ABOUT

LEGACY OF FAITHFUL GOSPEL MINISTRY

~ HAYES AND JEAN MINNICK ~

“Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful. But his delight is in the law of the LORD, and in his law doth he meditate day and night.” (Psalm 1:1-2)

“Blessed is the man that trusteth in the LORD, and whose hope the LORD is.” (Jeremiah 17:7)

“Whoso findeth a wife findeth a good thing, and obtaineth favour of the Lord.” (Proverbs 18:22)

“Who can find a virtuous woman? For her price is far above rubies. The heart of her husband doth safely trust in her, so that he shall have no need of spoil. She will do him good and not evil all the days of her life.” (Proverbs 31:10-12.)

“Two are better than one; because they have a good reward for their labour.” (Ecclesiastes 4:9)

“Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labor is not in vain in the Lord.” (I Corinthians 15:58)

These portions of Scripture found in God’s Holy Word truly speak the story of Hayes and Jean Minnick, two of God’s faithful servants who realized at young ages that they were sinners, in need of a Saviour, and each came to know the Lord Jesus Christ as their personal Saviour through the convicting power of the Holy Spirit. They each one desired to let the Lord lead in the details of their lives … and the Lord faithfully did exactly that and led them as young adults, who having already fallen in love with their Lord Jesus first and foremost, were ready to fall head over heels in love with one another and let God write a most beautiful and enduring love story expressly for them. A love story in which the foundation was built upon the Lord Jesus Christ, whose demonstration of love is unsurpassed. With the Lord Jesus Christ as the cornerstone of their marriage, and a mutual desire to fervently and faithfully serve Him, Hayes and Jean set out by faith in a life-long ministry of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Their story is a testimony of steadfast love for the Lord and faithful service to Him.

Hayes K. Minnick’s Birth

Hayes K. Minnick was born into a weary and worn world on October 29, 1918 in Coaldale, Pennsylvania. It was the deadliest month of the 1918 influenza pandemic, and just two weeks before the end of World War I.

Hayes was the first son born to Hezekiah and Eva Minnick, a sweet godly couple who sought to raise Hayes and his two younger brothers, Ray and Kiah, according to God’s blueprint found in God’s Holy Word, the Bible. While still a little boy, the family moved to the small coal mining town of Tamaqua, Pennsylvania. These three brothers experienced a loving home life which included regular attendance in Sunday School and church services, Bible studies, and hosting Bible conference guest speakers in their home. High biblical standards were consistently maintained in the home and encouraged in daily personal life.

On March 20, 1930, at the young age of 11 years old, and after attending a Bible conference service in Coaldale, Pennsylvania, Hayes Minnick made a personal choice to ask Jesus Christ into his heart to be his Savior. In a sermon preached by Hayes on the 36^th anniversary of his salvation, he recalls that life changing evening,

“The events of that wonderful night are so vividly and indelibly impressed upon my heart and mind that I shall never forget them as long as I live. It is as though they transpired within the last 24 hours.”

Hayes goes on to say, “…on the night of March 20, 1930, I attended a Gospel service in which a dear man of God faithfully presented the claims of Jesus Christ upon the souls of those present. His subject that night was “John Smith of Anywhere” – the story of a man who from early boyhood had again and again resisted the claims of Christ upon his life. At each stage of his life he would excuse himself by putting the question off until some more convenient time. Then one day his wife picked up the phone to be informed that her husband had very suddenly dropped dead of a heart attack. Again and again he had had opportunity to receive Christ and be saved; again and again he had put the question off – and now it was forever too late! God spoke to my heart that night through that simple story – “John Smith of Anywhere.” My name was “John Smith” that night. The Holy Spirit was speaking to my heart in a way that I’ll never forget if I lived to be a billion years old. The young man next to me, when the invitation was given, began to sob, and a moment later he left his place and went forward to receive Christ. He was the only one to do so that night, while there I sat fighting, fighting, fighting the conviction of the Holy Spirit in my heart. I want to pause right here and thank God for the faithfulness of the Holy Spirit in His office work to the heart. (John 16:7-11) As the service closed that night, the evangelist prayed, “Lord, if there is anyone else in this place who needs Christ and is resisting the Holy Spirit, don’t give them any sleep this night until they come to Christ and be saved.” God answered that prayer. I went home that night and went to bed, but could not sleep. My mother said afterward that she knew something was troubling me. She said my face was as white as a sheet all the way home in the car. I do not know how long I lay in bed that night, unable to sleep, still fighting the conviction of the Holy Spirit. When I could stand it no longer, I cried out in the dark of the night, “Mother, Daddy, come quick! I want Jesus as my Saviour!” My parents probably thought at first I was having a nightmare. They very soon discovered otherwise. They took me to their room, and there at the side of their bed we knelt and prayed, and I asked the Lord Jesus to come into my heart and be my personal Saviour from sin. That is a moment I shall never forget. I shall carry the memory of it through the years of my life, and when time blends into eternity I will still be singing, “O happy day! That fixed my choice on Thee, my Saviour and my God. Well may this glowing heart rejoice and tell its raptures all abroad. Happy day! Happy day! When Jesus washed my sins away! He taught me how to watch and pray, and live rejoicing every day. Happy day, happy day, when Jesus washed my sins away!”

“As we got up from our knees that night, I can still see my dear Dad as he turned to Mother and said, “Mother, God has answered our prayer.” Just here I want to pause to thank God for a Christian home and Godly parents. Within the year that I was born, as a young married couple, they dedicated their lives to Christ so that when their children were born, they were brought up in the atmosphere of a Christian home. In all the years I have lived, I have never been inside a movie theater, I have never drunk a drop of liquor, danced, played cards, or engaged in any other form of worldly sinful pleasure. And only once did I ever have a cigarette in my mouth….and when Dad got finished with me, any desire I might have had for tobacco was knocked clean out of me. That’s the kind of home I was brought up in. Sounds old fashioned, doesn’t it? I would to God there were more old-fashioned homes in America today! Every Lord’s Day I was in my place with the rest of the family at Bible School and church – four and sometimes five services a Sunday. We never missed except for sickness. From boyhood up I was taught to honor the Lord’s Day as a day that was different from other days of the week. We never went galivanting on the Lord’s Day, and if friends stopped in for a visit as they occasionally did, they were invited along to church. If they didn’t wish to attend, they were permitted to remain at home while the family went off to the services. Our friends soon learned that the Minnick family sought to honor the Lord by putting Him first. Now that is the kind of home I was brought up in. But that didn’t make me a Christian. From childhood up, I was taught that even though I was brought up in a Christian home under the influence of Christian parents, I must come to the place where I must decide for myself. Salvation is a personal matter. The fact that I had Christian parents did not automatically make me a Christian. I must make my own decision. I must make a personal choice. I must receive Christ into my heart as my own personal Saviour. And that, by the grace of God, is what happened 36 years ago tonight. “Come and hear, all ye that fear God, and I will declare what He hath done for my soul!” (Psalm 66:16)

 In 1936, a dear friend and classmate of Hayes passed away unexpectedly and left such a deep impression on Hayes. The impact this event had on Hayes’ life caused him to determine in his heart to strive to never miss another opportunity to tell others of His Savior’s love and free offer of salvation for their souls. It was this event that led Hayes Minnick to hear the call of God upon his life to go into the Ministry of the Gospel.

After graduating from Tamaqua High School, Hayes entered Houghton College in Houghton, New York, where he attended from 1937 to 1941, and graduated in June of 1941 with Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Religious Education degrees. Hayes then attended Faith Theological Seminary in Wilmington, Delaware in 1941 and graduated cum laude in May, 1944, with a Bachelor of Divinity degree.

Dorothy Jean (Livingstone) Minnick’s Birth

Dorothy Jean (Livingstone) Minnick was born to John and Adeline Livingstone on July 24, 1920 in Annfield Plains, County Durham, England. She sailed to America with her parents in November, 1923, and by spring of 1924 they settled into Tamaqua, Pennsylvania where her father found employment as a coal miner.

It was in this small, quaint coal mining town where the paths of Hayes and Jean would eventually cross and then intertwine into a beautiful Christian love story handwritten by God. Jean had a very busy childhood which included traveling to and from England and Canada, dance lessons, piano lessons, acting, raising chickens, taking care of her pets, and Girl Scouts, just to name a few of the activities she was involved in. She excelled in her schooling and even advanced by a grade level. An interesting fact about Jean is that she is a distant relative to David Livingstone, the well-known pioneer Christian missionary and an explorer in Africa.

 One day when Jean was 14 years old, she accepted her neighbor family’s invitation to go with them to Bethany Evangelical Congregational Church in downtown Tamaqua. This simple invitation would serve to be the point in time in which Dorothy Jean would make the most important decision of her life, and Hayes and Jean’s paths would start to align. The soul changing event that took place from this simple invitation can best be told by Jean in her own words taken from her autobiography as she sweetly writes,

“I would really say that the year 1933-1934 was one of the most exciting years of my life! In the spring of 1934, a neighbor family of ours invited me to attend a Sunday Service of Bethany Evangelical Church. The pastor preached a message on the subject of “Where Will You Spend Eternity?” I had never heard anything about the need to receive the Lord Jesus Christ as one’s personal Savior in order to go to Heaven when a person died. This really shook me up! After the service this lady talked to me about this need. I was so glad to hear this message of God’s Grace to me. I promptly prayed that Christ would come into my life and save me. Her name was Mrs. Kiah Minnick. She invited me to attend a Bible Study class which she held every Sunday evening after the evening service and one after the Prayer Meeting on a Thursday night. I started attending these classes to study the Bible. Little did I realize that one day I would become the wife of her oldest son. This was also the year I received my first Bible. I had never owned one before this.”

