Walker, Royd Rufus "R. R."
Royd Rufus “R.R.” Walker (1895-1976) was an early administrator at Bible Training School, serving as the first principal of the BTS Academy, the high school division, from 1934-1942. Among his most notable contributions to the institution include providing the groundwork for the accreditation of the high school, which was achieved in 1943 as the first accreditation for the school. As part of this work, he emphasized the need for a school library, which was established during his tenure in 1941. Perhaps his most notable contribution was his role in helping begin the Junior College division at BTS. He was the key visionary for this project and, based on his academic credentials and earned degree, served a vital role in its establishment. The beginning of the Junior College in 1941 was the achievement of which he was most proud during his tenure with BTS. At that time the name of the institution changed to “Bible Training School and College.” The Junior College created the foundation and framework for the development of the school’s future four-year degree program that ultimately would achieve university status.
Originally from Mississippi, Walker felt a call into ministry in the Baptist Church in 1915. The following year he married Leedie Ella Stewart (1899-1991) of Mize, Mississippi. In 1919 he surrendered to the ministerial call and enrolled at Mississippi College, majoring in the teaching profession and taking ministry-related courses. While a student, he supported his educational endeavor by teaching in the winter and attending college in the summer. He finally earned his degree, an A.B., from Mississippi College in 1927.
Following college, Walker ministered in various churches but devoted most of his time to teaching school. He served as a principal in Jones and Lincoln counties in Mississippi while continuing additional studies at Mississippi College and the State Teacher’s College at Hattiesburg.
In July 1930, Walker and his family moved to Morgantown, Mississippi, in Marion County after accepting the pastorates at two nearby Baptist churches, Antioch and Holly Springs. He also preached occasionally at nearby White Bluff Baptist Church. In addition, he assumed the role of coach and principal at Morgantown High School. In 1932, Walker was elected as superintendent of the West Pearl Consolidated High School at Morgantown, which served students west of the Pearl River in Marion County. Walker also continued his pastoral ministry.
Since the churches Walker served as pastor only conducted services one Sunday each month, he often attended other nearby churches when he was not preaching. Morgantown Church of God was located near the school and his residence. It was at Morgantown Church that Walker was given opportunity to assist with certain programs and services. Of this time, Walker later wrote, “I enjoyed my work among the Church of God people and they seemed to appreciate my work. The cooperative spirit that they showed toward me and the love they had for each other was an influence in guiding me to the Church of God…. I attended their Sunday School when possible; attended their services; preached for them; worked in harmony in every way that a minister and teacher should.”
A revival began at the Morgantown Church of God in April 1933 conducted by the local pastor, William Fount Sharp, a recent graduate of the Bible Training School. During this revival many young people who attended the local school experienced spiritual blessings. Walker later remembered, “Naturally, I was interested in the souls of men and women, boys and girls, and it was a great delight to see them saved, but as to their receiving sanctification and the baptism of the Holy Ghost, it was a new experience I knew little or nothing about. I pondered in my heart the reaction of this experience in the lives of the people that I came in contact with from day to day and noticed that it had a great influence on their everyday conduct.” Walker began to search the scripture and committed much time to prayer for guidance in his searching. A few weeks later, his searching brought the revelation that “God’s Word was true and that the same God that saves could sanctify and baptize with the Holy Ghost, and that the experience was real, but would only come to those who had faith to accept His promises.” Before the end of the consecutive services of the revival, Walker and his wife, Leedie, testified to having received sanctification and the baptism of the Holy Ghost. They joined the Church of God at Morgantown on May 13, 1933.
When Walker joined the Church of God, he became its first minister with a Bachelor’s degree from college. The local school board at Morgantown was led primarily by members of his former churches and informed Walker his services would be needed no longer when his contract ended after the forthcoming school year. It was then the local pastor, Fount Sharp, and Reverend Annie Heath, a former pastor now ministering as an evangelist, contacted the Church of God denominational leaders in Cleveland, Tennessee, to see if Walker’s service could benefit the Bible Training School. Soon arriving at Morgantown were Church of God General Overseer S.W. Latimer and BTS Superintendent J.H. Walker Sr. They met with Walker and his family and then interviewed him at his home. Most impressive was Walker’s achievement of having recently led the Morgantown school to be accredited by the state. Walker was appointed principal of the Academy (high school) at BTS for the 1934-35 year. High school courses had been taught at BTS since 1930 when Mildred Blackwell [Case] was hired for this purpose. However, Walker’s expertise and credentials allowed BTS to formally organize the high school division. His wife, Leedie, became the dietician for the school, the same role she had served at the Morgantown school.
