Memorial Biographies of General Baptist Ministers
of the
Union Association


REV. ALPHA WARREN
The Rev. Alpha Warren was converted during a revival that was held with the First General Baptist Church in Flint, Michigan, and united with that church. This was in May, 1928. I began preaching in November, 1930, and was ordained Jul 23, 1933, in the New Liberty Presbytery of Missouri. My first pastorate was with the Bell City General Baptist Church, Bell City, Missouri. My pastorates since have been in the following churches: new Harmony, Sweet Prospect, Lynn Oak, all of Missouri; Greenway and Piggott churches of Arkansas; Bethesda and Maumee churches, of Indiana; Providence and Cane Run churches of Kentucky; Mt. Santa Rosa, near Yigo, Guam, and at present am pastor of the General Baptist Church, at Springfield, Missouri.

Dr. O. L. Johnson, my beloved brother in the ministry and I worked to organize the Herlad-Johnson Memorial church in Louisville, Ky., and the church in Memphis, Indiana. Both of these churches are doing fine work now. I also had the privilege of pastoring the Mt. Santa Rosa Mission on Guam until October 26, 1947, when with the assistance of Dr. H. D. Harmeyer we organized the church with thirty-four charter members. Mrs. Warren and I, along with our eldest son, Orval Ray, were among the thirty-four charter members.

Our first responsibility on the Island of Guam was to build a house of worship. Because of the scarcity of lumber this proved to be a long drawn out affair. We used all we could get then held our services in the building for months with only three fourths of the floor down, several sheets of roofing absent, and not one board of wall; simply the studding standing. Even so, in this make shift place of worship we had the joy of seeing many people find our Lord. One of my very greatest blessings came during the second service we held between these two by fours when two native girls, one native man and two American sailors came to the altar and gave their hearts to Christ. That one native man was Juan Sablan, whom we later ordained as a deacon. After I left the Island Brother Sablan went to Saipan to sassistRev. Minvil Clark. Still later he helped in the Leper Colony on Tinian. Bro. Clark tells me that Juan is now a very fine preacher. Bit by bit, as we were able to raise the money, an as lumber could be obtained, we added to the sstructureuntil Mt. Santa Rosa church became a beautiful frame building 30' by 70', twenty feet of this was cut off and divided into class rooms by partitions that could be taken down when we needed this entire space in one room. The auditorium was fifty feet long with an elevate choir behind the pulpit and with a small class room on either side of the choir. When the structure was completed and had been decorated inside and out it was time for dedication. On the Sunday set aside for the service we had a full house. We were even honored by the presence of the Governor of the island and his wife, Admiral and Mrs. Pawnall. Dr. Harmeyer, our senior mmissionary brought the message. Many visitors enjoyed the Lord's blessings of that day with us.

An experience that I shall never forget came when Rev. Minvil Clark and I had the privilege of going up to Chi Chi Jima to visit the Greenways. It was a distance of about one thousand miles from Guam. We had the privilege of going ashore on two islands between Saipan and Chi Chi Jima. On both of these islands we saw people who were in great need of temporal and spiritual assistance.
In speaking of these people may I use space to ask you who read this to stop and consider that there are still four of the mMarianasIslands which have no Protestant missionaries. They need your help. If the Lord calls you to go, don't fail these people who need you. If you are not called to go, then send someone else. "but as his part is that goeth to the battle, so shall his part be that tarrieth by the stuff." (I Sam. 30:24)





* - Source - History of Union Association of General Baptist 1840 - 1953
By
M.D. Mc Donald


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