Also, in her autobiography, Jean would later tell how the book of Romans was the very first book of the Bible that she read after receiving Christ into her heart. She faithfully studied the book of Romans with her future mother-in-law, Eva Minnick, and she told of how two verses in Romans stood out to her as a young teen and provided her assurance of salvation through the shed blood of Jesus Christ. Those verses are Romans 5:1-2, “Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ: By whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God.” 

Jean continued to excel in her schooling and many varied activities and clubs, but most of all enjoyed the Bethany Church group and Bible studies. She graduated magna cum laude from Tamaqua High School in 1937. She was accepted into the Reading Hospital School of Nursing and began classes in the beginning of 1938 and graduated Suma Cum Laude in 1941 as a Registered Nurse.

The Courtship

The spring of 1940 brought a new development to Hayes and Jean’s friendship. Jean’s autobiography so sweetly records this.

“In the spring of this year Hayes Minnick and I began writing to each other. He was at Houghton College, studying for the ministry. He was in his Junior year of college and I was in my Senior year of nurse’s training. We had already known each other since I was fourteen years old. We got to know each other a lot better during our corresponding with each other. He would send me verses and tracts and I would send him verses. I got courage one day and sent him a lock of my hair and a picture. I found out later that he carried them in his shirt pocket all of the time.”

In Hayes’ sermon on this website entitled, “The Rapture Of A Royal Romance,” Hayes can be heard describing how he carried the picture and lock of hair in his shirt pocket over his heart.

Jean came home in June 1940 to Tamaqua for her four-week Senior vacation and Hayes arrived home in Tamaqua the following day for his summer vacation from college. This whirlwind four week developing love story started with a dinner invitation to Hayes’ home, and included church activities, hikes, long walks and even longer talks. They later called this “the beginning of our courtship.”

Jean recalls a special memory from this time of courtship,

“I went to the dentist to have my teeth checked. I was there only a short time when the dentist’s phone rang. Mortie, my dentist, brought the phone over to me. Hayes was on the phone, playing his violin. The piece he played to me was, “I Dream Of Jeanie With The Light Brown Hair.” When I was finished at the dentist, he took me home.”

Jean wrote in her autobiography,

“The twenty-seventh, after prayer meeting, he walked me home and said he wanted to have a serious talk with me. We were sitting on the porch glider. My parents were gone for the evening so we could talk freely. He asked me to marry him, but he also asked would I be willing to go anywhere that the Lord would lead us, even if it meant going to the mission field. I said I would… I have never regretted that I said yes.”

They enjoyed and cherished every moment together knowing Jean would soon have to return to her nursing training. Jean’s autobiography says,

“We had so much to say in such a short time. We now had to start planning how long we would wait before we got married. He had one more year of college and then three more years of seminary. I had almost a year of nurses’ training left to get my R.N. We knew though that the Lord would guide us in all of our plans for the future.”

Jean graduated from Reading Hospital School of Nursing in February, 1941, and began working full time in an Obstetrical Supervisor position at Reading Hospital. Hayes graduated from Houghton College in June, 1941. In the fall of 1941, Hayes started Seminary classes at Faith Seminary in Wilmington, Delaware.

They managed visits every other weekend with each other at their homes in Tamaqua, as well as Hayes visiting Jean in Reading where he would stay at the local Y.M.C.A. This required many hours of train and bus rides to see one another. They also wrote each other letters every day.

 Jean’s autobiography states,

“On the weekends that Hayes and I did not go home, he would phone me when I would get off duty on a Sunday evening. It cost fifty cents to make a long distance phone call from Wilmington to Reading. These were one half hour flat rate calls. His only problem was that the school did not serve a dinner on Sundays. He would have to go to a restaurant that was several blocks away from the Seminary. This place served a very good dinner for fifty cents. This was also the cost of the phone call. Hayes would use the money for the phone call instead of a filling meal. The result was that he would eat peanut butter and crackers with a glass of milk for his meal. Being in love causes people to do odd things.”

Jean wrote these memories recalling Hayes’ visits to see her in Reading,

“Hayes and I liked to take walks along the bank of the Creek. It made a nice place to hike and have a picnic, too. We would buy picnic foods at one of the small grocery stores on Penn Avenue, several blocks from the hospital. We did a lot of walking back in those days because we did not have a car. There were good bus routes, so you could get downtown easily.”

“Some evenings we would walk in the neighborhood of the hospital. We liked to look at the lighted livingrooms of these beautiful homes and talk about how we would someday have our own home. We invariably ended up on Penn Avenue at Moore’s Diner for hamburgers and coffee before we went back to the Nurses Hall until it was time for Hayes to head back to the Seminary.”

“There was a huge maple tree at the end of the hospital grounds. We claimed this tree as our “goodbye kissing tree.” I always got my good bye kiss here. I have a leaf from this tree in one of my albums. It means so very much to me. Hayes had a short twig from it that he had kept for years. Yes, we are very sentimental people! On our last trip to Reading we found out that they were cutting the tree down, as they were putting up an additional building for the hospital at this site. We took our final picture of it then.”

On one particular visit Jean wrote,

“Saturday December 6, 1941, Hayes had come from Seminary to spend the weekend with me when I got off duty. He was staying at the Y.M.C.A. hotel in Reading. We went out that evening for dinner and made plans for Sunday evening, when I would be off duty by six. The next day was Sunday, December 7, 1941… On my way back from the cafeteria at 5:00 P.M. I heard the radio broadcast stating that the Japanese had bombed Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. The United States was now in World War II. I hurried back to my department, gave my report and went to the Nurses’ Hall. I changed to regular clothes and met Hayes in the lobby. He had not heard the news. It was a shock to him. We did not know how this would affect our future, but we knew that the Lord had a purpose for our lives.”

Jean described in her autobiography how within just a month or two life changed so quickly. Because they were now living during war time, things were now being done differently, and it included everyone feeling the pinch from the lack of common supplies of home life. Tin cans were turned in to be recycled for use in the production of war machinery, empty aluminum tubes of toothpaste had to be turned in to be able to purchase another, there were no new cars, appliances, cameras, alarm clocks, etc. Coupons were needed to buy gasoline, apartments were hard to find, and black-out curtains required in windows. Coupons were needed to buy shoes; each person in a family was allotted a certain number of shoes they could buy in a year. Jean wrote,

“Next came ration stamps for food. You were issued books for each one of the family. Some coupons were for meat, some for canned goods, and some for coffee, some for dairy products, some for sugar. There were also blue and red tokens which they gave you if you did not use the total points of a coupon. When you made out your store list it was wise to figure out your coupons and tokens.”

Both Jean and her father were licensed air raid wardens. Jean was trained at her hospital in air raid skills and the hospital was equipped with blackout window shades so no light could be seen from the outside after dark. Different teams had to go outside every night after dark and wardens could fine anyone who did not cooperate in this wartime safety measure.

Jean continues in her autobiography,

“The year 1942 had now arrived! The United States was now in the midst of World War II. Things were not going so well in the War. We were not only at war with Japan, but Germany declared war with us, too. Young men were being inducted into the armed services in huge numbers throughout our country. Many passenger ships were turned into troop carriers. These transported men to many parts of the world, along with munitions and supplies. Two of these ships were the S.S. Britannic and her sister ship the S.S. Georgic. I had traveled on the Britannic and the Georgic to and from England when my mother and I went there in 1932. Both of these vessels were sunk there in the Atlantic Ocean, killing many servicemen from our country. German submarines sank them.”

Jean goes on to say in her auto biography,

“In January of 1942, I received a notice from the United States Army Nurses Corps offering me a commission of a first lieutenant in the Army Nurses Corps. At that time you were offered the choice of accepting or rejecting the offer. I turned it down for two reasons: Hayes did not want me to join the military and the hospital did not want me to give up my job as Obstetrical Supervisor. I never regretted the choice which I made. Right after this decision, Hayes and I decided we would get married in June of that year.”

Hayes and Jean looked forward with great anticipation to their wedding day set for June 20, 1942 and committed their every need surrounding their upcoming marriage to the Lord in prayer. Jean wrote,

“When school closed for the summer months at Faith Seminary, Hayes and I had a wonderful double answer to prayer. He was asked to take over a student pastorate in Aberdeen, Maryland. It was just outside the Aberdeen Proving Grounds Army Base. The church group met on Sundays in the home of the Bradford sisters. These people had come out of a Methodist Church and had established a faith work to minister to the soldiers from the army base. Faith Seminary provided them with a student pastor. The distance from Wilmington, Delaware was an hour’s ride by train to Aberdeen, Maryland. Fortunately, the train station was just several blocks from the seminary.”

Hayes wrote of this in a letter to Jean,

“I am looking forward to beginning the work at Aberdeen. It will be much different than simply preaching a sermon every Sunday. It means working among the people, being a pastor, a shepherd to them. We can only be this to these dear people as our hearts and hands are one with our Lord Jesus The Great Shepherd … God bless you and keep you my Beloved – I love you my precious Jean. My prayer for you Dear – Numbers 6:24-26.  I am your Hayes forever in Christ ~ Philippians 1:20,21.”

Jean continued,

“The second answer to prayer was being hired for the summer months until September. He worked the 3 P.M. until 11 P.M. shift, Monday through Friday, every week at the Electric Hose and Rubber Company, making auxiliary hoses for refueling airplanes, while they were in flight. We were so grateful for the supplying of this work.” … “Faith Seminary would not permit the students to work at any type of job during the school year other than pastoral work. This made it so important to get good paying jobs during the summer months, June through August each year.”  

With God going before them and making all the crooked places straight, Hayes and Jean’s wedding day arrived. Jean wrote in her autobiography,

“Hayes did not get off work until eleven P.M. As soon as work was over, one of his seminary buddies drove him to the train station to catch the train to Philadelphia. He had bought his ticket the day before so he did not have to stand in line to get one. He arrived at the Philadelphia station just in time to run through the center of Market Square to the Jersey Central Railway where he hopped on board just before it pulled out of the station. He arrived in Tamaqua at four A.M. on Saturday, our wedding day.”  

