From Craig Moir

Thank you, Marsha & Becky, for letting me share a few of my memories about one man was truly a mentor to me, particularly during my teen years. 

Pastor Baker, as I called him then (it was awkward later on when, as an adult, I started calling him “Cordell”), was genuinely interested in caring for the spiritual needs of young people.  I have a ton of fond memories of him & Mrs. Baker (“Virginia”) interacting with the youth at church.  There were the skits, the parties, the snow trips, the friends, & the food – but in hindsight, it was all designed to help us love God more & to grow us teens into spiritually responsible Christian adults.

When I was about 16, there was a day that has become so shrouded by the passage of time that I remember very little of it.  On this particular day, there was a large youth rally that Pastor Baker took us to somewhere (Everett?  Seattle?  I really don’t remember where).  I don’t remember anything about the speaker or even what he spoke about.  But when the invitation was given to follow Jesus completely, I went forward.  This was not for salvation; that was taken care of years before this event.  But I had not been totally sold out for Christ, & I knew it.  Still, in spite of the crowd, I felt terribly alone – until I looked behind me, & there was Pastor Baker!  He had followed me up the aisle to be as of much help to me as he could.  That is forever emblazoned on my memory!

I loved one phrase that Pastor Baker used to say from the pulpit often: when he was making a point about something he would say “I can tell you this without fear of successful contradiction…”  I’m probably the only person who remembers that.  It’s amazing what a person forgets or what he remembers!

Every year we had Christmas Cantata practice, led by Pastor Baker.  And every year I would get chosen to do the narration part, which I thought was a real privilege.  But I eventually figured out it had much more to do with the fact that I couldn’t sing than the thought that I made such a good narrator!

One of my memories from the ‘60’s, was going to the Bakers’ house to work on the weekly church bulletin.  Pastor Baker had some special coated paper that you would type holes into.  When this was placed into his mimeograph machine, the ink would fill those spaces & produce copies.  I remember that it stunk.  I also remember that I wasn’t very proficient at it, & the copies came out blotchy many times.  But Pastor was patient with me because he understood how much I wanted to feel useful.

Pastor Baker had a little clip on name tag he kept in his green Chevy Carryall.  It just had the word “CLERGY” on it.  I guess I can admit this now, but for years I thought it was a joke!  I thought “’clergy’ is just a stuffy way of saying ‘pastor,’ so he must have it because ‘clergy’ is more fun to say than ‘pastor.’”  Of course, I eventually came to understand that he actually used it when he visited people in the hospital!

Camp Gilead also produces a lot of memories for me.  It meant so much to me that Pastor Baker, as well as many of the other pastors, went TO camp – they didn’t just send us there!  I respected him (& them) for that, even at the time.  But I’ve seen enough Christian Camps in my lifetime to know that many pastors wouldn’t do that even if they could.  Life for pastors is crammed with many crushing responsibilities that few understand.  Why would they want to “waste their time” with a bunch of rowdy kids when there are so many other more important things to do?   The point is, those pastors, including Pastor Baker, saw us as kids whose lives were worth investing in, not just a bunch of brats to be avoided. 

That’s the bottom line for me.  Cordell & Virginia sacrificially invested their lives into young people when they could have done virtually anything else.  They are a team, so it’s difficult to say a lot of praiseworthy things about him without including her.  I praise God for them both!

There is so much more I could write about: godly character, servant’s heart, gracious hospitality, love for the Lord, etc., etc.  As I approach my 65th birthday, Pastor Baker, thank you for the memories.