During Walker’s tenure at Bible Training School, he taught high school courses, served as principal of the Academy, became a close confidant and assistant to BTS Superintendent Zeno C. Tharp, and often traveled throughout the United States to speak at local churches and denominational meetings to promote the school. He helped expand the reach of the school by initiating intensive courses through short-term Bible schools conducted in various states during the summer months in the late 1930s. He also began working toward the high school’s accreditation and helping to establish the Junior College division.
In 1934, Walker also served as assistant pastor for the North Cleveland Church of God where Milo P. Cross was lead pastor. By 1935 Walker became full-time pastor of the North Cleveland Church while still working at BTS. The congregation “unanimously petitioned” Walker to continue as full-time pastor after the 1935 Assembly, but he declined, feeling more committed and needed in his work with the Bible Training School.
At the Church of God General Assembly in 1942, Walker was informed he would be the incoming President of the Bible Training School and College. However, before the Assembly ended appointments had shifted and Zeno C. Tharp returned as President. Walker was appointed to serve in pastoral ministry in South Carolina (1942-46), which was followed by administrative roles with the denomination. Family members noted Walker was heartbroken at not having the opportunity to serve BTS and College as president, but he continued to support the institution throughout his lifetime and enjoyed a sense of fulfillment to have been an instrumental part of helping advance its academic program through the creation of the Junior College division. It proved somewhat providential, however, as Walker was serving in a vital role as the denomination's secretary-treasurer when the school purchased a vacant campus in Cleveland and returned there in 1947 as Lee College. Walker was an important voice in those financial discussions.
After his time at BTS and College and as a pastor, Walker was elected in 1946 to the Church of God General Executive Committee in the office of General Secretary-Treasurer. He became the second person to serve that office, following E.J. Boehmer, who had served in that role since 1924. Walker was unanimously re-elected to this position in 1948. He also served the denomination as State Overseer [Administrative Bishop] of Kentucky (1950-1953) and as Superintendent of the Home for Children [Smoky Mountain Children’s Home] from 1953-56. Following a heart attack in 1956, he decreased his responsibilities with the Home, but continued to serve in the role of Assistant Superintendent until 1960. Other appointments with the Church of God included as a member of the Editorial and Publications Board (1935-37), the Department of Benevolence Board (1935-39; 1946-53), sixteen years on the Executive Council (1937-44; 1945-54), the first Youth Program Committee (1945), and as an original member of the first Advisory Council for the Executive Committee (1965-76).
Walker retired from full-time ministry in 1960 and returned to Cleveland, Tennessee. During the presidency of Dr. Charles W. Conn at Lee College (1970-82), a Monday morning prayer group was formed with specific individuals invited to join the Conns in praying for the institution, faculty, and students. R.R. and Leedie Walker became faithful participants in this prayer group, which allowed them to remain connected to the institution that had brought them to Cleveland some forty years prior.
Interestingly, during his presidency at Lee, Dr. Charles W. Conn reflected on the influence of R.R. Walker. He explained, “On a warm, sunny, autumn day in 1939, I sat with the freshman class of Bible Training School and listened as Brother Walker, principal of the high school, told us what to expect while we were there. He challenged us to ‘excel to the edifying of the church.’ I can still remember him declare, ‘Some of you are saying to yourselves, ‘I will excel; I will do my best. I will live up to all the potential that is in me.’ Some of you will become the leaders of the church. Why not decide now that you will be among them?’ I accepted the challenge. I went by Brother Walker’s office and brashly told him that I accepted his challenge—I would do what he had called upon us to do…. The brashness of it has caused much whimsy; but, in sincerity, Brother Walker’s challenge took root in my heart.” Dr. Charles W. Conn later became General Overseer of the Church of God, served 12 years as President of Lee College, and became the first and only President Emeritus of Lee University. His son, Dr. Charles Paul Conn, also served 34 years as President of Lee (1986-2020) before his appointment as the university’s first Chancellor in 2020.
