. "People came and
in ten days we had the roof on," he says gratefully.
Throughout the home are reminders of the goodness and love
of the people he served at Bethlehem and later churches,
from the beautiful cabinets in the kitchen to the walls
painted by Sunday School classes and "little things all
over the place." Outside are many more reminders:
wine-colored crab apple trees and "strawberry bushes";
unique bushes that lend a potpourri-like fragrance to
homes when planted beneath windows that are raised on
breezy days.
While at Bethlehem, Brother Bud had a bout of illness that
lent him more time to be with his family. When he
approached 16-year-old Mark and 14-year-old Jerome about
the area of the Bible they might study together, the boys
chose Proverbs. "They said that's the best thing that ever
happened," their father says. Dealing with wisdom and life
lessons, the study of proverbs helped set in concrete the
road the boys already traveled, with Mark called to preach
at an early age, preaching his first revival at Bethlehem
as a teenager.
When attendance at Bethlehem reached 153 in Sunday School,
Brother Bud preached a sermon titled, "Fishing on the
Right Side of the Boat", referring to the scripture in the
21st chapter of John when the risen Jesus found the
disciples distraught after a night of fruitless fishing.
He told them to cast their net off the right side of the
boat. When they did, their net became so full they could
not draw it in.
In time, however, Bud's own "net" became overburdened as
he worked full time at Kroger, raised his family and
pastored the growing church. "I finally resigned just to
sort of live," he says.
It wasn't long, however, until he was called once more to
help start a church near Kentucky Lake. "I've been told
there are as many mailboxes at the lake as there are in
Paris," Bud says, "I know there are plenty of people."
In June 1980 the church began meeting in a
parishioner’s basement in Springville. With construction
continuing on the home above the basement, however, the
congregation soon moved to an open garage. As winter
approached, the stud walls were wrapped with plastic, yet
with two kerosene heaters, parishioners still "like to
froze to death," says Bud. The Sunday before Thanksgiving
the congregation met for the first time in their new
facility, "New Harmony Baptist Church" that sits on a hill
on the right side of the road along the road from Paris to
Big Sandy.
It was an accomplishment the congregation may have thought
was impossible, but Brother Bud knew what could be done.
"My daddy used to say the Lord's got the cattle on the
hill and he's got the gold in the hill, too," he says.
A friend of the church donated the land for the church and
lumber was provided by Replogle sawmill at cost. Bethel
Baptist Church in McKenzie was "mother" to the church,
lending prayers and support to the new congregation's
efforts, a source of strength that Brother Bud feels is
indispensable when starting a new church.
Bud was only 19 months into his ministry when a lawn mower
accident at home resulted in a back injury that took him
off work for four months. "That was the best four months
of my life," he says, acknowledging the first two weeks
were "bloody murder". Once healed, Bud "never had another
pain" from the injury.
Brother Bud's next calling to Mount Nebo Baptist Church
lasted ten and a half years. "That was a good church, but
you can't grow a church being 25 miles from it," he
lamented, "but we had good revivals."
From Mount Nebo, he was called to Republican Grove Baptist
Church in Trezevant from October 1993 until 1995, then to
Union Academy where he spent the last five years of his
formal ministry, retiring in 2000.
"Those people loved me to death," he says, "They still
love me, they love her."
"And they really love Mark," Tillie chimes in, "Because
they pet him, everybody thinks he is precious." Mark came
to live with his parents seven years ago after multiple
sclerosis left him unable to care for himself without
assistance. The disease did not hamper his magnificent
spirit, however, nor that of his parents who have accepted
his illness with the same grace and faith with which they
have welcomed their blessings.
Tillie spends much of her time quilting at Mark's side, a
pastime that has earned her honors for her incredibly
beautiful appliquéd designs.
If the people love the Merwin family, it is with great
reason. As one of Brother Bud's flock, Joella Lundy,
testifies, "My church had the honor of having him as
pastor for about three years. I have never known a more
dedicated, caring, or hard-working man. He always puts
others first, makes time to visit hospitals, nursing
homes, and works with the Hospice program and the
Developmental Center. Brother Bud is truly a people
person. Tillie is a warm, wonderful, fun-loving lady...
But the most impressive thing is the way they accept and
handle Mark's illness. He has a great outlook on life with
a smile that makes him so easy to love. The love and care
they give him is an inspiration."
Mark earned a master's degree and was a district director
of the Department of Human Services for three years before
his illness cut short his career. With Jerome now living
in Texas where he is a technical engineer with the Nortel
Company, more recent congregations have been deprived of
the enjoyment of knowing him as well. Once a bull rider,
Brother Bud says he "prayed him out of it" but still
enjoys recounting his exploits in the ring. Jerome and
wife Debbie have two daughters, Rachel and Chrissy, with
one grandbaby and another on the way. Mark's 18-year-old
daughter, Jennifer, recently graduated from Briarcrest
Christian School in Memphis.
Brother Bud spent eight months as interim pastor of
Fairview Baptist Church, during which time he "helped
the people think positive" adding a new organ, sound
system, padded pews and new carpeting. The people showed
their love for him by buying him a handsome suit. The
sincerity of their gift thrills Brother Bud, who just
loves "love". Not one to be without a flock, he has found
his ministry continues at home with those who come to
visit Mark or who just come to visit.
"Some preachers are evangelists and some are pastors,"
Tillie says, "He was a pastor - he's still a pastor - he
loves his people." |
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Phone (731) 352-3323 or Fax (731)
352-3322
washburn@mckenziebanner.com
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