Pastor found miracle at North Hills Baptist Church
From the left, Pastor Tim Russell and Jean Ludwig of the North Hills Baptist Church pose by the new lighted cross at the church Ludwig’s son-in-law, Gary Hendershot, a welder, made. The lighted cross was a dream of Ludwig’s that came to fruition when Russell became the minister at the church. (Photo by Jess Mancini)
Pastor Tim Russell of the North Hills Baptist Church behind the lectern. Russell agreed to be the new pastor at the church in July, then a few days later he was called for a life-saving liver transplant. (Photo by Jess Mancini)
Jean Ludwig stands by the 20-foot stainless steel lighted cross at the North Hills Baptist Church in Marietta. The cross has been a dream of hers for years, which recently became reality after Pastor Tim Russell agreed to be the minister at the church in July. (Photo by Jess Mancini)
The lighted cross at the North Hills Baptist Church in Marietta. (Photo by Jess Mancini)
From the left, Pastor Tim Russell and Jean Ludwig of the North Hills Baptist Church pose by the new lighted cross at the church Ludwig’s son-in-law, Gary Hendershot, a welder, made. The lighted cross was a dream of Ludwig’s that came to fruition when Russell became the minister at the church. (Photo by Jess Mancini)
Pastor Tim Russell of the North Hills Baptist Church behind the lectern. Russell agreed to be the new pastor at the church in July, then a few days later he was called for a life-saving liver transplant. (Photo by Jess Mancini)
Jean Ludwig stands by the 20-foot stainless steel lighted cross at the North Hills Baptist Church in Marietta. The cross has been a dream of hers for years, which recently became reality after Pastor Tim Russell agreed to be the minister at the church in July. (Photo by Jess Mancini)
The lighted cross at the North Hills Baptist Church in Marietta. (Photo by Jess Mancini)
Trending
MARIETTA -- A miracle saved Tim Russell's life when he agreed to become the pastor of the North Hills Baptist Church in Marietta.
The church repeatedly asked Russell, who suffered from liver disease for more than 12 years, to become its new pastor, but Russell declined because he knew he was near death without a life-saving liver transplant.
"I knew I was terminal," he said.
Then in July he agreed, saying yes to the congregation where he was a member for about a year.
"This is where the miracle is," Russell. "I said I would be the pastor here. That week, I got the call for a transplant."
It was God's hand that made things happen, said Jean Ludwig, a member of the congregation who credits Russell with getting the large lighted cross installed at the church on Stonecrest Street, a project she has wanted for many years.
"He was the one," she said.
Russell, 60, Marietta, is a Baptist minister who has not pastored a church for 21 years before becoming the pastor at North Hills.
He was a patient at the Cleveland Clinic for liver disease, the costs of which were financially devastating for him and his family. Russell was on the transplant list for a liver.
The alternatives were to die or financially ruin his wife, Pamela, and their family, he said.
"I was bad. I was really sick," Russell said.
Russell said he dropped his insurance, which exceeded $3,000 a month, but obtained affordable coverage through Obamacare. He was transferred to Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center, placed on the transplant list and slowly rose on the list to receive a new liver.
In the meantime he became a member at North Hills where his wife played the piano. Russell said he was asked to sing, but feared he could not because he had lost his singing voice because of the disease.
"She wanted me to do it, so I would," he said.
Another miracle, Russell said. His booming voice returned, but only while he was in church.
"As long as I went to church, on the same spot each week, my voice came back," Russell said.
Without a minister, the associate minister, Ron Dennison, needed help with all the responsibilities, Russell said. Russell agreed to help and conduct a sermon when he could.
"I would come alive when I preached," Russell said.
After church, however, the effects of the disease returned, he said.
"I was prepared to die," Russell said.
After Russell agreed to be the full-time pastor, Ohio State called and said a liver was ready, Russell said. The transplant operation was on July 8 at Wexner.
Recovery took just several weeks and the difference between then and now is like night and day, according to Russell.
"We all just love his sermons," Ludwig said.
Ludwig for years has been trying to get a lighted cross installed at the church where it can be seen from afar, particularly on Colegate Drive.
Russell's support and enthusiasm for the cross made the project a reality, she said. The 20 foot stainless steel cross, made by her son-in-law, Gary Hendershot, a welder, was installed and lighted last month.
"It's just beautiful," she said.
Jess Mancini can be reached at jmancini@newsandsentinel.com.