In 1976 Walker became ill while spending time at his cabin on the Church of God Campground at Wimauma, Florida. He died soon after at Tampa, Florida, and is buried at Hilcrest Memorial Gardens in Cleveland, Tennessee. His wife, Leedie, died in 1991.
/ L.F. Morgan
Originally from Mississippi, Walker felt a call into ministry in the Baptist Church in 1915. The following year he married Leedie Ella Stewart (1899-1991) of Mize, Mississippi. In 1919 he surrendered to the ministerial call and enrolled at Mississippi College, majoring in the teaching profession and taking ministry-related courses. While a student, he supported his educational endeavor by teaching in the winter and attending college in the summer. He finally earned his degree, an A.B., from Mississippi College in 1927.
Following college, Walker ministered in various churches but devoted most of his time to teaching school. He served as a principal in Jones and Lincoln counties in Mississippi while continuing additional studies at Mississippi College and the State Teacher’s College at Hattiesburg.
In July 1930, Walker and his family moved to Morgantown, Mississippi, in Marion County after accepting the pastorates at two nearby Baptist churches, Antioch and Holly Springs. He also preached occasionally at nearby White Bluff Baptist Church. In addition, he assumed the role of coach and principal at Morgantown High School. In 1932, Walker was elected as superintendent of the West Pearl Consolidated High School at Morgantown, which served students west of the Pearl River in Marion County. Walker also continued his pastoral ministry.
Since the churches Walker served as pastor only conducted services one Sunday each month, he often attended other nearby churches when he was not preaching. Morgantown Church of God was located near the school and his residence. It was at Morgantown Church that Walker was given opportunity to assist with certain programs and services. Of this time, Walker later wrote, “I enjoyed my work among the Church of God people and they seemed to appreciate my work. The cooperative spirit that they showed toward me and the love they had for each other was an influence in guiding me to the Church of God…. I attended their Sunday School when possible; attended their services; preached for them; worked in harmony in every way that a minister and teacher should.”
A revival began at the Morgantown Church of God in April 1933 conducted by the local pastor, William Fount Sharp, a recent graduate of the Bible Training School. During this revival many young people who attended the local school experienced spiritual blessings. Walker later remembered, “Naturally, I was interested in the souls of men and women, boys and girls, and it was a great delight to see them saved, but as to their receiving sanctification and the baptism of the Holy Ghost, it was a new experience I knew little or nothing about. I pondered in my heart the reaction of this experience in the lives of the people that I came in contact with from day to day and noticed that it had a great influence on their everyday conduct.” Walker began to search the scripture and committed much time to prayer for guidance in his searching. A few weeks later, his searching brought the revelation that “God’s Word was true and that the same God that saves could sanctify and baptize with the Holy Ghost, and that the experience was real, but would only come to those who had faith to accept His promises.” Before the end of the consecutive services of the revival, Walker and his wife, Leedie, testified to having received sanctification and the baptism of the Holy Ghost. They joined the Church of God at Morgantown on May 13, 1933.
When Walker joined the Church of God, he became its first minister with a Bachelor’s degree from college. The local school board at Morgantown was led primarily by members of his former churches and informed Walker his services would be needed no longer when his contract ended after the forthcoming school year. It was then the local pastor, Fount Sharp, and Reverend Annie Heath, a former pastor now ministering as an evangelist, contacted the Church of God denominational leaders in Cleveland, Tennessee, to see if Walker’s service could benefit the Bible Training School. Soon arriving at Morgantown were Church of God General Overseer S.W. Latimer and BTS Superintendent J.H. Walker Sr. They met with Walker and his family and then interviewed him at his home. Most impressive was Walker’s achievement of having recently led the Morgantown school to be accredited by the state. Walker was appointed principal of the Academy (high school) at BTS for the 1934-35 year. High school courses had been taught at BTS since 1930 when Mildred Blackwell [Case] was hired for this purpose. However, Walker’s expertise and credentials allowed BTS to formally organize the high school division. His wife, Leedie, became the dietician for the school, the same role she had served at the Morgantown school.
