PASTOR: a spiritual overseer; especially : a clergyman serving a local church or parish The Call As a student at Southern University in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, Bishop Joseph W. Walker, III accepted his call to preach. Even before that time, he had sensed in his spirit that he was supposed to do something other than practice law. Bishop Walker remembers the moment when he clearly heard the Lord’s voice. “I heard a voice that simply said, ‘NOW.’ I didn’t quite understand what the voice was telling me to do, but whatever it was, I convinced myself that it couldn’t happen at that time because I had already planned out my life. I was going to graduate from Southern and go on to law school. But after I heard that voice, I couldn’t focus. I couldn’t sleep. I couldn’t eat. I ran to the chapel at the Baptist Student Center, fell on my knees, and said, ‘God, what?’ God said, ‘I want you to preach the gospel. I want you to feed my sheep.’ “ The strong pull of the Spirit caused Bishop Walker to question the path he had planned for himself. So instead of heading to law school, he stepped out on faith and decided to enter seminary. With a letter from his pastor, Dr. Harry Blake, senior pastor of Mount Canaan Missionary Baptist Church in Shreveport, Louisiana, Bishop Walker was accepted into divinity school at Vanderbilt University in Nashville. “After I arrived in Nashville, I attended a service at Mt. Zion. On my first visit, I sat in the back and observed this congregation of about 120 people. Mrs. Margaret Wilson introduced herself to me and then introduced me to the pastor, the Reverend E. W. Roberson. Once Rev. Roberson learned that I was a minister, he invited me to sit in the pulpit with him. I stayed for a portion of the service, but I decided to leave and visit another church down the street. But after only 15 minutes at the other church, the power of the Holy Spirit compelled me to return to Mt. Zion. As I walked into the sanctuary, Rev. Roberson was finishing his sermon, and I immediately went forward to join the church. At the time, I was the only associate minister, I was a firstyear seminary student, and I was new in the ministry. But I walked alongside the pastor and served to the best of my ability. Despite his service to Mt. Zion, Bishop Walker had no plans of settling permanently in Nashville. He assumed that after he graduated from Vanderbilt, he would return to Shreveport to assist Dr. Blake in ministry. However, God had other plans for him. “Pastor Roberson called on me more frequently, and people responded favorably to my preaching and teaching. Even after Pastor Roberson left, members of the congregation wanted me to stay on and become their pastor. So, in April 1992, one month before I graduated from divinity
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