Prime Living: Ministry, magic and music: Retired pastor shares his story

Sep. 20—The Rev. Jim Diehl, as a retired minister, touches on the legacies of Harry Houdini, Apostle Paul and Alexander the Great from day to day.

"He's a man of many talents," in the words of the Rev. Charlie Crews, minister of music at Clearwater First Baptist Church. "He's a musician. He's a theologian. He's a magician. He wears many hats."

Some know Diehl, a West Virginia native, as a "Christian illusionist," as stated on his business card, reflecting the magic-style shows that he offers as a way of helping share Bible truths. He can call on a background that includes university studies in religion and music.

He's also adept in the language of Homer, Aristole and Socrates, having taught ancient Greek in a variety of settings, and hundreds of local Baptists have engaged with him over the past couple of decades, as he is a former director of missions for Aiken Baptist Association. Prior to that role, he served in the same capacity with Sandy Run Baptist Association, in western North Carolina.

"I'm all over the place," he confirmed, noting that his current roles include substitute teaching at South Aiken Christian School and teaching a men's Sunday school class at Clearwater First Baptist, where he is also active in the music program, with skills both as a vocalist and a saxophone player.

The Warrenville resident knows a few things about harmony, as he and his wife, Karen, a retired administrative assistant, have been married for 50 years. The couple moved to Aiken County in March 2008, and the man of the house is a member of South Carolina Singing Churchmen, a touring group described on its website as composed mainly of music ministers from Southern Baptist congregations around the state, as well as "pastors and other church or associational staff members as well as music faculty of colleges and universities."

Family harmony was an elusive concept for Diehl in his early years. He grew up in foster homes and an orphanage and shared those memories and others in a 2022 book titled "His Grace Is Sufficient! A Story of the Search for Family," which draws its title from a Bible verse: 2 Corinthians 2:19. Readers are invited to "join the author as he looks back at what it was like to grow up as a ward of the state and how he finally answered that question," as explained in a summary.

The inspiration to write the book came largely from repeatedly being told that "you need to write that down" after sharing parts of his story aloud over the course of years. Diehl never knew his parents, and his childhood, he said, was that of "a boy in search of a home." Each chapter, he noted, ends in a cliffhanger.

The author, in his book's preface, notes, "In my mind, writing an autobiography pretty well rates up there with egotism and a self-serving character. However, folks continue to encourage me to write it all down as a testimony — not about me but about what God has done during my short, comparably speaking, lifetime."

He devoted plenty of time to research and the end result included plenty of positive feedback. "People have come up to me and said what a blessing it was for them, and how it helped them get through some things themselves," he said.

Another question he has faced over the years has focused on his academic language of choice — the classical tongue that has provided English words ranging from "bacterium" and "sycophant" to "metropolis" and "planet."

"The kids pick it up, but people say, 'Why are kids taking New Testament Greek?' or 'Why are they studying Greek?' Well, it helps them with their Bible study, No. 1, but then it also helps with their English, because a great deal of the English language comes out of classical Greek and ancient Greek," he said.

"You can come across a word you've never seen before, in English, and when you look at it and break it down, you can get a definition of it just by breaking down the components of the word."

Academic study is a highly familiar concept for Diehl, as his education led him through such schools as Stetson University in Florida; Carson-Newman College (which has since achieved university status) in Tennessee; and Andersonville Theological Seminary and Luther Rice University both in Georgia.

Diehl also logs plenty of mileage in offering his magic shows — no Greek required, with almost everything in English — as they put him in touch with kids and senior citizens around the state in the course of a year, as he performs in churches, retirement homes and other locales.