Walter Brewer, 62, is familiar with what country singer Randy Travis calls "the storms of life" and wears many hats to keep the rain from washing him away. For 13 years, Brewer sold the military life to young men as an Air Force recruiter, and they bought it and went for it just like he did back in 1964, serving his country. He retired from that in 1989.
These days, Monday through Friday, he’s a farmer. Come Sunday nights, he’s a classic country disc jockey, and he actually makes a little money off of it — you can catch him out of Andalusia on WAAO from 7:30–10 p.m., taking prayer requests and song requests, Hank Williams mostly. But on beautiful Greenville Sunday mornings, he is, most importantly, a preacher and he loves to preach. He likes to visit with people up close and personal, and if you give him an inch of space to work with, then he will "talk your ear off," he says.
Give him that inch. He’s got a story to tell, a story of grace and second chances. He can’t get into too many specifics about parts of the most recent chapter, certain facts he knows to be true, because there’s pending litigation.
But he can tell you that it was Christmas night 2005 and that he and his wife, Kim, were on their way home near Georgiana in their little Plymouth Neon when the other car hit them. And he can tell you that he woke up the next day with a broken foot, a shattered left hip and a lacerated left hand cut trying to escape through the windshield. Both of Kim’s legs were broken, her lungs were bruised and her head cut.
They rang in 2006 in the hospital where they spent a total of 33 days. The other driver made it out with just a fractured ankle. "When you go through something like that, you’re changed — you’re not the same person," Brewer said.
Brewer has also been changed in recent years by cancer; by divorce; by caring for two ailing, elderly parents; and by other factors that, when all combined, prompted him to step down from the pulpit to recuperate physically, emotionally and spiritually.
That’s when Bill Stringer, chairman of the deacons at Damascus Baptist Church, Greenville, in Butler Baptist Association, came a-calling, and things for Brewer "just began falling back into place again."
"I didn’t know [Stringer] until he called, but he wanted to know if I’d be interested in meeting with the pulpit committee. They asked me to come as the interim before they heard me preach."
Once they did, it didn’t take long for a full-time offer. Brewer was installed as Damascus’ pastor May 18.
"What I see in Walter is someone who has compassion and love for his fellow man," Stringer said. "Most of all he loves the Lord, and preaches the Bible. We are already seeing positive results at Damascus."
For his part, Brewer, who still has metal in his legs from surgery, is simply happy to be wearing the hat of pastor again. "Damascus is a precious church, and we’re already growing," he said. "I’ve got a lot of testimony, I just thank God I’m able to preach again."
Share with others: