Longtime BBFI pastor Wendell Correll left this life December 31, 2015, at the age of 92. He was born August 31, 1923, in Strawberry, KY. He committed his life to Jesus at an early age during a revival meeting in 1935 at Oak Hills Baptist Church.
Shortly after his marriage to Mary Anne Brandon, the newlyweds enrolled in Bible Baptist Seminary, Fort Worth, TX. While in seminary, he worked on staff with J. Frank Norris at First Baptist Church of Fort Worth. After graduation the now family of four moved back to Detroit, where Mary Anne was from, to work on staff with E. J. Rollings at Metropolitan Baptist Tabernacle. After just a few months he was offered a job at Temple Baptist Church of Detroit pastored by G. B. Vick. Correll worked on staff at Temple for 15 years working with the music and singles’ ministry. It was there he mentored and discipled a new Christian by the name of Eli Harju. In 1964, the family of six moved to Orlando, FL, to work with Jewell Smith at Temple Baptist Church. After three years as co-pastor he left the work in Orlando to move to Titusville, FL, to rebuild Westwood Baptist Church. One of the first things he did was rename the church Temple Baptist Church. He served there for 31 years seeing many saved and called to ministry including Dennis Jennings, pastor of Cherry Street Baptist in Springfield, MO. In 1996, the church hosted a “50 years in ministry celebration” for the Corrells with over 1,200 in attendance including over 200 pastors and missionaries. After retiring from the pastorate, he moved his family to Lancaster, KY, and served as chaplain for First Southern National Bank.
He was preceded in death by his wife of 62 years, Mary Anne Brandon Correll. Funeral services were held at Oak Hill Baptist Church in Somerset, KY.
From: Dennis Jennings
Often when a great pastor is remembered after graduating to heaven, he is identified more by the ministries in which he served and other well-known men with whom he rubbed elbows. My pastor, Wendell Correll did not lack in those areas, having worked on staff with the likes of J. Frank Norris (First Baptist, Church of Fort Worth) and G. B. Vick (Temple Baptist Church in Detroit). When arsonists destroyed the church he pastored in Titusville, FL, Jerry Falwell personally came and brought a generous offering to help the rebuilding process of the sanctuary of Temple Baptist Church.
Those who knew Wendell Correll at all knew first and foremost he was a soul-winner. Like John the Baptist, he understood his primary responsibility was to tell others about Jesus. “He must increase, but I must decrease” (John 3:30). Pastor Correll was no respecter of persons. He loved people like Jesus did.
The Correll family moved to Titusville in 1967 when he was called to pastor 17 people meeting in a carport. The church was re-launched as Temple Baptist Church, and by 1971, when my family moved to the city housing projects and my brothers and I started riding the bus to Sunday school, the church was bursting at the seams. Pastor Correll’s passion for souls permeated the church. He not only was a great soul-winner, he successfully transferred his passion to win the lost to staff members, Sunday school teachers, and church members alike.
People mattered to Wendell Correll. While on staff with him, I often heard him say to the secretary as he was walking out the door, “I won’t be back until I get one.” Sure enough, it wouldn’t be long before he came back with a wonderful story of how the Lord saved another soul. It was never about him. It was always about what Christ could do in a person’s life if he or she would just receive the gift of salvation. Eternity was always at stake.
There was never any pretense when he witnessed to a lost person. He was always “the epitome of a godly southern gentleman,” as my wife often admirably described him. He shared the Gospel with love and compassion. He did so with the conviction that all men will spend eternity in heaven or in hell, and with the urgency that comes from knowing we are all just a heartbeat away from eternity.
After retiring from Temple Baptist Church, Pastor Correll moved to Kentucky and served as a chaplain for First Southern National Bank. As a result of his ministry there, more than 1,200 were saved. Though failing health hindered his abilities, his heart for people and his conviction about heaven and hell never faded. There will never be another Wendell Correll. God, grant us a double portion of his conviction to reach people with the Gospel at every opportunity.