I learned Monday of the passing of Nathan Porter, who died at the age of 90 in Waco. Nathan was large in my life for several reasons. He was the featured speaker at the first state wide Baptist Student Union retreat I attended as a freshman. He was one of the five or six well known Christian speakers on college campuses in the 60's and 70's. I had never heard a Christian speaker like him. He was warm, funny, and did not yell. He talked about issues I had never heard in sermons. They were real life stuff. I had thought just about all preaching was about the Israelites. He and Ed Seabough (another one of the great campus speakers of that era) influenced the development of my own speaking style.
When he closed his message that day, he said, "Let's pray with our eyes open." I certainly had never heard that or done that before. It was a powerful moment for me as we looked at each other around the crowd and prayed.
I later became the Baptist Student Union Director at Henderson State University in Arkadelphia, Arkansas and was asked to serve on the Pastor Search Committee at First Baptist Church, where we attended. Our Search Committee wanted someone that would relate well to students since there were two Universities in the city. Nathan came to be the pastor of First Baptist Church and he and Fran took the town by storm. Fran began to lead a Senior Citizens ministry at the church and Sunday nights at FBC became like Collegiate Week at Glorieta with large crowds of students in attendance.
I posted on my Facebook page Monday of the death of Nathan because I knew he meant a great deal in the lives of many who would want to know. Here are some of the comments that different ones made.
"His messages of compassion always found their way into my heart."
"I had him speak to my students on hunger."
"He was an outstanding leader and friend."
"He was my favorite pastor from my growing up days at FBC. At least one of his spiritual gifts was to listen intently during a conversation, even with a teen, and respond well with wise counsel."
"Nathan Porter was speaking to us by a big fire next to a pond. I was experiencing disappointment with 'organized" church mainly due to overt and residual racism. He challenged us to remain with the 'organized' church and make it better."
"He was a great friend to everyone but especially the University community."
"He was the perfect college pastor."
"Nathan baptized me."
"His love for college students was obvious and our college experience was better because of him."
"Never will forget him!!! Great influence on my life."
"Nathan is on my list of godly men who influenced my life."
"He gently helped to bring me to a better place regarding race, exclusion, and respect. He was also courageous, transparent, and fun."
One former student told me that Nathan had asked him how he dated since he did not own a car. So, from then on, Nathan loaned him his car. He said, "it was always washed and full of gas."
Many young College Ministers leave college ministry due to feeling alone with the ups and downs of college ministry. Nathan was a super friend to me during my early days as a College Minister. I later served as the Personnel Committee Chair at FBC, Arkadelphia and worked with Nathan dealing with different church issues. Nathan was always about how to communicate better and connect with people. He took down the large ornate pulpit and simply stood on the platform and spoke. I remember the call I got as some were upset because to them the "pulpit represents preaching God's word". We weathered that and some other storms together. We sometimes butted heads dealing with tough church issues, but we were always friends,
Nathan Porter was one of God's choice servants.
Arliss Dickerson's book, Almost Everything About College Ministry, is available at Amazon.com/dp/B08CMD9CXX
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