Hayes and Jean’s Marriage

On June 20, 1942, Hayes and Jean’s families gathered together in the Livingstone home in Tamaqua, Pennsylvania, to witness the lovely nurse, Dorothy Jean Livingstone, and the Seminary student, Hayes K. Minnick, unite in the bonds of Holy Matrimony, pledging their love one to another and surpassed only by their love for the Lord and their desire to faithfully serve Him. Rev. Cooper from Bethany Evangelical Church officiated their 2:00 P.M. wedding ceremony which was followed by a lovingly made, full course wedding dinner served in the home.

By 5:00 P.M. they were on a bus headed to Allentown to catch a train to Philadelphia where they would catch yet another train to Wilmington, Delaware. There they caught a taxi to their lovely living quarters on the second floor of the Seminary where they would stay for the summer months before school would open up again in September. The following morning, they were in attendance at the Seminary church service and then promptly left for the railway station for Hayes to preach at the Aberdeen, Maryland church. They returned late that night by train. Hayes was at work the very next day for his 3:00 to 11:00 P.M. shift. There was no honeymoon for Hayes and Jean; however, they would say throughout the years they were on a continual honeymoon rejoicing in the wonderful life of service to the Lord that God gave them together.

Their married life was a busy life. Hayes attended Seminary classes and pastored the Aberdeen, Maryland church group which meant a long train trip every Sunday where he preached both Sunday morning and evening services. Jean worked as a nurse in the local hospital and attended the prayer meetings and classes for the young Seminary wives held specifically for the purpose of preparing them for the ministry. Jean wrote about this and the ladies who taught these young Seminary wives,

“She taught us many things at these sessions. We owed a lot to her for helping us prepare for the ministry…These classes were a wonderful help to me. There was so much to learn about being a proper pastor’s wife and how to handle all types of situations. It is a completely different way of life. I do not regret being a pastor’s wife.”

Jean made it a point to give an explanation in her autobiography as to why she and Hayes decided she should work at the hospital after they were first married, knowing their Scriptural position on women working outside the home after marriage. She wrote,

“During World War II, there were not enough registered nurses to take care of all the patients at all of the city hospitals. Memorial Hospital and Delaware Hospital asked the Seminary if any of the students who were married and did not have children would consider letting their wives, who were registered nurses, fill some of the vacancies on a part time basis. There were four of us available at this time. Since the war was taking a toll on the number of registered nurses to fill in the gaps, we felt it was our patriotic duty to meet this need.”

When the school year started in September of 1942, Hayes and Jean were able to rent a third floor apartment just two blocks from the Seminary. Jean wrote these memories about this,

“…we were able to get into one of the Seminary apartments on Eighth Street, just two blocks from the Seminary. They owned a whole block of old fashioned houses for married students to rent; these were three storied unfurnished. They were not air conditioned, and in the winter were heated by a coal furnace in the basement. To cool the place in the summer we used electric fans in each room. We had a livingroom, bedroom, kitchen, and our own bathroom. The tenants on first and second floor had to share a bathroom. We were glad for a third floor apartment. We did not have an electric refrigerator. We had an ice box. This necessitated having ice delivered to our apartment daily…. The reason we did not have an electric one was: during World War II they did not manufacture any.”

“I finally found a treadle sewing machine in a used furniture store downtown for $14.00, plus a one dollar delivery fee. No electric sewing machines were being made during World War II. I taught myself to sew on this relic. It made good stitches, for which I was glad. Now I could machine sew instead of hand sewing the mending. I made curtains and drapes for the windows. Ready made ones were far too expensive to buy. I made a lot of things out of feed bags. The farmers would sell them for ten cents per bag. They were always opened, washed, and ironed. Most of them were floral prints or striped. Each bag measured 45 inches square or 60 inches square. They were made of a good strong cotton. Because they did not have too many different prints, it was easy to acquire enough yardage to make many things.”  

She goes on to describe the various basic and modest furnishings they were able to acquire for their apartment. They deeply appreciated everything the Lord blessed them with and were good stewards throughout the years of His every provision for them, even enjoying some of those very same provisions all the days of their earthly journey. She concludes the description of their new apartment home with,

“I forgot to mention that Hayes used a card table for a study desk, with a bookcase made from an old piano lid… Hayes used a folding chair for a desk chair… He studied in the livingroom… Since it was war time, we had to get black out window shades. This enabled us to have the livingroom light on after dark.”

And that old card table is still in existence today, a reminder of humble beginnings where the Holy Spirit poured out many a message into the heart of Hayes Minnick as he sought to serve the Lord in his God ordained and God given ministry.

Jean continues her memories,

When Hayes’ Birthday came in October of 1942, it was Jean’s desire to get her new husband a very special and memorable birthday gift. It would be his first birthday gift from her in their newly married life of just four months. She had faithfully and frugally saved a little money from her nursing position at Reading Hospital, and her heart was set to use it to purchase this gift with the hope that it would serve him well all their married days. She knew of Hayes’ love for the violin, and that he had learned to play the violin as a child.  Her autobiography tells the story,

“For Hayes’ birthday, October 29, 1942, I was able to purchase a violin to replace his old one. His old one had gotten to the point where its tone was not good. I found a music store downtown which sold new and used instruments. I had prayed that the Lord would lead me to a place that could be trusted to sell me the right violin. The owner was an elderly man who was an accomplished musician. He also repaired many types of musical instruments. It was a very plain shop on a side street downtown. The shopkeeper showed me several violins that were new, plus some used ones. He played each one that he showed me. I spotted this one that was in excellent condition. After asking him to play it for me, I asked if it was for sale and what its price would be. He had already given me the prices of the others. The new ones were very high in price. He quoted the price for the last one, $100.00. I looked at all of the others again and had him play each one once more, including the used one. Not till then did I tell him I would purchase the used one. I also bought a new case for it, for $5.00.” Hayes was “so delighted when I gave him his birthday gift.”

Hayes treasured this thoughtful gift and it received much use and tender care over the many years of their marriage. This violin would be of special significance to Hayes, not only at the beginning of his marriage to his precious Jean, but also at the end of his earthly journey in the years to come as Jean’s memories will reveal.

Since Hayes and Jean still did not own a car, their method of commuting was mostly by trains and buses, as well as walking. Hayes walked the streets of Wilmington, going house to house, knocking on doors, praying for opportunities to tell the residents of God’s free gift of Salvation for their souls. Hayes and Jean were still commuting by train to the student pastorate church group in Aberdeen, Maryland every Sunday. Jean talks about this in her autobiography,

“Most Sundays we rode the troop trains. A lot of them were converted box cars, with seats added. It became a very good opportunity to witness to troops being sent to Aberdeen Proving Ground Base and Bainbridge Naval Base and also Dahlgren Munitions Base. So many of these young men were being sent overseas directly from these bases on the East Coast. Their hearts were tender and knowing they were possibly not going to return from the war, made them think of eternity. Hayes reached many of them for salvation of their souls. Those who did know the Lord were eager to have the Word of God shared with them and have someone pray for them. Within several weeks we had quite a few come for services … some even made it to our apartment in Wilmington on weekday passes.”

Still speaking of the ministry in Aberdeen, Jean wrote these memories,

“There were some Sundays that Hayes would have to ride the train to Aberdeen without me. The reason for this is that sometimes we had only enough money to buy one train ticket, instead of two. On such occasions I would attend Dr. Laird’s church for the morning session and then the evening one. I would get home before Hayes came home. This did not happen too many times, for which we were glad.”

“We would be there all day for the morning and evening services. Most Sundays we were invited to some of the members’ homes for dinner. Other times they would give us money to eat at a local restaurant there. One Sunday, after the morning service, we were not invited out to eat. We had only fifty cents in cash. We talked it over with each other as to what we could get to eat with that small amount. We decided to get a toasted cheese sandwich and two glasses of milk. We could each have a half a sandwich and a glass of milk. As we walked down the street, Miss Elizabeth Bradford called us back to the house. She said she had forgotten to give us two dollars that one of the people in church had given her for our dinner at the restaurant. The result was that both of us were able to get a good dinner. See how the Lord meets needs when we are willing to do without things. This was just the beginning of many episodes of needs supplied in the nick of time. True, there were times when the need was not met in the same way, but these times made us be more thankful for the times when needs were met beyond our greatest thought. We have a marvelous God who never sells us short. Testings come but afterwards comes peace.”

On May 7, 1943, Hayes Minnick was ordained to the Gospel Ministry in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania at the Church of the Open Door. The ordination exams took place in the morning and afternoon. The ordaining board consisted of ten pastors and professors from Faith Seminary. The ordination message was given and then the ordaining board placed their hands on Hayes and gave him the charge of ordination. Then Jean was called to the front of the church to be dedicated to service with her husband for the work of the Lord Jesus Christ. Both Hayes and Jean’s parents were in attendance at this special occasion.

Jean goes on to write,

“School closed for the summer at Faith Seminary the following week after Hayes’ ordination. The last week in May, 1943, he began his job for the summer months at the shipyards, first at Bethlehem Steel Shipyard. He was a shipfitter’s helper. They were building LST landing craft. Hayes knew nothing about this kind of work, but the fellow he worked for guided him at it. At the end of the month, they were transferred to Dravo Shipyard. Now Hayes became a measurer of welding. They measured all of the rewelds of the welders. This time they were building destroyer escort ships. He was at this job until school went back into session. He worked Monday through Friday 3:00 P.M. to 11:00 P.M. Saturdays were spent catching up on sleep and then preparing for Sunday’s services.”

