Fred Wolfe may have celebrated 50 years in the ministry Nov. 16, but his latest ministry is just beginning, he says.
The 70-year-old doesn’t entertain the idea of slowing down — not while God has work left for him to do.
Wolfe’s work began during his freshman year at the University of South Carolina in Columbia when he was called to ministry. He immediately began serving in small churches surrounding the university and went on to complete his master of divinity at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Fort Worth, Texas, and was awarded an honorary doctor of divinity from Mobile College (now the University of Mobile).
Wolfe’s pastoral career took him from a series of churches in North Carolina, Texas, Georgia and his native South Carolina to Cottage Hill Baptist Church, Mobile, in Mobile Baptist Association. In 25 years as pastor of Cottage Hill Baptist, he saw attendance grow from 800 to 2,800 and 5,500 baptisms.
“We just had a wonderful unity, a wonderful harmony,” Wolfe said of the congregation.
Ed Keyes, who served alongside him as music minister for 25 years at Cottage Hill before retiring, said Wolfe is easy to work with and a humble leader. “He knows how to let people use their gifting to answer God’s calling in the church,” Keyes said.
In addition to Wolfe’s work as a pastor, he served as chairman of the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) Executive Committee and president of the SBC Pastors Conference, among other positions. He and his wife, Anne, have two sons, six grandchildren and one great-grandchild.
After retiring from Cottage Hill in 1997, Wolfe started Barnabas Ministry to encourage pastors in their faith and ministry. He worked with 400 churches in 40 states over a 10-year period. During this time, he also served as interim pastor of several churches.
On Sept. 18, 2007, he started a new church in Mobile, one that would reach out to “scattered sheep” — Christians who had fallen away from the church. That church, known as Luke 4:18 Fellowship, held its first service Jan. 6, 2008, at Davidson High School.
Wolfe has four central points around which he builds a church: the lordship of Christ, the need to be filled with and walk in the power of the Holy Spirit, the need to understand spiritual warfare and a foundation of prayer.
Because the purpose of Luke 4:18 Fellowship is to reach out to those without a church, there has been no publicity surrounding it and Wolfe has discouraged anyone coming from another church. There has also been no membership roll for its first year, though attendance is now averaging 450.
“It’s all about the ministry of Jesus in people’s lives,” Wolfe said, explaining why he chose the verse Luke 4:18 as the name of the new church.
Although Luke 4:18 Fellowship began with just Wolfe and his wife, the staff has been growing with the church, and Keyes is once again serving as music minister alongside Wolfe. And retirement doesn’t seem to be on either man’s agenda at the moment. Instead they are looking ahead to growing their latest ministry.
In Wolfe’s 50 years in the ministry, he said the greatest help has been the people God put in his life to help him understand.
And through the joys, sorrows, difficulties and successes, what has Wolfe learned?
“It’s about loving God and loving people. You just can’t pastor unless God has given you a great love for people.”
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