'I like to say we're switching seats': Son takes over pulpit at True Vine Church

CANTON − When a pastor decides to step down from active ministry, they don't always know who will succeed them in the pulpit.

The Rev. Willie Wilder doesn't have that worry, as his eldest son is set to succeed him as pastor of the True Vine Revival Center at 1618 Navarre Road SW.

The Rev. Curtis Wilder will be formally installed at 4 p.m. March 17.

"He's still my pastor," Curtis Wilder said of his dad. "I like to say we're switching seats. This man has been such an instrument and somebody that I can say is is a real man because I've seen him as a real man at home before we started ministry. My dad worked two and three jobs to take care of us."

A Timken Co. retiree and resident of Perry Township, Willie Wilder became an ordained minister in 1990, and started his first church in 1992. The congregation moved to its current location in 2009, and became known for its free-meal program until it was detoured by the COVID-19 pandemic.

When asked to describe True Vine, Willie Wilder called it "a house of life."

Near tragedy renews faith in God

Curtis Wilder said it took a near-fatal car accident for him to take his faith seriously.

"In 1994, we went on a trip to a Chicago to see a pastor, Morris Cerullo," he recalled. "At the time, I had a little orange (American Motors) Gremlin."

Wilder said the vehicle driving in front of him hit a small spring-coiled car part that was lying in the road, and propelled it backward through his windshield.

"I saw it coming at me; glass went everywhere," he said. "My wife, Denise, who's gone on to be with the Lord, was shaking glass out of her hair and I'm trying to gather myself. I asked her, 'Are you, OK?' and when she looked up at me, all she could do is point, and I look, and there's this metal object, right in front of my face, suspended in the air. It wasn't stuck in the windshield − it was suspended in the air.

"I was just a new Christian. I'd been in church all my life; my mom and dad brought us up in church, but when I accepted the Lord as my personal savior, that's when things begin to change. I knew God had a plan for my life. He saved my life because there was something he wanted me to do for him. I'm just telling you, don't have to believe it if you want, but I'm not supposed to be here. If it wasn't for the grace of God and his mercy, I could have been gone. That's when I really start digging into the word, and that's when pastor got the church and we just went forward."

Son makes plans for turnover on Canton pulpit

Wilder said he has no plans to make major changes, except for the addition of a Tuesday night prayer meeting at a niece's suggestion.

"People want more than just Sundays," he said. "I believe in the gifts and the anointing that's in this church and in God's people. We're just giving them opportunity to exercise their gifts."

He noted that the Bible offers several examples of sons − biological and spiritual − assuming their fathers' ministries.

"God used David, and then when David got older, his son Solomon took over," he said. "And with Moses, God told him to lay hands on Joshua. When Elijah was going through his prophetic ministry, he chose Elisha. So, he knows human beings are going to get older, but he does not want his work to stop. That's pretty much why another reason why I was like, 'Okay, it's time to step up and be more open for what God wants done.' Like I said, we're not here to change anything, because the Holy Ghost has been leading us since 1992 up to this point."

Father and son find comfort in challenging moments

Willie Wilder plans to spend more time with his wife, Lois, who has dementia. They've been married for 70 years.

"It's taking a lot for him to do both," his son explained. "So, was it was the fact that we weren't going to allow the pressure that the enemy was trying to put on my dad to keep him from being able to minister. We talked and he told me 'Well, how about you go ahead because I want to spend more time with your mother.' He said 'I'm not letting my wife, your mother, go to a nursing home,' and he's been 100% on that. God has helped him get through those moments and he's still going strong but yet again, we're still human, and we can only take so much."

The younger Wilder admits to having a crisis of faith when his first wife died, even though he prayed for her healing. A phone call from an aunt, he said, helped him to recover his spiritual bearings.

"I didn't talk to my dad, I didn't talk to anyone but that phone helped me get through that situation when my wife passed," he said. "So I know God is real and he's trying to get us to understand when you're in this life, you're not an exception; things are going to happen. You can give all the money you want in your offering and your tithes. You can be a believer, you can be in church, but you're still in this life and things are going to happen, but what makes the difference is, how you react to it? What happens are you still going to tell the Lord 'Thank you' no matter what happens? Are you still going to trust and believe him no matter what happens? And that's why I said "Okay Lord, let's do this.'"

Willie Wilder said the members have been supportive of his son assuming the pulpit.

"It seemed to me they knew that he's picking up where I left off," he said. "As Paul said, the foundation is laid."

Willie Wilder was asked about the one piece of advice he has given to his son.

"Whatever God says, trust and obey. That's it," he said.

Reach Charita at 330-580-8313 or charita.goshay@cantonrep.com. On Twitter: @cgoshayREP.

This article originally appeared on The Repository: 'Switching seats': Rev. Willie Wilder's son taking over Canton church