Congregation grieves for pastor, friend
CHICKASHA — When Charlie Kendrick first met the preacher who would change his life, he was shocked to see a man with tattoos up and down his arms, rocking a cut-off shirt, camouflage pants and sandals.
At first glance, he doubted that this was the preacher who was supposed to help him overcome addiction. But that’s exactly what the Rev. Michael Walworth did.
“He said, ‘Hey, I’m Pastor Mike,’” Kendrick recalls. “And I’m like, ‘Really? You’re a pastor?’”
Like Kendrick, many stepped forward to share stories about Michael Walworth, minister of the First Missionary Baptist Church in Chickasha, at his funeral service Thursday night.
Walworth’s tragic and mysterious death, still under investigation, has left the community grieving for the man they called “Preach,” friend and mentor. The preacher’s body was found burned in the empty grass lot between his church and home June 16.
“He changed my life, in a word,” Carla Bollman said, echoing the sentiment of many who knew Walworth.
Despite stifling heat, around a hundred of Walworth’s friends crammed into the woodpaneled, one-room church to honor and celebrate the life of the man who changed many of theirs for the better.
One after another, friends stood to share fond memories, anecdotes and testimonies. They told about the times he embarrassed them publicly in stores, the times they went fishing, the times they celebrated happy hour at Braum’s and the times they shared their greatest weaknesses and overcame them together.
Most of all, they recalled the times they prayed together, and the times that Walworth was there for them in their darkest hours.
Walworth sponsored many, including Kendrick, through a program called Celebrate Recovery, a Christian 12-step program aimed at helping those struggling with “hurts, habits and hangups” like drug and alcohol addiction.
Walworth was just what Kendrick needed — someone who could understand where he was coming from, who had been in his shoes and could relate to his struggles firsthand while challenging him to be a better person.
“If it wasn’t for him, I probably wouldn’t be here,” Kendrick said.
Walworth could relate to the people in the program in a way few others could, in part because he had struggles of his own, including a criminal history.
In 1997, he was charged with aggravated sexual assault with a child and indecency with a child, for which he served 10 years in prison.
Close friends were aware of his past, but they said the man they knew and loved was not the same one who committed those crimes. Gina Carnes, who met Walworth through Celebrate Recovery, said it didn’t matter to her because no one should be judged for their past mistakes.
“He wasn’t a perfect person, but nobody is,” Carnes said.
Nathan Brewer, a fellow Baptist preacher who met Walworth over a year ago through their church association, was at first unsure when he heard Walworth’s testimony of how he was able to transform his dark past into a life of service.
Brewer said he can’t justify Walworth’s mistakes, but he does value and respect the ministry that Walworth turned to later in life.
“He was serving in a way that he was taking something that was very dark and broken, something very shameful in his past, that he didn’t hide from, that he didn’t shy away from, and just used that as an opportunity to move forward,” Brewer said.
As the service wrapped up, the wood-paneled walls of the church echoed as many voices joined together in Walworth’s favorite hymn, “Bless the Lord, Oh My Soul,” a song that many in the pews knew so well thanks to Walworth’s influence in their lives.