Fall session at Faith Seminary began in September of 1943. Hayes and Jean welcomed the birth of their first child in October of 1943. Hayes was still serving as student pastor at the Aberdeen Church every Sunday preaching at both morning and evening services. Each Sunday morning, they would get up early so they could catch the morning train, and Hayes was still witnessing to the troops as they made these trips to and from Aberdeen.

Jean continues,

“May 19, 1944, was the date of Hayes’ graduation from Faith Seminary… and held at First Independent Church, Wilmington Delaware. The graduates received a Bachelor of Theology Degree upon graduating from a grueling three years of study, … They all now had seven years of Greek and four years of Hebrew languages, plus intensive years of Bible study and memorization. They all had many studies in church doctrine as well as church history. These men were all full-fledged ordained pastors. They all had been trained as pastors and most of them were already to go to the churches to which they had received formal calls, or were to be joining overseas missionary work.” Hayes had now “completed all of his formal education to become an ordained, licensed pastor. He had a Bachelor of Arts from Houghton College, plus a Bachelor of Religious Education from Houghton College where he studied for four years to obtain these degrees. He now completed his Seminary education of three years and received his Bachelor of Theology from Faith Theological Seminary. He had been ordained the year before.”

The Early Years of Ministry

In the summer of 1944, Hayes became pastor of Faith Bible Church in Vineland, New Jersey. Jean’s writings share beautiful memories of this lovely group of believers who met in the Veterans of Foreign Wars building for their Sunday services and their Thursday night prayer meeting. One of the elderly men had been a missionary for many years to Africa, and another elderly man in the church was T.O. Chisolm who wrote the hymn, “Great Is Thy Faithfulness.”

Their home was an apartment out on a country road. Two ladies from the church lived in the upstairs apartment and Hayes and Jean lived in the downstairs apartment. Jean wrote about how kind the people were to them and shared fruit, vegetables, and eggs with them from their farms. As for being surrounded by farms, Jean humorously wrote,

“One farm on our left raised chickens and one on right had goats. Depending on which way the wind blew you could smell goats or you could smell the chicken yard.”

Since they lived in the country, they needed a car. Jean recalls,

“The church was able to find us an old car to get into town for our church services and shopping. It was a 1930 four door sedan. It was a Chevrolet. The roof leaked, so I bought a large can of house roofing asphalt in at Sears and gave the roof a heavy coating of it just like you would patch a house roof. It never leaked after that. I also had to make slipcovers for the seats.”

Hayes and Jean were so thankful to the Lord for the provision of the car and carefully planned out trips into town so as to conserve gasoline. Hayes would drop off Jean, their daughter, and the two ladies who lived upstairs, in town to do the weekly shopping while he made pastoral calls, and then return to pick them up when he was finished,  thus conserving the gas because it was still being rationed during war time.

Hayes and Jean were only there for a year and then went back to Tamaqua at which time Hayes applied for Navy Chaplaincy. Jean wrote,

“He had to go to Philadelphia to apply. Everything went fine until the Navy doctor saw that Hayes chewed his fingernails. The Navy doctor said that they did not accept pastors for the chaplaincy if they chewed their nails, because it might cause the troops to worry. They might think that the chaplain must be worrying if he chews his nails. He gave Hayes two weeks to grow nails and come back to him to show that he no longer chewed his nails. Hayes complied with this order and was accepted into the Navy Chaplaincy Corps. His commission did not come through until two weeks after the Japanese surrendered, thus ending the war.”

Shortly thereafter, Hayes received the call to become the pastor at Saint Paul’s Protestant Church in White Plains, New York. Hayes ministered at this independent Bible Church from 1945 – 1948. The church was located just a block and a half from the church parsonage so they did not need a car. Hayes held the Sunday and mid-week services and Bible Study, as well as his door to door witnessing ministry.

During this pastorate, in May of 1946, Hayes and Jean welcomed the birth of their second child. They were now a family of four.

They enjoyed serving the Lord with this group of people and formed life long bonds with many of them. Jean wrote,

“… Hayes had gotten the White Plains church settled with its new constitution and had the work going on well. It was time for us to move on. We were approached by the Mission Board of the Bible Protestant Church Board to join them. The White Plains Church was a member of this group. We were invited to a missionary conference at Harvey Cedars, New Jersey, located on the Atlantic Coast. They needed a couple to go to the Philippine Islands to start a Seminary to train native preachers and a registered nurse to train female nurses. We lived with Hayes’ family while we were associated with the mission board.”

Hayes and Jean traveled every weekend with the President of the Board speaking at churches in different states throughout the northeast region. The churches were not able to generate the entire amount of funds necessary for this Mission Board to accomplish this work and so it became necessary for Hayes and Jean to leave that mission.

 Hayes and Jean moved back to Tamaqua. Hayes spent much time with speaking engagements in many church conferences in the area surrounding Tamaqua. He also traveled to candidate for several churches in need of a full-time pastor in Salina, Kansas; Chardon, Ohio; and Evanston, Illinois. Shortly thereafter, Hayes received a call to candidate at a church in Mt. Carmel, Illinois. He preached there for two weeks and they asked him to accept the pastorate, and after prayerful consideration Hayes accepted it. Jean wrote,

 “All of our furniture was in storage at one of the piers in New York City. It was all crated for overseas shipping. Since we were not going overseas, it was already to be shipped by freight to Mt. Carmel, Illinois.”

Hayes and Jean were frugal and resourceful, and always thankful to the Lord for every provision, great or small. As Hayes’ pastoral library expanded, so did his need for shelving to accommodate it. Jean recalled this wonderful memory of how God supplied a need when their belongings arrived in Mt. Carmel,

“When the men uncrated our belongings, they were very careful how they did it. They were able to salvage most of the wood and Mr. Belcher and his son made shelves for Hayes to keep his books. Hayes varnished them and they were very sturdy and looked great. These were the shelves that he used up until we had the current study built.”

September of 1949 began the pastorate at Grace Memorial Church. Hayes preached the Sunday morning and evening services, and Wednesday Prayer services and Jean wrote,

“…We had Bible Study in the homes of quite a few of the families on a Thursday evening. It lasted one hour and then we had refreshments… either homemade pies or cakes. The teenagers met on Friday nights for Bible Study, games, and refreshments at our home.”

Hayes and Jean also welcomed the birth of their third child in January of 1951 during this pastorate. They were now a growing family of five. They were in great need of a car for transportation and were so very grateful to the Lord for supplying this need. Jean wrote,

“We bought a grey Dodge coupe, as we had no transportation and needed it badly. It was semi-automatic, with the gears on the steering wheel. We were very glad to have a car again. Hayes did not have to make pastoral calls on foot, plus we would shop once a week in town.”

They again made life long bonds with the wonderful people God placed in this congregation. Jean’s autobiography describes several of these relationships and how they remained in contact throughout their lives even though separated by distance. One of these life long friendships was a gentleman named Mr. Claude Tilton who Jean wrote about,

“We also got to know the owner of the pharmacy where we traded. Mr. Claude Tilton and Hayes became chess buddies. One night they were playing chess after the shop was closed. When the local police made their usual store check, they saw a light burning in the office. After they opened the door, they discovered Hayes and Claude playing chess. They had a big laugh over it. Mr. Tilton played chess by mail for quite a few years after we moved to Florida.”

Hayes helped the people of the congregation develop and write their constitution, and during this process it became apparent that “several of the board members were not in agreement with the church standards and started to rebel. After much prayer, Hayes felt it would be best to resign as the pastor… we left them August 29, 1951.”

The Orlando Bible Church Ministry Years

Isaiah 45:2(a) “I will go before thee, and make the crooked places straight…” and just as God promises in His Holy Word, He went before Hayes and Jean in yet another obedient move, as they followed the leading of the Holy Spirit in their lives. Jean’s writings state,

“We arrived in Tamaqua, Pennsylvania on August 30, 1951 from Mount Carmel, Illinois. Hayes had just resigned from Grace Memorial Church in Mount Carmel, Illinois two days before. We were only twenty-four hours at home with his parents when we received a phone call from a Mr. Ben Vissor, in Orlando, Florida. An independent church that was just starting was looking for a pastor. They had heard about Hayes and invited him to candidate there.”

Hayes left by train to Orlando, Florida and preached two weeks for this small group who were desiring to start a church. Hayes preached at these services: September 9, 1951, A.M. Service, “The Unparalleled Sorrow of the Saviour” (Lamentations 1:12) and P.M. Service, “Can You Tell Me The Way To Heaven?” (John 14:6). He also preached September 16, 1951, A.M. Service, “The Ministry Of Personal Evangelism” (Acts 8:26-40) and P.M. Service, “Seven Ducks In Muddy Waters” (II Kings 5:1-14). After the first week, the group offered Hayes the pastorate, and after prayerful consideration, Hayes accepted. (Hayes was this group’s very first pastor; there was no other pastor before him as the current Orlando Bible Church website history incorrectly states.) Hayes returned by train to Tamaqua to gather his family and move them to Orlando, Florida. They made the trip by car and had their furniture shipped to the home that the church group had designated to be the parsonage. They left Tamaqua early on a Thursday morning and arrived at the Vissor’s home the following Saturday morning. The Vissors had them follow them to the parsonage where, as Jean wrote,

“We had a great surprise when we went in the front door. All of our furniture was there and it was arranged beautifully. Our curtains were up. The refrigerator was fully stocked with food, plus the cupboards were stocked. It amazed us that the women of the church even had the doilies on the end tables and our bed was made.” The children’s beds were set up and made as well. “The dining room table was set for dinner. There were all kinds of ready cooked foods and snacks for several days’ meals in the refrigerator. The freezer had a big supply of food, too.”

