Who was Joe T. Odle?

the link's no good...

 

This man was pastor of our church many years ago. Wish I could have served under him.

 

Joe T. Odle died in 1980 at the age of 71.

He came to pastor East Baptist Church of Paducah, Kentucky, in 1932 (at age 23) and served there until 1941. The country was in the middle of the depression. The church minutes recorded that the church agreed to pay Bro. Odle $20 per week "if we could get it." EBC experienced phenomenal growth during his pastorate, and started Vacation Bible School for the first time.

A few years earlier the church had undergone some renovation and expansion. The stock market crash and the following depression left the church unable to pay the loan it had obtained.

Bro. Odle wrote that he and a church leader went to see the banker to tell him they could make the required payments. The banker said, "Baptists have a reputation of meeting their obligations. Can you pay as much as five dollars today?" The two men dug into their pockets and barely came up with five dollars between them.

The banker said "that's all I need right now. Just pay what you can, when you can." The loan was paid off within a few years.

Bro. Odle returned to East Baptist a couple of times for homecomings, and that's where I met him. I have some of the writings mentioned earlier.

I consider him a giant among Southern Baptists. He was standing for a high view of scripture early on when liberalism was beginning to creep into SBC churches.

 

I'm sure Joe. T. Odle was a Landmarker. In Western Kentucky and Tennessee, in the 1930s, 40s and 50s, the Landmark view as a majority view. It was the mainstream view. Non-Landmarkers were considered the "off-brand."

 

This is a very interesting story. I had not heard of the man, so I am unable to add much about this man. Yet, I always appreciate people who have fought liberalism when it looks like you will lose. For that reason, I respect this man.

 

What Brother Tom says is exactly what the minutes record. There is an old picture in our church photo album of Brother Odle with one of his vacation Bible Schools at East. There must be well over 300 kids in that picture. It is quite an amazing sight.

Our church has a rich history dating back to 1891, and Brother Odle is certainly a part of that. Its rather odd though, the first ten years of the minutes of our church are missing, almost to the day. It remains a mystery to this date. Anyway, the work Brother Odle did set the pattern at our church for many decades to come. Today, our church is centered on the Lordship of Jesus Christ. We have unity in our congregation and a great pastor, a true man of God. Our deacons act as servants of the people and support the pastor.

Young people remain a vital part of our ministry. On Wednesday nights, some women of the church have Bible study and activities for children basically from broken homes with parents either not working, on something, rotating partners, or one of the parents absent. These women are very gifted and provide these kids with the one hour a week they get of Christian teachings and example. It also gives us the opportunity to minister to the parents of these kids.