Preacher Lee Waldrep of Lawrence County always said the Lord would send someone to carry on his ministry. He was convinced he would live to see the one who would follow in his footsteps.
In 1960, he held his infant great-grandson and knew this was the one. Two weeks later, the 88-year-old Waldrep went to be with the Lord.
Fast forward to 2004. That baby, Phil Waldrep, has grown up to head Phil Waldrep Ministries, an organization that ministers to thousands of people each year through revivals, conferences, books and missions outreach. Waldrep and his family are members of Central Baptist Church in Decatur.
Growing up in western Morgan County, Waldrep was called into the ministry in 1975 at the age of 14. He was in demand almost immediately for revivals and other special services. At this point, he was unaware of either the future God had planned for him or the prophecy from his infancy.
Neither he nor his parents were told of his great-grandfather’s prophecy until after Waldrep had been preaching for several years. The senior Waldrep had told his daughters of the prophecy soon after he had held the infant, then instructed the daughters not to reveal the prophecy until the baby had grown and answered the call to ministry.
After seeing their father’s prophecy fulfilled, Waldrep’s great-aunts finally told him the secret they had carried for nearly 20 years.
Waldrep is conscious of his great-grandfather’s legacy and his own history. His office building is filled with memorabilia, from handwritten notes for his first sermon to a photograph of his great-grandfather in the river during a baptismal service.
“At least the first 20 to 25 revivals I preached, none were in churches that had more than 100 in Sunday School. I never dreamed, never envisioned, doing the things I have done,” Waldrep said.
The youth conferences were Waldrep’s first venture. Always in demand during spring break in Alabama, in 1981 he had eight invitations to speak to youth groups. He could only accept one. One of the people Waldrep had to turn down was a minister of music and youth named Mike Griffin. Griffin later proposed an idea to Waldrep.
Griffin said he had been thinking and praying, and he said, “Phil, I really think you need to consider having your own youth camp. Since you can’t come to all of us, why don’t you do it and we will all come to your event?”
Waldrep protested that he knew nothing about holding a youth camp, but Griffin offered to organize it the first year. If successful, Waldrep would take over after that. “Telling him that I knew it would not work and nobody would come, I agreed,” Waldrep said.
Griffin’s father, Emil Griffin, served on the board of trustees at Shocco Springs Baptist Conference Center. He made arrangements for a meeting with George Ricker, Shocco’s director.
Waldrep did not know until 25 years later that Emil Griffin had assured Ricker he would foot the bill himself if the young preacher was unable to meet expenses.
“I tell people that everything we do with conferences goes back to a layman who never knew me but prayed and said, ‘Lord, I feel this is something You want me to do.’ Of course, he didn’t have to pay it, but it was because he was willing to take a step.”
Because of the success of the first conference, Ricker took Waldrep under his wing and taught him all about conferences.
“Over a period of 10 years, I would call Dr. Ricker weekly, sometimes more, and ask him for advice. All those years of being director at Shocco, he knew how to do it. Ninety percent of what I know about conferences, I learned from Dr. Ricker.”
The youth camps were so successful at reaching youth — at one time reaching 1,200 — in 1992, Ricker suggested Waldrep hold men’s and women’s retreats.
Senior adult and marriage retreats in Pigeon Forge, Tenn., followed. Again, registration for the events far exceeded expectations, leading to this year’s total of 21 major conferences nationwide. The ministry holds conferences in other locations such as Branson, Mo.; Savannah, Ga.; and Williamsburg, Va.
An outgrowth of the senior ministry has been Waldrep’s two books.
“‘Parenting Prodigals’ came from listening to them tell me about their kids and wondering what they did wrong and what they can do now. ‘The Grandparent Factor’ came out of that, too.”
For several years, Waldrep has done radio specials on Grandparents Day. For this year, he is working on a television special to be aired on PAX TV as well as several other smaller networks. The special — which will feature such notables as Kathy Lee Gifford, Steven Curtis Chapman, J.C. Watts and Kirk Cameron — has the potential for reaching 200 million homes.
But despite the magnitude of projects like this, of all the activities Phil Waldrep Ministries is responsible for, missions work is Waldrep’s favorite. While in Vermont several years ago preaching a revival, Waldrep was touched by the loneliness and isolation of the ministers there. He made a commitment to give at least one week a year to a pioneer mission pastor. This year, he is going to Montana.
And the preacher he meets can always count on greeting a white-clad Waldrep, an outward signal of an inward legacy.
The only picture on the wall in Waldrep’s office is a large sketch of Lee Waldrep, dressed in a white shirt and holding a Bible. According to Waldrep, his ancestor always wore a white shirt when he preached. Waldrep does the same.
“When I preach, I always wear a white shirt as my silent tribute, as a reminder of who He was,” Waldrep said. “I live in his legacy all the time.”
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