Return to Station Listings
|
The Rev. Oren "Wayne" Dickinson
Born: 6/16/1929
Died: 10/20/2015
Age: 86
Community: Flushing, MI
|
The Rev. O. Wayne Dickinson achieved his life goal of eternal life with Jesus on October 19, 2015. He joins his bride of 65 years who led the way on April 28, 2014.
Services will be held 1PM Saturday, October 24, 2015 at West Court Street Church of God, 2920 W. Court Street, Flint. Interment at Sunset Hills Cemetery, Flint. Visitation will be held from 12 PM until time of service at the church on Saturday.
His life is the story of a committed servant who was driven by his divinely assigned tasks to accomplish the mission of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. He was driven in everything he was asked to do. Everything.
Oren Wayne Dickinson was born to Lillian and Pearl Dickinson in 1929 in Idaho. He was one of 5 children (Virgil, Mona, Lola, Wayne and Ermalee).
He married Shirley Maxine Wilson of Lincoln, California after they fell in love at Warner Pacific Bible College in Portland, Oregon. Not only was Shirley beautiful and smart, she was an extraordinary pianist and vocalist - just the wife an aspiring pastor needed. Together, they left school to follow God's leading to pastor churches wherever doors were opened.
During their first 10 years together they would bring 4 children into the world. Karen, Marla, Gordon and Curtis. They would raise their kids in Northern California while living most of the time in Lodi where he would pastor Lodi Community Church.
During the time his kids were in school, he felt the call to greater ministry in his community so he ran to serve on the School Board of the Lodi Unified School District. This ambitious pastor was elected to help guide children through life's challenges in the 1960s and 1970s in central California. He brought his practical and inspired life experience to help this growing school board through very challenging times. While in Lodi, he also led the effort with other pastors to bring the Billy Graham Crusade to the small town of Lodi and San Joaquin County, sharing the Gospel message.
In the mid 70's he was called to leave the pastoral ministry and move to an administrative role for the church in Michigan. There he helped other pastors and churches faced with staffing and other needs. He grew more and more concerned for pastors who couldn't provide for their families, as well as churches struggling to know how much to pay their pastor. To help churches and pastors alike, Wayne wrote the book, "The Minister's Salary" to help churches make responsible decisions for the provision of the pastor and his family. This booklet was the first of its kind for his church. It would be published and made available to every church. This 1978 booklet is still available today on Amazon.com.
After 5 years in Michigan, he would move to Anderson, Indiana to join the publishing company, Warner Press, to serve as Vice President of retail sales. He also served on the Anderson College (later to become Anderson University) Board of Trustees during very trying times for small colleges. He would later leave Warner Press and move to lead the churches of Indiana as the State Minister. During those 10 years he would revolutionize the way state ministry worked, expanding the resources available for local churches and their pastors.
At the end of this time in local church ministry, he returned to Warner Press and the national church offices to help renovate the massive physical structure of Warner Press into a ministry headquarters for use by the national church leadership. He would be credited with the transformation of the physical structure from a once useless and antiquated warehouse into a modern office facility.
His legacy is entrusted to his four children, his 11 grandchildren (Ben, Tara, Jodi, Elizabeth, Nicole, Brett, Luke, Nick, Dana, Lily and Tommy) and his 18 great grandchildren (Hunter, Logan, Dylan, Riley, Lincoln, Sawyer, Tyler, Gabriella, Chloe, Wesley, Henry, Miriam, Abraham, Callie, Blake, Auden and two more Pertler grandbabies in the womb at time of this writing).
He inspired commitment and loyalty to faith and family, especially during difficult times - and there were difficult times. Through those storms he was always the anchor that held. Steady, reliable and calm through every challenge facing his divinely assigned task and his beloved family.
As the end drew near, many would come to his bedside and state over and over how they love him. And each time he would simply reply, “I know you do.” He didn’t need to be reminded. Such were the relationships built from his life-long devotion to meeting the needs of others.
To God be the glory for a life well lived.
"His master said to him, 'Well done, good and faithful servant; you have been faithful over a little, I will set you over much; enter into the joy of your master.'" Matthew 25:23 (RSV).
Tributes may be shared on the obituaries page at www.sharpfuneralhomes.com.
|
Copyright © 2024 Direct Obits, LLC
| Visitation |
| Date: |
|
10/24/2015 |
| Time: |
|
12:00 PM |
| The family will received friends from 12PM until the time of service at West Court Street Church of God, 2920 W. Court St., Flint on Saturday, October 24, 2015. |
|
|
| Funeral Service |
| Date: |
|
10/24/2015 |
| Time: |
|
1:00 PM |
| |
| Location: |
|
West Court St. Church of God
2920 W. Court St.
Flint, MI 48503 Get a Map to this location...
|
| Official: |
|
|
|
Return to Station Listings
|
|