The church group was meeting in an old-fashioned two-story home located on Orange Avenue, at Lake Lucerne. The church services were held on the first floor and the second-floor rooms were used for Sunday School rooms. Jean wrote,

“The day after we arrived Hayes preached at both services. We got to know the small congregation in a very short time.” Jean’s writings continue, “In the providence of God, the Orlando Bible Church was organized in January of 1952. As an infant church we had our share of trials and tribulations. Through those times of trials of testing we have learned by experience that we can trust Him, and that He never fails. He is everlastingly faithful.” Jean continues, “It became necessary for us to sever our relationship from the man who got us to come to Orlando when he wanted to sell the Lucerne property and build a large church on Lake Barton Road. He wanted the small church to take on a large debt for this property. The little church group did not want to go along with this.”

In September, 1952, the small Orlando Bible Church group moved to property on East Colonial Drive which had an old wooden chapel built on it for use in Bible Conferences. It was called The Chapel In The Pines. The Orlando Bible Church group was thrilled to be able to hold their services there. Jean’s writings state,

“This was owned by Rev. William Young; he used it as a winter Bible Conference. Our total membership was eighteen at that time. We shall always be grateful to the Lord for the tremendous inspiration he and his wife were as they encouraged us to buy their property, since they were going on to another work. The price was $9,850. Mr. and Mrs. C. H. Dentler of Deland, Florida held the mortgage interest free to us. It was set up for ten years but within five years it was paid off.”

In Hayes Minnick’s Pastor’s Report, 1989-1990, he describes this early time period,

“There is a parallel between the conquest of Canaan and the ministry to which we were divinely appointed in the city of Orlando four decades ago… As in the conquest of Canaan, the Jordan had to be crossed, the very first year of its existence was a veritable Jordan experience. The crossing of Jordan is symbolic of death to the self-life through judicial identification with the Son of God in His death, burial, and resurrection. It is a humbling experience indeed. Within that first year, my darling wife was in the hospital three times; in a matter of six months the infant congregation was split in two and there were those in the remaining number who thought that we would not be able to continue; we were forced to look for a new location, and several months later, at the end of a full year, half of the church board resigned and walked out. Several years later my friend, Bill Young, reminded me of the day we met and he had asked me how things were going with the church. I let out with a hearty laugh and said: “Just fine, Bill, half of the council resigned and walked out last night!” Bill never forgot that moment and told me of the blessing that came to his own heart when he found that the old Devil had not been able to wipe the smile from off my face… That was October in 1952. Humanly speaking, it was a dark and dismal hour as we entered upon our second year of ministry in Orlando. Who at that point and time would have ever dreamed that thirty-nine years later the testimony would still be in existence? But the passage of Jordan had been successfully made. We had been reduced to absolute impotence in order that the God of all mercy and grace might manifest his divine omnipotence. If the testimony be in existence four decades later, it must be evident to all that it is only because of the sustaining grace and power of Almighty God – in spite of both pastor and people.”

Hayes and Jean welcomed the birth of their fourth child in October of 1952. They were now a family of six. While they were thankful for the use of the parsonage homes, they believed it was their responsibility to purchase their own home, and did so in March of 1953 with much gratitude to the Lord for this wonderful provision. Hayes’ personal pastoral office was located in their new home. This home was dedicated to the use and honor and glory of the Lord as Hayes and Jean faithfully served Him. This home would be the home they would both finish their earthly journeys in when they graduated into Glory in the later years to come.

Returning back to the timeline of early years in Orlando, Florida, Jean’s writings go on to describe the building of the concrete church in the later years of 1950, on the front of the property where The Chapel In The Pines building stood. Her writings state,

“Plans were carefully made to construct a building. This old building was made of wood and was hot in the summer and cold in the winter, but we were grateful for having had the use of it. With only fifteen dollars and some cents in the building fund as of January 1958, the Lord provided the new concrete block building at a cost of $37,460.79. Sacrificial gifts from the Lord’s people, $5,452.44. A loan of $35,000 was secured from Orlando Federal Savings and Loan at six percent interest, through monthly payments of $266.00. A word of tribute should be given to Mr. G. C. Benefield whose workmanship and splendid supervision made possible the construction of the new church building. He worked, giving freely of his time, without a guarantee of any set amount. The amount he received was little indeed compared with the wonderful work he did. Many of the men gave freely of their time, too. As the work grew additional space had to be provided. The Lord met the building costs in these endeavors, too. Over the years, side rooms were added to the building to meet the needs of growth.”

The Dedication Service for the new concrete church building was held on October 25, 1959. Dr Harold Laird was the guest speaker. Dr. Laird was a dear longtime friend of the Minnick family, a frequent teacher at the Coaldale Bible Conference near Hayes and Jean’s hometown of Tamaqua, Pennsylvania, and would stay with the Minnick family during the Conferences. He was also one of Hayes’ professors at Faith Theological Seminary, and on the Ordaining Council at Hayes’ Ordination in 1943. These Scriptures were taken from the Bulletin of the Dedication Service: “That in all things He (Christ) might have the preeminence!” (Colossians 1:18). “The Lord hath done great things for us; whereof we are glad.” (Psalm 126:3).  Also, in the bulletin Hayes states,

“Today as we dedicate this lovely church auditorium to the Lord, we would humbly and wholeheartedly rededicate ourselves to the purpose for which this church exists. That purpose is to glorify God through the uncompromising proclamation of the Gospel of His saving grace through faith in the shed blood of Jesus Christ; the salvation of sinners; the edification of saints; the maintenance of a separated testimony, true to the Word of God, with a world-wide missionary emphasis… “This is the day which the Lord hath made; we will rejoice and be glad in it!” (Psalm 118:24) May the God of all grace fill us with His Holy Spirit and keep us true to our blessed Lord Jesus Christ and His precious Word until He come!”

Jeans’ writings continue,

“Times were not always easy. There were battles to be fought because of apostasy rearing its ugly head. Hayes started his writing ministry exposing apostasy and compromise. He was faithful in his stand and was able to help many to see the dangers that were arising. Over the years the church had a radio ministry over several different local stations. This gave opening for a tape ministry as folks wrote in asking for copies. Both this and the printed ministry went to many places throughout the world. It was all done without charging anything for the tapes, printing, and mailing. Only the Lord in His wonderful ways supplied the needs.”

The ministry in Orlando continued over the years and in an excerpt from Hayes Minnick’s Pastor’s Report, 1974-1975, Hayes states,

“Well do I remember the ill-advised statement of a fellow-I.F.C.A. pastor twenty-four years ago, shortly after we had come to Orlando. He said, “You will never be able to build an independent Bible church with a separated testimony here in the South.” Coming from a much older man with a great deal more experience, the word spoken was surely not designed of the Devil to be a source of encouragement to a young pastor. My answer, at that time, was a very simple answer: “You are right, my dear brother, I can’t; but God can!” “Is anything too hard for the Lord?” (Genesis 18:14) “Behold, I am the Lord, the God of all flesh: is there anything too hard for me?” (Jeremiah 32:27) “For with God nothing shall be impossible.” (Luke 1:37) God alone knows the heartaches and the heart-breaks that have been experienced along the way; God alone knows the severity of the testings and the trials through which this local testimony was called upon to pass; He alone knows the times without number when faith was tempted to falter and turn back. But when you have the call of God upon your soul; when you have the constraint of the Holy Spirit upon your heart; when you have the authority of God’s own holy Word to discipline your mind, there is only one direction in which you can go – straight ahead with God! Through twenty-four years God has sustained this local fellowship and testimony for His own eternal glory, and has thus demonstrated His infinite grace and everlasting faithfulness. With our hand in His, we enter our twenty-fifth year of worship and witness with complete confidence and absolute assurance. “For the Lord God will help (us); therefore shall (we) not be confounded; therefore have (we) set (our faces) like a flint, and (we) know that (we) shall not be ashamed.” (Isaiah 50:7)”

In Hayes Minnick’s Pastor’s Report, 1975-1976, he wrote,

“And thou shalt remember all the way which the Lord thy God led thee these (twenty-five) years in the wilderness…” (Deuteronomy 8:2) We have changed the word “forty” as it appears in the Scriptures with reference to the nation of Israel, to twenty-five, in order that we might make an application of this tremendous text to our own local church fellowship. As the book of Deuteronomy is a veritable memoranda of memories, a Divinely inspired record of the recollections of a pilgrim people, we do well to heed this timely exhortation, for we too are a pilgrim people. This world is for us as children of God a veritable wilderness; we are strangers and pilgrims on the earth – Heaven is our home! Through more than a quarter of a century we have prayed, and prayed earnestly, “Guide us, O Thou great Jehovah, pilgrims through this barren land; we are weak, but Thou art mighty; hold us with thy powerful hand; Bread of Heaven, Bread of Heaven, feed us till we want no more! Open now the crystal fountain, whence the healing waters flow; let the fire and cloudy pillar lead us all our journey through; strong Deliverer, strong Deliverer, be Thou still our strength and shield!” The wilderness way is a wonderful way when we are walking with our wonderful Lord in it. Manifold mercies by the multitude literally flood the fullest measure of the mind and magnitude of memory as we ponder the past. “…thou shalt remember all the way which the Lord thy God led thee…!” “Twenty-five years ago, God Almighty, in His sovereign providence, brought together a band of born-again, blood washed believers for the express purpose of maintaining a faithful witness “for the Word of God, and for the testimony of Jesus Christ (Revelation 1:9),” entertaining no compromise of any kind with sin, unbelief, or apostasy in any form. This by the grace of God is the mission we have sought to faithfully fulfill, proclaiming the Word of God in all of its purity and power, striving to exalt and honor the Lord Jesus Christ as the only Saviour for sinners, in order that saints may be edified and that precious souls, lost souls, perishing souls, might be brought to a genuine saving knowledge of the crucified, risen, living Son of God.”

