Fuller, Densel G.
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Den s l Ful e r
1~s .
Dens el Fuller
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GENERAL
BOARD
OF
UN
EVANGELISM , THE
~
IT ~~D M ( yH 0
D I ST
CHURC H
CARL E. KEIGHTLEY
DIRECTOR OF COMMUNICATIONS
1908 GRAND AVENUE
NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE 37203
PHONE (615) 291-5910
~ev. Densel Full er and Mrs. Fuller of Jonesville, Michigan
ioTaS
8!llong the 100 persons 1iho at:ended t.he co!:!fcrence on evange).ism for Lay Pa:::tors an.d
associate rr.eebers of
e.n~u~·l
conf er ences .
C.)nfererc~. cU~·ected
The
by Dr. U. D. Lester
and Rev. Lam·enc:e Ei.senbm.·g dre<·r c1elegat:es tx·cun fliaine tc CaJ ifornia. with Ma1·ylal1d
having the most
delegat~s
present.
Addl'es ses and smaJJ. grm.\p sessions cJ.ealt \·r.i..th the role of pastOi· in che_'l'lging times
Dr. Ross Freena.n,
and with evangelism.
pan·~ot'
of Stu.tesl:lo:ro, Geor.gia, United I.fethcdist
Chtu-ch described the m).nis·tE";r as s. coach uho does not ple.y the game, but :;:ec:ruits,
instructs and drills.
mini ster must guide
He s aid a religious
pe:t'SOUS
professor called for deeper
c:i.vili~s.Uon
:i.n thi s dil:ection.
int~J.lec·i;ual
rrhe
is the
fl."\l"'I!.e!'
~timulation
~wrld
1
s only hope and the
Ca..11dler School c-f Theolcgy
of the laity e.nd confrontations
with the uora. so that men uz:derstand uha.t it means to be e. Chl·istia.n in their jobs
and their community.
Dr. Carl E. Keightley, director of
~rarned
C~<municatious
for the General Board of
Evaugelis~
that eve.ngelism cannot have e. nev de.y until Cb!'istians quit taking some fragment
of J e3u s of rihich they approve and m.."\.klng that theil· Christ instead of accepting Jeaus
in all His fullness - -both that which. offends them and t.hat
~nth
1;rhich t hey ar e comfortab le.
A highlight of the conference was a stirring ser.:non by Dr. I. B. Loud, Jr.
21 yef].rs pastor of the St. Paul' a United t.fethodist Church in Dallas.
fol~
"Life is a. t.ough
battle and a tedious j ourney, he told the pastors, moot of whom se>.-{e small. cong1•ega.tions ,
but it ce.n be victorious •rhen you enter it
~rlth
music and a st!U" and love.
He called
fol' :l.nta·na.tional pee.t'e-me.k.e1•a to lxring Jesus t~ ... he peace conference if they ·u aut to
find peace and -wcu•ned. pa.storB they wJ ll :ft.'\:i.l 1.11 their m:i.niatry if' t.hey try t.o live
'tdt.hou-t; l<Y.,e.
Dr. Joseph Yeakel, genere.J. sc::<:,·e~ary ot' the Genera.l Board c-i' l:.~nngelism gave ~he
eonclud.ing address of the coni'e.\·ence a.ud UE:v. Hf.I.Ul ice King, dean cf the Upper Room
Chapel directed i:he service of HoJ.y Coot'nunion.
30
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,
MUNISING. MICHIGAN
LYNN AND CHOCOLAY STREETS
Off. EV7-2109
December 7, 1960
Res. EV7-2769
Dear Clyde,
The writing of a biographical sketch is the mo st
that ha s confronted me for a long time. Ann
wrote mos t of it. You see, Clyde,
11
ta s k
to my r escue. She
cam~
I just ain 1 t.
difficu~t
11
I hope that you
can glean s omething from it.
We are trying to get prepared for our local Unit ed Wi tne ss for
Chris t Miss i on as well ae preparing for the two instruction sessions
that are to be here.
I
believ~
evangelism too.
that we will try both the night services and personal
11
Two by Two" looks real good to me.
Our prospect list is in good shape.
v:e
have s ome materials, the
re s t have been ordered. The biggest t ask here i s to g et callers, but
God i s on our side. This was evident by the results of our EveryMember Canvass.