During Walker’s tenure at Bible Training School, he taught high school courses, served as principal of the Academy, became a close confidant and assistant to BTS Superintendent Zeno C. Tharp, and often traveled throughout the United States to speak at local churches and denominational meetings to promote the school. He helped expand the reach of the school by initiating intensive courses through short-term Bible schools conducted in various states during the summer months in the late 1930s. He also began working toward the high school’s accreditation and helping to establish the Junior College division.
In 1934, Walker also served as assistant pastor for the North Cleveland Church of God where Milo P. Cross was lead pastor. By 1935 Walker became full-time pastor of the North Cleveland Church while still working at BTS. The congregation “unanimously petitioned” Walker to continue as full-time pastor after the 1935 Assembly, but he declined, feeling more committed and needed in his work with the Bible Training School.
At the Church of God General Assembly in 1942, Walker was informed he would be the incoming President of the Bible Training School and College. However, before the Assembly ended appointments had shifted and Zeno C. Tharp returned as President. Walker was appointed to serve in pastoral ministry in South Carolina (1942-46), which was followed by administrative roles with the denomination. Family members noted Walker was heartbroken at not having the opportunity to serve BTS and College as president, but he continued to support the institution throughout his lifetime and enjoyed a sense of fulfillment to have been an instrumental part of helping advance its academic program through the creation of the Junior College division. It proved somewhat providential, however, as Walker was serving in a vital role as the denomination's secretary-treasurer when the school purchased a vacant campus in Cleveland and returned there in 1947 as Lee College. Walker was an important voice in those financial discussions.
After his time at BTS and College and as a pastor, Walker was elected in 1946 to the Church of God General Executive Committee in the office of General Secretary-Treasurer. He became the second person to serve that office, following E.J. Boehmer, who had served in that role since 1924. Walker was unanimously re-elected to this position in 1948. He also served the denomination as State Overseer [Administrative Bishop] of Kentucky (1950-1953) and as Superintendent of the Home for Children [Smoky Mountain Children’s Home] from 1953-56. Following a heart attack in 1956, he decreased his responsibilities with the Home, but continued to serve in the role of Assistant Superintendent until 1960. Other appointments with the Church of God included as a member of the Editorial and Publications Board (1935-37), the Department of Benevolence Board (1935-39; 1946-53), sixteen years on the Executive Council (1937-44; 1945-54), the first Youth Program Committee (1945), and as an original member of the first Advisory Council for the Executive Committee (1965-76).
Walker retired from full-time ministry in 1960 and returned to Cleveland, Tennessee. During the presidency of Dr. Charles W. Conn at Lee College (1970-82), a Monday morning prayer group was formed with specific individuals invited to join the Conns in praying for the institution, faculty, and students. R.R. and Leedie Walker became faithful participants in this prayer group, which allowed them to remain connected to the institution that had brought them to Cleveland some forty years prior.
Interestingly, during his presidency at Lee, Dr. Charles W. Conn reflected on the influence of R.R. Walker. He explained, “On a warm, sunny, autumn day in 1939, I sat with the freshman class of Bible Training School and listened as Brother Walker, principal of the high school, told us what to expect while we were there. He challenged us to ‘excel to the edifying of the church.’ I can still remember him declare, ‘Some of you are saying to yourselves, ‘I will excel; I will do my best. I will live up to all the potential that is in me.’ Some of you will become the leaders of the church. Why not decide now that you will be among them?’ I accepted the challenge. I went by Brother Walker’s office and brashly told him that I accepted his challenge—I would do what he had called upon us to do…. The brashness of it has caused much whimsy; but, in sincerity, Brother Walker’s challenge took root in my heart.” Dr. Charles W. Conn later became General Overseer of the Church of God, served 12 years as President of Lee College, and became the first and only President Emeritus of Lee University. His son, Dr. Charles Paul Conn, also served 34 years as President of Lee (1986-2020) before his appointment as the university’s first Chancellor in 2020.
In 1976 Walker became ill while spending time at his cabin on the Church of God Campground at Wimauma, Florida. He died soon after at Tampa, Florida, and is buried at Hilcrest Memorial Gardens in Cleveland, Tennessee. His wife, Leedie, died in 1991.
/ L.F. Morgan