First Baptist Church, Springville
St. Clair Baptist Association
Favorite Verse: Romans 8:28–30
“He Will Hold Me Fast”
Hobbies: Researching St. Clair County; writing articles and poetry; collecting St. Clair County history of Baptist churches and death notices from 1873 to 1950 to aid genealogists
Family Status: Widower for 7 years after 39 years of marriage to wife Gail; daughter, Miriam
Joe Whitten, 79, of Odenville believes in faithfully serving God and family. He is a deacon, co-teacher in Sunday School, church treasurer and team member on international missions trips. He and his wife were in music ministry together; she played piano and he played organ. Whitten was an educator in public and private schools for 39 years.
Q: What influences in your life pointed you to Christ at the beginning of your faith journey?
A: My mother reading from the Bible storybook to me. That is one thing from childhood I still have — the Bible storybook. When I was 7, I asked my mother how to go to heaven. She explained salvation to me and how to go to heaven. I’ve always looked at that as the time that I came to know the Lord.
There was a time in 1961 that I was going through a time of wondering. A teacher friend of mine said, “Joe, we’re going to get this settled.”
Then, after Gail died, it was just God and me in this empty house. He (God) began to show me what I was. It was a terrible experience but with wonderful results. Through Pathways Counseling,* Rod Campbell helped me see that God’s grace had been with me all throughout my life. I had been building walls since I was 5 (because of sexual abuse by a non-family member). The walls began to come down and I allowed people into my life.
It has made all the difference. … My wife had been conformed to the image of Christ (before she died). But Ole Joe still needed work.
Q: When and how were you led into your ministry work?
A: In 1982, the nominating committee of Bethel Baptist Church in St. Clair Association asked me to teach Sunday School. And I have continued until now in Springville.
Q: What does your ministry work demand?
A: Time. I don’t really see it as a demand. I’m just glad to be old and doing something.
Q: What do you get from your ministry work?
A: I do it because it is a service. … There is a satisfaction in being useful in God’s kingdom.
Q: How do family members support you?
A: The first time I went to Ecuador, I think my daughter thought I was too old to go traipsing off to Ecuador. … Now, (she) is very supportive. And my sister (Eunice Cleeland, and her husband, Stretch) is supportive.
Q: What difference has Jesus Christ made in your life?
A: He has made all the difference. I can’t imagine a life without Christ because He has been there and been faithful. … I would be hopeless without Him.
*Pathways Professional Counseling (www.pathwaysprofessional.org) is a ministry of Alabama Baptist Children’s Homes & Family Ministries.
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