Our committees are jus t starting to work.
In a community as lax a s it i s here our ta sk i s
tre me ndou~ .
It
is a good p lace to work for Chri st for there i s a lot to be done.
We are looking forward to a great 9ampaign and to having the
Rev. Ralph Edwards from East Tawas with u s.
Sinc erely,
I was born 1n . l 915 in Washtenaw County, Michigan. I am the s eventh ofi ten . children. ' My first memories are of living on a farm near
Ypsilanti, Michigan, and the Lincoln Consolidated Sc¥ool was nesr by.
In my early teens God spoke to me to follow Him, and to do Hts
will. At this time I did not.go into full time Christian service but
tried to liv e the best I could with Jesus' teachings as my guide. I
attended the Friend's Church.
I graduated from the Lincoln Consolidated High School in 1934.
As this was in the mid~t of the depre s sion, and the times were ~
·
little ru~ged, it was necessary for me, not to fu~ther my education,
but to seek employment. These jobs wer~ many as well as various. I
worked in the stock room at Kresge' e in Ypsilanti. From. there I went
to the University of Michigan Hospital. There I worked as an orderly.
This meant working with both the sick and the afflicted. It ' mea~t
·
meeting parent~, loved ones, and friends of those in sorrow, in pain,
in happiness, and even a few as they were confronted with t.he-'· e.xperience of death. Through these experi~nces I bel~eved that I could,with.
God 1 s help, be of greater comfort to peopl e in the deep sorrol<rs of life,
so I chose to work in a funeral home. It was there that I realized the
necessity of the assurance of God. There I extended my efforts to be a
comfort to all people. This was in 1 36 and 1 37. Because of lack of
funds I cou~d not continue in this fi~ld, s o I s ought employment with
the Ford Motor Company, first on the Ford Farms and then at the River
Rouge Plant.
On September 24, '37, r · married Ann Garlick. God has blessed us
with four wonderful children. They are: David, born.in ' 39; Patricia,
born in 1 41; Densel Jr. bo~n in 1 44; and Robert, born in 1 ~7. The
two older ones are married, and we are grandparents.
From 1 39 to 1 47 L lived on 3 difterent farms. The l ast of these
was located near Mancheeter, . Michigan. Through the s e years I knew that
God was very,patient . with me, and that He was with us. It was.on the
farm that I was hurt, and was no longer able to ~9 the hard work that
was required. Thie accident necessitated a different vocation. I went
to work for a hardware and farm tmpliment QQnC ern. It was here that I
b egan to realize the potencial of my calling. Along with selling farm
equipment I witnessed.for Christ. I lik ed ~orking and meeting with
peop~e. Full time work i n the store required that we s~ll the big far m
and buy a smaller one. It was in this home, and doing thi s kind of
work, that we spent nine wonderful ~ nd rt~illing years. In I 47 we \'Tere
received into the membership of the Manchester Methodi s t Church, and
served in the places where we were n eeded. \'le truly can reflect upon
many happy experien~ee w~ile living in Manchester.
:Then on . July 9, '56, God spoke directly to me s aying, "Now is the
time. You must preach the Gospel. 11 I knew that I must · follow His command. I knew, because of the encouragement - of friend s , and.~~ own p ersona l experie nce, that I was ready. I then, for th e first time, reali z ed how very patient God had been with me all the s e years .
•
is
My status now
Local Deacon. I have one more year in the Conference Course of Study. I have served ~n the Carlton Circuit with.the
Reverend Leslie Collver. ~his was my first preaching. assignment. In
'57 I was appointed to the Lakeland Circuit near Addison, Michigap.
In 1 59 I came to Muni s ing.
Both my wife and myself have ~erved as camp counsellors in several of the Methodist Camps. Both of us have .been deans of camps. We
seem to b e able to work with youth. We really enjoy our MYF experienceso
,]/
.
The encourage~t and fellowship t~at I have experienced with my .
fellow pastors and the District Sup erintendants are counted among my
greatest blessings.
This is my calling. God hae guided me throughout all the s e years.
He has been ever so patient. I am sure He wanted me t o have these various experiences that I might be better enabled to fe ~ closer.to my
fellowman, and to help them kno1-1 Chri s t in a more p Ersonal \'lay.