Taken from Hayes Minnick’s Pastoral Report, 1976 -1977, Hayes states,

“There failed not ought of any good thing which the Lord had spoken unto the house of Israel; all came to pass.” (Joshua 21:45). Such is the Divinely inspired commentary upon the utter integrity and everlasting faithfulness of God… What was true of Israel many centuries ago, is true of us today as a local fellowship and testimony. We have proven the promises of God and found Him faithful, even as they. How could it be otherwise with the God of the Bible? “God is not a man, that He should lie; neither the son of man, that He should repent: hath He said, and shall He not do it? Or hath He spoken, and shall He not make it good?” (Numbers 23:19). Can Almighty God establish and maintain a sound separated Bible testimony, completely free from entangling alliances with apostate ecclesiasticism and totally independent of all denominational ties? Yes, praise His Name, He can, for we have proven His promise to be true in the preservation of a faithful witness “for the Word of God, and for the testimony of Jesus Christ” (Revelation 1:9) through the past twenty-six years. We have experienced the fulfillment of His gracious promise in obedience to the all-authoritative command of His holy Word, “… come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you, and will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty.” (II Corinthians 6:17-18). And a faithful Father He has been to us through all these years! “God is faithful, by whom ye were called unto the fellowship of His Son Jesus Christ our Lord” (I Corinthians 1:9).” Hayes Minnick continues, “We are a people who live by the Word of God. We have proven the exceeding great and precious promises of the Bible to be trustworthy. When it was wisdom for the way that we needed, and, like Moses of old, cried from the very depths of our being, Lord, “shew me now Thy way” (Exodus 33:13), the guarantee of guidance came to us through Psalm 32:8, “ I will instruct thee and teach thee in the way which thou shalt go: I will guide thee with mine eye.” When the way before us seemed to be a tangled maze, and we cried out with the Psalmist “make they way straight before my face” (Psalm 5:8), we heard Him answer in Isaiah 45:2, “I will go before thee, and make the crooked places straight” (Isaiah 45:2). When mountain-like problems confronted us – and there have been many through the course of twenty-six years – we turned to the impossible and heard Him speak to us through Jeremiah 32:27, “Behold, I am the Lord, the God of all flesh: is there anything too hard for me?” The answer to that question is, of course, no. “For with God, nothing shall be impossible.” (Luke 1:37) And we have proven His Word to be true. We have seen veritable mountains dissolve in His Presence, as we remembered the encouragement given to the returned remnant from Babylon in a far off day, “Who art thou, O great mountain? Before Zerubbabel thou shalt become a plain” (Zechariah 4:7). Hayes Minnick continues, “We are a people who live by the Word of God, and we have proven the precious promises of this blessed book, the Bible, to be trustworthy. When in wrestling with the hosts of hell, we have found ourselves well nigh overwhelmed, we have been sustained through the glorious guarantee of Isaiah 59:19, “When the enemy shall come in like a flood, the Spirit of the Lord shall lift up a standard against him.” When called upon to pass through watery floods and fiery trials, we have experienced the comfort and consolation of Isaiah 43:1-3, “Fear not: for I have redeemed thee, I have called thee by thy name; thou art mine. When thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow thee: when thou walkest through the fire, thou shalt not be burned; neither shall the flame kindle upon thee. For I am the Lord thy God, the Holy One of Israel, Thy Saviour.”

When Hayes spoke those words in his Pastor’s Report, little did he realize that the following year they would be called upon to walk through a literal fiery trial, and not just once, but twice. Jean’s writings continue,

“There was the severe test that Satan tried to stop the testimony of the church in October, 1978. The church was burned out by an arsonist. Then in March, 1979, the arsonist returned and burned out the church a second time. This second fire was more devastating than the first. The building had been completely redone and we were within weeks of moving back in for services when he struck again.”

This excerpt was taken from Hayes Minnick’s Pastoral Report, 1978-79, in which he referred to the arson fires and stated,

“Now thanks be unto God, which always causeth us to triumph in Christ, and maketh manifest the savour of his knowledge by us in every place!” It is fitting that we take this victory from the inspired pen of Paul and make it our own personal testimony as a church family. The year through which we have just passed has been, without a doubt, one of the most unusual in the history of this local testimony. Encompassed about by circumstances most assuredly beyond our control, confronted with a multiplicity of problems perplexing to say the least, in the midst of varying vicissitudes which would humanly tend to discouragement and despair, deprived of the use of our own church building for the better part of nine months as the result of two fires, we can testify to the fact that our God brought us through every crisis unscathed and in total triumph.” … “From the very first moment in which we learned that the church was burning, we had the absolute assurance and complete confidence that our God would guide us victoriously through such a crisis for the simple reason that total triumph is guaranteed to us in Jesus Christ.” … “Our victory is a foregone conclusion. It is guaranteed in Christ. The old Devil thought he would have us on the run; instead, it is he who has been put to rout. Through the events of the past year the forces of hell have been literally put to shame as Christ, the mighty Conqueror, has led us in triumphal procession, demonstrating anew His total triumph over the absolute impotence of the hosts of hell. “Now thanks be unto God, which always causeth us to triumph in Christ, and maketh manifest the savour of his knowledge by us in every place.” The word “savour” means “fragrance” and speaks of testimony. It is the sincere and earnest prayer of our hearts that the testimony of this local fellowship will have become more fully effective as a channel through which the fragrance of the knowledge of Christ is made manifest because of all that has transpired through the 28^th year of its existence. You, as I, have had multiplied opportunities to witness for our wonderful Lord that we would never have had otherwise. So thank God for the fires! “In everything give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.” (I Thessalonians 5:18) On the day after the second fire a news reporter called and asked: “Are your people discouraged?” I said: “What do you mean ‘discouraged’? We had a victory service yesterday.” She said, “What do you mean by ‘victory service’?” I said, “You know what defeat is, don’t you?” Yes, she thought she did. “Well,” I said, “victory is the opposite of defeat; every time the church burns we have another victory service!” … The fragrance of the knowledge of Christ! This beloved is the one and only reason, the one and only purpose of our existence as a local fellowship – that God might through us make manifest the fragrance of the knowledge of Christ in every place and in every circumstance. It thrilled my soul when, after the second fire, the verse of Scripture that appears over the door of the church was spread state-wide on the front page of the Sentinel Star – “For the Word of God, and for the testimony of Jesus Christ” (Revelation 1:9)! This is the stand we have taken for twenty-eight years, and this is the testimony which, by the grace and enablement of God, we shall strive to maintain with ever increasing effectiveness until Jesus comes!”

Unbeknown to most, during this time of uncertainty with the arsonist, Hayes and Jean also had to trust the Lord with the knowledge that the police confiscated a bicycle with a can of gasoline found hanging from it, hidden at their home in a tall hedge within a few yards of their front door. Only God knows the possible evil they were spared.

The arsonist did break into the church for a third time and managed to set a small fire in a Sunday School classroom in a wing of the church. On this occasion, the police were able to apprehend him and he was arrested. Satan was defeated and the fires served to strengthen the faith of the testimony in the Lord and in His sovereignty.

In Hayes Minnick’s Pastor’s Report, 1981-1982, Hayes stated,

“May God deliver us from ever being a people of feeble faith! Firmness of faith is determined by the foundation upon which faith rests. “How firm a foundation, ye saints of the Lord, is laid up for your faith in His excellent Word! What more can He say than to you He hath said, to you who for refuge to Jesus have fled?” “Faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God” (Romans 10:17). As an independent fundamental Bible testimony, we joyfully reaffirm our faith in the full authority of the Holy Scriptures as the inspired, inerrant, and therefore immutable Word of the living God… In the words with which Jehoshaphat challenged the nation of Judah centuries ago, even so I challenge every member of our precious church family: “Believe in the Lord your God, so shall ye be established: believe His prophets (i.e., believe His Word), so shall ye prosper” (II Chronicles 20:20). The alternative is also true, “If ye will not believe, surely ye shall not be established” (Isaiah 7:9).”

Hayes goes on to say,

“A man is never so tall as when he kneels before God; never more dependable than when he depends upon God; never so strong as when he draws upon God’s strength; never so wise as when in his lack of wisdom, he seeks Divine guidance. Truly the man who most relies on God will be the most reliable man. Firmness of faith will, in turn, produce within us a forthright faith. We will not be ashamed to let people know where we stand… The most despicable people on the face of the earth are those who in time of moral and spiritual crisis maintain neutrality. Let us never be hesitant in taking a solid stand for truth against error, for right against wrong, for good as opposed to evil. “Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might. Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all to stand. Stand therefore…” (Ephesians 6:10-13)! In these few verses of Scripture, the word “stand” is used four times, and the word “against” (with its equivalent) is used seven times. That may sound a little negative to some folk, but this is exactly what the Lord expects and requires of those who would obey Him. We are to take a firm and forthright stand against all that is contrary to the Word and will of God.”

And so, the years of ministry continued. A very interesting note about the faithful missionary giving throughout the forty one years of their ministry at the Orlando Bible Church is found in Hayes and Jean’s writings.  Jean wrote,

“Through the years many missionaries were supported by the church. These were located throughout the world. One of our board members told me, not long ago, that over the years our missionary giving was twice the amount of our regular expenses for a year, and some years two thirds of the income was given to the missionaries. See how our wonderful Lord blesses when we give for the furtherance of the spread of the gospel on the mission fields! We have a great God!”  

