Despite losing three of his most precious valuables – his wife, his church, and his city – Pastor Bill Rogers, 76 and coming up on his 30th anniversary as pastor of Grace Baptist, is set to receive his Doctorate of Ministry Dec. 8 from Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Ky.
NEW ORLEANS – Despite losing three of his most precious valuables
– his wife, his church, and his city – Pastor Bill Rogers, 76 and
coming up on his 30th anniversary as pastor of Grace Baptist, is set to
receive his Doctorate of Ministry Dec. 8 from Southern Baptist
Theological Seminary in Louisville, Ky.
On Sept. 15, 2004, Rogers and his wife returned from an out-of-town
trip, said Les Scharfenstein, brother-in-law to Rogers and a deacon at
Grace Baptist.
After pulling into their driveway, Pastor Rogers entered the house to
open it, while his wife checked on her flowers outside. When Pastor
Rogers came back down, she had fallen and was not breathing. EMT’s were
not able to revive her.
“It almost killed me for a while,” said Pastor Rogers, who said he
suffered intense loneliness after his wife’s death. “We had been
married 51 years. But thank God everybody’s blessed me and helped
me.”
Rogers, who has been in the ministry for more than 50 years, had
finished his DMin coursework and was working on his final project for
his degree when his wife died.
Less than a year later, Hurricane Katrina took his church, his city and severely damaged his home.
Located in the 9th Ward, Grace Baptist was flooded, as was the
fellowship hall, said Charlie Dale, associate pastor at Grace Baptist.
In addition, Rogers’ home had three feet of water in the downstairs,
which destroyed a third of the pastor’s library of 3,000 books.
The storm also ripped off part of Rogers’ roof, the pastor said.
“I love this city,” he said. “I was born in New Orleans, and this was
always my home church, where my father was baptized and where my wife’s
father pastored for 36 years.
“Sometimes you wonder if you can really take it. But you have to,” said
the pastor, who said God helped him by calling Ezekiel 37:1-10 to his
mind, where God takes Ezekiel to the valley of dry bones and asks, “Son
of man, can these bones live?”
Rogers answered the same as Ezekiel: “O Lord God, Thou knowest.”
Rogers traveled to Louisville several times while working toward his degree, Scharfenstein said.
“My sister would go with him. It was probably rough on him this last
time, staying in the same accommodations as when Joan was with him.
“It’s been a little over two years since she passed,” Scharfenstein
said. “It was quite a setback for him, quite an emotional drain on him.
He grieved for a long time. He was grateful that she didn’t have to go
through Katrina. We’re very proud of him. He has had the support of our
church.”
Several members at Grace plan to attend Southern Seminary’s December
graduation to honor their pastor’s triumph, Scharfenstein said.