Episode description

The year was 1994 and Dad was 13 years into his ministry to the Steele Avenue Church of Christ in Ashland, Ohio. The congregation was growing. Dad’s ministry was cruising. Then something happened that changed the direction of all of that.

Dorothy Abels died.

Who was Dorothy Abels? Most people around the congregation knew that she was a ladies Bible class and Sunday school teacher. She was kind, but quiet. Outgoing, but not outspoken. Just another woman doing what she could to help out around church.

But Dad knew something about Dorothy that most people didn’t know: She prayed for the church. And not just a word here and there. She prayed for the church every day. Sometimes for hours. She prayed for the members of the church by name. She prayed for Dad and his ministry.

When Dorothy died, Dad felt it as if something in his body changed. As if the air in the church changed. Dorothy and her prayers were gone. When Dad lost Dorothy’s prayers, he began a decade that would end with him losing his ministry and losing his way.

In this episode, Dad will talk about just how crucial one quiet person and her prayers can be to the life of a church. I call this one: “I’ve never met another Dorothy Abels.”

Keep up with Dad's cancer treatments and health here.