In the earlier years of the ministry when the concrete church building was built, Hayes recalls in Hayes Minnick’s Pastor’s Report, 1963-1964,

“There were those who thought that the erection of a new building and the undertaking of a mortgage would limit our missionary interest and giving. Instead of limiting our missionary giving, it has been used of the Lord to increase the amount given to missions with each passing year… And all of this the Lord has enabled us to accomplish without any “begging for money,” fund drives, promotional campaigns, or pressure from the pulpit of any kind.” He goes on to say, “…with a comparatively small congregation, it is a tremendous tribute to the grace, goodness and faithfulness of God our Heavenly Father who has opened the hearts of His people out of love for the Lord Jesus to give to the support of the ministry of the Word in this place. God has graciously and abundantly supplied every need, and we humbly praise Him for it. It has been said that little is much if God is in it.” In Hayes Minnick’s Final Pastor’s Report, 1991-1992, he states, “The missionary giving of the church in the first year of its existence was six hundred dollars. Through the course of the past year, the missionary monies passing through this local testimony amounted to $76,904.03… “truly the Lord our God hath done exceeding abundantly above all the we could ask or think,” (Ephesians 3:20).”

In Hayes Minnick’s final Pastor’s Report, 1991-1992, Hayes stated,

“For the Lord God will help me; therefore shall I not be confounded: therefore have I set my face like a flint, and I know that I shall not be ashamed.” (Isaiah 50:7). Through the past forty-one years we have conducted a ministry of seed-sowing. The seed is the Word of God, and we have had the high and holy privilege of sowing it in the hearts of men and women, boys and girls, young and old, throughout this entire metropolitan area with utter confidence in the gracious promise that God himself has given, “So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it.” (Isaiah 55:11) In season and out of season we have preached the Bible in its full authority as the inspired and inerrant Word of the living God without apology, reproving, rebuking, and exhorting with all longsuffering and doctrine (II Timothy 4:2).We have wielded the Sword of the Spirit against every form of false doctrine that the Devil has devised, separating truth from error, right from wrong, good from evil. That such a ministry will be met with opposition is evident. Our blessed Lord himself once said that He did not come to send peace, but a sword. By this He meant that whenever His Gospel was fully proclaimed, when the whole counsel of God is preached without compromise, Satan will set up opposition even to the point of dividing the members of a family against each other. The reason many congregations today have such an easy, pleasant, pretty existence, is to be found in the deep tragedy that they have lost their Christ character, that they have catered to the world, that they have preferred ease and outward peace to uncompromising testimony to Christ as the only, and all-sufficient Saviour from sin.”

“I know not how many times through the past forty-one years I have been told that this church was dead and would soon go out of existence. And I have no doubt that some who uttered that statement all but wished that were so. But here we are over four decades later, very much alive through dependence upon the Holy Spirit, standing ever more firmly and aggressively in our witness “for the Word of God and for the testimony of Jesus Christ.” (Revelation 1:9). We care not for statistical success. We have aimed at quality instead of quantity. We have proven that sound spiritual success is “not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit, saith the Lord of hosts.” (Zechariah 4:6).   

 “Through forty-one years in Orlando we have sought to establish a solid standard of Scriptural separation from the world, the flesh, and the Devil. We want no part of his Satanic scheme. We refused to be identified in worship, witness, and walk with anything and everything that is contrary to the Word and will of God. In the words of the godly J.C. Ryle: “From the liberality that says everyone is right; from the charity that forbids us to say anyone is wrong; from the peace that is bought at the expense of truth — may the good Lord deliver us!” Hayes Minnick goes on to say, “We have openly opposed and exposed the awful apostasy of the National and World Councils of Churches and the ecclesiastical institutions involved therein. We stand unalterably against the compromise of the New Evangelical movement and condemn this ecumenical monstrosity for what it is — a cursed counterfeit form of Christianity. We reject en toto the degree concept of separation as utilized by those who would make excuse for their wicked compromise. While we yearn for Holy Spirit unity among those who name the Name of Christ, such unity is never to be achieved by sacrificing the truth. In a choice between unity and truth, unity must yield to truth, for it is far better to be divided by truth than to be united in error.” He also states, “Truth cannot be perpetuated through compromise, and compromise cannot be avoided without separation. The issue is just as simple as that.” 

“Through the past forty-one years we have striven to present a Biblical balance that would promote spiritual sanity as a safeguard against the superior sanctity of super-sensitive saints. The cultivation of a careful conscience is a very commendable practice in the sight of God, and every child of God ought to be involved in such a process. But let no one in the cultivation of his own conscience establish himself as an authority over the consciences of others. Jesus Christ alone is Lord of the individual conscience. “For to this end Christ both died, and rose, and revived, that He might be Lord both of the dead and living. But why dost thou judge thy brother? Or why dost thou set at naught thy brother? For we shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ.” (Romans 14:9-10). Some twenty-five years ago there was a dear woman in our congregation who on more than one occasion informed the pastor that it was his responsibility to force everyone in the church family into the same mould. Everyone was to think exactly the way he thought, do exactly the things he did, in exactly the way he did them. What a horribly wicked form of ecclesiastical tyranny that policy would have produced! Shades of Nicolaitanism – the very thing that Christ says he hates. (Revelation 2:6,15). And while there is no doubt that many men in the ministry have succumbed to such subtle Satanic pressure, by the grace of God this pastor never has, and it is his earnest prayer that by the grace of God he never will.”

“Without apology he will preach his convictions and strive to practise them in utter dependence upon the Holy Spirit in complete obedience to the full authority of God’s Holy Word. But never at any time will you find him super-imposing his conscience upon the conscience of others in the congregation. “Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.” (II Corinthians 3:17). Every person who worships in this assembly is absolutely free to form his own judgments, arrive at his own convictions, and cultivate his own conduct – even as the pastor does –in utter dependence on the Holy Spirit and implicit obedience to the Word of God. This is the way we grow together in the Lord. It is the only way that unity can be preserved as we strive for ultimate unanimity.”

“But we all with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord.” (II Corinthians 3:18). While I believe that it is a perfectly normal process within the sovereign plan and purpose of God that those who love the Lord and His Word will be found following in the footsteps of a faithful pastor, such an accomplishment will not be by coercion of the pastor, but by constraint of the Holy Spirit. In areas of personal and private judgment, “Let every man be persuaded in his own mind.” (Romans 14:6). Let those who enjoy liberty among us be very careful that we do not despise those who are weak and tender in conscience, and let those of tender conscience be careful not to become hypercritical of those who enjoy a greater degree of liberty. No two Christians are ever found walking at the very same time in the same degree of light, but both will enjoy perfect fellowship if each is walking in the light that he has.”

 “You do not test the resources of God until you try the impossible. Forty-one years ago when we arrived in Orlando, a retired IFCA pastor… told me that it was impossible to build an independent fundamental testimony in this area. Humanly speaking, he was right. I guarantee you that it is a human impossibility. But “with God nothing shall be impossible.” (Luke 1:37)! The establishment and sustaining of this local fellowship and testimony over the last forty-one years is no credit to any supposed ability upon the part of the pastor, for he has none. It is rather a dramatic demonstration of the grace, goodness, and faithfulness of an all-wise, all-sufficient, omnipotent, covenant-keeping God.”

“Now the God of peace, that brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great Shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant, make you perfect in every good work to do His will, working in you that which is well pleasing in His sight, through Jesus Christ; to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen!” (Hebrews 13:20-21).

The above statements were taken from Hayes Minnick’s Pastor’s Report of 1991-1992; unknown to Hayes at the time, that would be his final Pastor’s Report at the Orlando Bible Church. Hayes preached his final Sunday sermons on the morning and evening of October 25, 1992 and preached his final Wednesday Prayer Service on October, 28, 1992. The following day, October 29, 1992, on his 74^th birthday, he suffered his first stroke. While these sermons may have been his final pulpit sermons, his greatest sermon was yet to be preached. His continued faithful, steadfast  testimony and reliance on His Lord and Saviour as he lay in a hospital bed endeavoring to recover, enabled him to react in a Spirit filled manner to the events that were to befall him in the coming months at the hands and plans of some of those to whom he had faithfully ministered, and would prove to be the greatest Spirit filled sermon of his years in faithful ministry to the Lord. With Paul of old, Hayes could and did say, “But none of these things move me, neither count I my life dear unto myself, so that I might finish my course with joy, and the ministry, which I have received of the Lord Jesus, to testify the Gospel of the grace of God.” (Acts 20 :24). An exposition of the facts pertaining to Hayes and Jean Minnick surrounding that time and regarding the faithful Holy Spirit led ministry of Hayes Minnick at the Orlando Bible Church, will be available in the future for truth’s sake as the Lord leads.

“Heartfelt Humility! When you are forgotten or neglected or purposely set at naught, and you smile inwardly, glorying in the insult or the oversight because thereby counted worthy to suffer shame for Christ – that is genuine humility. When your good is evil spoken of, when your wishes are crossed, your state offended, your advice disregarded, your opinions ridiculed and you take it all in patient loving silence – that is genuine humility. When you can lovingly and patiently bear with any disorder, any irregularity, any impunctuality, or any annoyance – that is genuine humility. When you are content with any food, any raiment, any society, any solitude, any interruption by the will of God – that is genuine humility. When you never care to refer to yourself in conversation or to record your own good works, or to itch after commendation, when you can truly love to be unknown – that is genuine humility. When you can stand face to face with waste, folly, extravagance, spiritual insensibility and endure it all as the Lord Jesus endured it – that is genuine humility. When like Paul you can throw all suffering on Jesus, thus converting it into a means of overcoming grace, and can say from a surrendered heart, “Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities” – That is genuine humility. — (copied from the bulletin of October 25, 1992). Like the Pastor’s Report and the sermons, unknown to Hayes, this was the FINAL Sunday Church Bulletin he wrote.

