Local preacher has two loves: his wife and the Lord

Sixteen.

She had just completed her sophomore year.

“He growed on me,” Helen Wilson said with a smile.

They got married in Bill Wilson’s grandfather’s farm house in West Liberty, Ky. It was a double wedding. His uncle also got married.

Then the Wilsons returned to the Middletown area and began their life together. He worked at Inland Container for 43 years, retiring in 1995, but his biggest impact has been felt by his congregation. Much of their years have been spent at Heavenly Highway Tabernacle; she in the front row, he in the pulpit.

Helen, 80, admits being married to a preacher sometimes is “no flower bed,” because, like the rest of us, even those who pray every day have “up and downs” in their relationship. When they wake up, there are no angels singing. But the one constant, the string that tied them together, is their love of God.

Her 82-year-old husband “keeps that desire to preach and looks after people who are not saved,” his wife said.

The Rev. Wilson said just last week, while sitting Heavenly Tabernacle, waiting for the services to begin, he saved a young man.

“That’s why I do it,” he said.

He’s been doing it for as long as people can remember. He was saved when he was in his early 20s and he’s been studying and preaching from the Bible ever since. He served as a youth pastor and assistant pastor in several Middletown churches before moving out to Michael Road.

He has served as lead pastor at Heavenly Tabernacle since 1963. The church burned to the ground in 1997, and a few months later, the fellowship hall, where services were held, suffered some fire damage.

The new church, located higher on the hill, opened in 2001. Wilson said the church is valued at $7 million, but since most of the work was completed by church members, the church took out a $170,000 that was paid off in five years.

“It’s been a great journey,” he said.

One of those who has taken about every step along the way is Diana Sheek, 53. She has attended the same church for 50 years, and said she hasn’t missed Sunday School in 44 years. She’s as solid as the church’s foundation.

“We stood by him,” she said. “There never was a reason to go anywhere else.”

She said six years ago when her nephew was dying at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital, Wilson sat at his bedside and counseled the family for three hours after he passed away.

“He looks after his congregation,” she said.

And the love of his life. When his wife was diagnosed with breast cancer years ago, Bill Wilson fasted for 28. He said God answered his prayers and his wife is cancer free.

So when will the Rev. Wilson feel that his job is complete and close his Bible?

“Not until I die and I’m not ready to do that yet,” he said.

And why should he? The man is full of life.