Montgomery’s Hester still ministering to churches at 92

Anyone who knows H.O. Hester will tell you what an amazing person he is. At 92 years old, the First Baptist Church, Montgomery, member loves reciting poetry, telling jokes and brightening the lives of others.
   
With 75 years in ministry, Hester has lived a life far from ordinary. In addition to serving as pastor in numerous Alabama Baptist churches, he is the former director of the Alabama Baptist special missions department, where he worked to bridge the gap between ethnic groups in Alabama and preached in more than 800 churches across the United States and other countries.
   
Born near the Franklin County and Colbert County line, Hester preached his first sermon at age 19 on 1 Corinthians 13, “the love chapter.” At the time, he had no idea his love for others would play such a big role in the racial heritage of this state.“Every word of the Bible is true,” Hester said. “If that’s your message and that’s your power, then God is going to be with you.”
   
Ronald Davis, program coordinator for black church work with the Alabama Baptist State Board of Missions, credits Hester and others like Fred Chestnut with helping blacks and whites get to know each other better.
   
“There are 59 African-American churches in the Alabama Baptist Convention, and many cooperative ministries are going on today because of what they did yesterday,” Davis said. “Churches sharing pulpits, community ministries on a cooperative level, (Hester’s) legacy lives on through the efforts that we carry on today.”
   
No stranger to hard work, Hester milked cows to pay his way through high school, which was 20 miles away from his father’s 160-acre farm. In 1937, he earned a bachelor’s degree in Greek from Howard College (now Samford University) and then obtained a master of theology degree from Louisville (now Southern) Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Ky., in 1941.
   
In 1955, former Howard President Major Davis presented him with an honorary doctor of divinity degree. “I got money from the convention for scholarships, and I took the money and worked with the students for 18 years helping them financially,” Hester said. 
   
After leading a church in Florida, he became pastor of 85th Street Baptist Church, Birmingham (85th Street Baptist later merged with Mount Olive Baptist Church to form Deerfoot Baptist Church,  Trussville). 
   
Hester remained there for 19 years until A. Hamilton Reid, former executive director of the Alabama Baptist State Convention, asked him to work on the state level. “I became director of special missions in 1961 and was in charge of the work with internationals from 27 different countries around the world,” he said.
   
Preaching the first interracial service at Shocco Springs Baptist Conference Center in Talladega in 1968, his work with blacks, American Indians and other groups led him across the country and helped him establish relationships with many famous people. “I preached for Aretha Franklin’s dad, C.L. Franklin, in Detroit in 1968,” Hester said. “I knew Dr. Martin Luther King. He was my buddy.”
   
He also remembers other accomplishments. “There was Race Relations Sunday, where we were able to get churches to exchange pulpits, chairs and laypeople,” Hester said. “This was done in places where it was not expected and they did it gladly. Now I pray that no church would turn anyone away because of the color of their skin.”
   
Samford University library special collection coordinator Elizabeth Wells calls Hester a best friend to all Alabama Baptists.
   
“He really sought to reconcile, work with and build bridges with all ethnic and cultural groups in Alabama,” Wells said. “He has such a wonderful heart and has so much love and he shares that. He is a man of tremendous faith.”
   
After 16 years at the state convention, Hester retired but never stopped preaching. Soon he began serving as interim pastor in churches throughout Alabama, Florida and North Carolina.
   
Churches Hester has served include Boone’s Chapel Baptist Church, Prattville; East Memorial Baptist Church, Prattville; Spring Creek Baptist Church, Honoraville; Good Hope Baptist Church, Troy; Friendship Baptist Church, Tallassee; Berney Points Baptist Church, Hoover; and First Baptist Church, Trafford, outside of Birmingham.
   
Jay Wolf, pastor of First, Montgomery, described Hester as a model minister who has never lost the wonder of knowing Jesus. “He exudes the effervescence and joy of an authentic Christian,” Wolf said. “H.O. Hester has a bright mind and is unusually youthful, and I count him still a great Kingdom server and a super encourager to me as his pastor.”
  
To highlight Hester’s extensive ministry, the Alabama Baptist Historical Commission plans to publish a journal on him later this year, according to Executive Director Frances Hamilton. “He loves people; he writes poetry; he is quite an amazing fellow,” Hamilton said. “He was anxious to relate to all Alabama Baptists.”
   
Surprised by Hester’s extensive memory, Sunday School teacher Ken Russell called him a fine example. “He recites poems that are two or three pages long and recites whole chapters of the Bible,” said Russell, who leads a senior adult class at First Baptist Church, Prattville, where Hester recites poetry nearly every Sunday. “He encourages our class with his memory and the fact that he preaches at other churches with his advanced age.”
   
First, Prattville, pastor Travis Coleman also appreciates Hester’s sense of humor. “He is always saying something uplifting and encouraging,” Coleman said. “He has been like a Barnabas to me and people in our church. I believe that one of his spiritual gifts has been the gift of encouragement to young pastors and staff members.”
   
Hester continues to visit and preach in churches around the state. Remarkably he has no intentions of slowing down his pace. “I’m not going to quit,” he said. “I lack eight years to being 100, and I’m going to preach until I’m 102 — maybe 103.”