“Blessed is the man that trusteth in the LORD, and whose hope the LORD is.” (Jeremiah 17:7)

“Blessed is that man that maketh the Lord his trust, and respecteth not the proud, nor such as turn aside to lies.” (Psalm 40:4)

“And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ’s sake: for when I am weak, then am I strong.” (II Corinthians 12: 9-10)

In May of 1994, Hayes suffered a second stroke. The first two strokes affected Hayes’ mobility only, and Hayes was so grateful to the Lord that his mental clarity was unharmed. On July 24, 1994, the family gathered to celebrate Jean’s birthday. One of the highlights of that celebration happened when Hayes and Jean’s granddaughter serenaded them with music by playing the special violin that Jean bought for Hayes’ birthday in 1942, just four months after they were married. Then Hayes prayed, thanking the Lord for his precious wife and using the alphabet, he listed his beautiful Jeannie’s attributes A to Z. Within an hour after completing that sweet final prayer, Hayes suffered his third stroke rendering him in a comatose state. After a week in the hospital, he was brought to his home again to be cared for the rest of his earthly days, with his Jean faithfully at his side.

After eight months in a coma, on April 4, 1995, Hayes Minnick was called into the presence of His Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ who he loved and faithfully served, and surely heard the words found in Matthew 25:21, “Well done, thou good and faithful servant… enter thou into the joy of thy lord.” For 53 years, as commanded in II Timothy 4:2 and 5, Hayes Minnick had faithfully preached the Word of God, instant in season, out of season; he reproved, rebuked and exhorted with all longsuffering and doctrine. He watched in all things, endured afflictions, did the work of an evangelist, and made full proof of his ministry. Like Paul in II Timothy 4:7-8, Hayes Minnick could say, “I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith: Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing.”

Hayes Minnick’s Life Verses:

“According to my earnest expectation and my hope, that in nothing I shall be ashamed, but that with all boldness, as always, so now also Christ shall be magnified in my body, whether it be by life, or by death. For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.”(Philippians 1:20-21).   

Jean Minnick’s Years As A Widow

Jean continued on in the strength of the Lord without her beloved Hayes, her devoted husband of fifty three years.  While she missed his loving presence, his continual comfort, and his ever-present protection, she also rejoiced in the fact that Hayes was safely Home with the Lord, and she had full assurance that she would see him again in God’s perfect time, as promised in God’s Holy Word. She was determined to continue her journey in service to the Lord in whatever capacity the Lord directed her to serve.

 In 1999, at eighty years of age, and after forty one years of faithful service to the Orlando Bible Church, Jean found it absolutely scripturally necessary to leave the Orlando Bible Church. Records, correspondence and personal testimonies show evidence that she endured much grief, ill treatment, and tremendous financial damage in the sunset years of her dear life at the hands of the Orlando Bible Church for her most necessary and Holy Spirit led decision. Records show that almost half of the congregation had left previous to her decision and she remained faithful in attendance until she could do so no longer. Yet evidence shows she was made to bear the brunt of the church split. She was publicly shunned, shamed, and deemed “unfaithful” in a message from the Orlando Bible Church pulpit and accused of not holding the same convictions of her late husband Hayes Minnick. Nothing could have been further from the truth. Jean maintained the very same biblical and spiritual convictions to the end of her earthly journey that she and Hayes shared since he entered the Gospel ministry. She never wavered. The sermon, with that wicked untruthful condemnation, is still on the Orlando Bible Church website today for the world to hear. Requests have been made for retraction and removal of that despicable untruth; but have been met with no response. As stated previously, an exposition of the facts pertaining to Hayes and Jean Minnick surrounding that time and regarding the faithful Holy Spirit led ministry of Hayes Minnick at the Orlando Bible Church, will be available in the future for truth’s sake as the Lord leads.

“For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that everyone may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad.” (II Corinthians 5:10).

Despite the unwarranted and unscriptural attacks upon this godly elderly widow, and there were many, and suffering chronic health issues, Jean found her strength and comfort in the Lord and continued to joyfully serve the Lord in her sunset years. At 80 years of age she continued (as she had been doing for so many years from her home) to manage and distribute Hayes’ printed material on various topics that he had written over the years. She also played a most vital role in the Azalea Park Super Kids Bible Club held weekly in her home, the very home that she and Hayes purchased when they came to Orlando and which they dedicated to the Lord’s use and His honor and glory. She performed this service to the Lord for 10 years until she was 90 years old. In 2010, Jean was nominated for, and then recognized by Governor Charlie Crist who awarded the Points of Light Award for her dedicated faith-based service to her community. This award was presented to her by Chaplain Richard Sauer in a special ceremony in her honor. Her faithful service to the Lord in her elderly years is best described in the nomination letters written on her behalf to the Points of Light Committee. Excerpts from these nominations read as follows:

“Mrs. Minnick is a great woman of faith and has resided in the same home for over 60 years. In that time period her neighborhood has transitioned to being a mirror of our international citizenry in Orlando. Through the decades everyone in the neighborhood has known that there was something different in a good way about the Minnick household. She has been a beacon of light in an often troubled area of the community. Her home was a haven of rest and encouragement for others especially over the past 10 years since she co-founded and conducted the “Super Kids Neighborhood Bible Club” for interested kids of all ages and ethnic backgrounds. They learned about life, faith and the importance of serving others and their community through many neighborhood service projects. Dozens and dozens of neighborhood children experienced first-hand a woman strongly dedicated to her faith who lived it out in the tangible expressions of instruction, love, and encouragement, in a manner that would bring honor and glory to their God and help them to be peaceful and productive citizens in the communities in which they would live and serve.”

“I would love to see Dorothy Jean Minnick receive the Points of Light Award because she is a wonderful example to all that is does not take health, wealth, or a youthful age to make a significant positive impact on another’s life. Not only has Dorothy Jean Minnick endured serious health challenges, she was also unethically robbed of her financial security at 80 years of age! She rose above these situations exhibiting great faith in God, much inner strength, and sought only to move forward and focus on others instead of herself. When Dorothy Jean Minnick had the least, she gave the most. By opening her heart and home, the wonderful children of her neighborhood became the recipients of her time, love, energy and wisdom, while she became the recipient of the blessing of their adoring love and friendship; thus, creating a beautiful example of the benefits that can be reaped from the reciprocal relationship bond between the older and the younger generation. Dorothy Jean Minnick is a truly remarkable and humble lady who would never seek honor or attention for herself or her efforts, and an Award of any nature would be foreign to her. Because of this selfless attitude on her part, I send this application to nominate her for the Points of Light Award.”

“Mrs. Minnick has opened her home to any and all neighborhood and surrounding area young people and small children regularly for a Bible program. She has ministered to them with food preparation and personal devotion to each child’s individual needs. Through out the years she has welcomed each one weekly for structured times of refreshment and learning, as well as routinely offering them meals on Holidays and rides to church. Her home has been a haven for the needy as well as a place to be taught how to serve others. These young people have also learned many practical lessons like sewing, arts and crafts, and the consequences of disobeying the law. These children love her as a Grandmother and recognize her sacrifices of time and personal comfort on their behalf. It has been heart warming to observe the personal relationships that she has built with so many due to her consistent years of dedication.”

“It would be easy for someone her age to have resisted the opportunities to serve so faithfully, as she has many health challenges and pain. Yet, her attitude is one of unselfish devotion and love to all who would come to her home. No one would fault her for avoiding the rambunctious groups and the wear and tear to her modest home, yet that has not been her concern. The impact that she might have for instilling good morals and showing support and love are her goals. She would be a marvel at any age, considering the results that her self-sacrifice has made on these young people. How much more so her prolonged life of service is deserving of recognition in light of her age of ninety years. Mrs. Minnick has inspired many, including me, and we are very grateful for her years of service in her community and for her being a role model of the most valuable kind. She will continue to be an inspiration to us even after she leaves this earth’s scene.”

Time and ill health and dementia began to take their toll on Jean in the final years of her life; and while these ailments robbed her of much from a physical standpoint, nothing could touch her heart’s love for the Lord and eternal security found in Him.

In the early morning hours of April 22, 2018, three months short of her 98^th birthday, Dorothy Jean Minnick was called into the presence of her Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Her earthly journey was complete, her race was run, she was safely Home. She had faithfully fulfilled the role of daughter, student, nurse, wife, Pastor’s wife, mother, grandmother, great-grandmother, great-great grandmother, homemaker, Sunday School teacher, Bible Club worker, but most importantly, she was a Faithful Servant of the Lord. Like her husband Hayes, Jean surely heard the words found in Matthew 25:21, “Well done, thou good and faithful servant… enter thou into the joy of thy lord.”

Dorothy Jean Minnick’s Life verses:

“The name of the Lord is a strong tower: The righteous runneth into it and is safe.” (Proverbs 18:10.)

 “Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee.”   (Isaiah 26:3.)

As of April 2018, the final chapter of the earthly ministry of Hayes and Jean Minnick was complete. Together they fulfilled a faithful ministry: Hayes as the faithful shepherd of the flocks entrusted to him by the Lord, and with Jean right beside him, serving, every step of the way, faithfully laboring together in the work of the Lord. Together, they are in Heaven, enjoying their wonderful Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ and all the wonders of Heaven promised in God’s Holy Word.  

It is an earnest heart’s desire and prayer that this website containing remnants of Hayes and Jean’s journey together in faithful ministry, by way of Hayes’ sermons, his printed material, their recollections and memories, will bring honor and glory, not to Hayes and Jean, as they would not want that, but to their wonderful Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ who they faithfully loved and served together all their days. And most importantly , it would be Hayes and Jean’s desire that lost souls would come to know the Lord Jesus Christ as their personal Saviour. They would invite you to please click on the following page entitled “Salvation.”

“The lines are fallen unto me in pleasant places; yea, I have a goodly heritage.” (Psalm 16:6.) It is a goodly heritage because it was godly. Hayes and Jean have left a godly legacy that will speak for generations to come, “… and by it he being dead yet speaketh.” (Hebrews 11:4b)