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.C. Warf Ordained Into Ministry Milton Clay Warf was or- dained to the gospelministry by Trinity Baptist Church, Reidsville, on October 10, at the request of Temple Baptist Church, Durham. He holds the following degrees: A.A. from Gardner- WebbCollege; B.A. from Wake Forest University; and M. Div. fro the Southern Baptist T ological Seminary. arf is married to the former tty Austin of Spartanburg, South Carolina. The Warfs have a seventeen-month-old son, Justin. Participating in the or- dination service were Warf's father, Rev. Milfon Warf, pastor of Trinity Church; Rev. Charles Page, pastor of Thompsonville Church; Mr. Billy Gann, Chair- man of Board of Deacons, Trinity Church· Rev. D.O. Wright, pastor of Pr vidence Church; Dr. Robert Bailey, pastor of Temple Church, Durham; Rev. Tom Faircloth, Missionary, Dan ·Valley Association; Rev. Tim Bryant; and Rev. Mike Hooper. ---------- Warf began serving as Associate Minister of Temple Baptist Church, Durham, on ugust 23. rrcigW'Ttllfc~ - Reidsville Review OCT 2 9 1971
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.C. Warf Ordained Into Ministry - Wake Forest University · .C. Warf Ordained Into Ministry ... a seventeen-month-old son, Justin. Participating in the or ... Point in 1992 and is

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Page 1: .C. Warf Ordained Into Ministry - Wake Forest University · .C. Warf Ordained Into Ministry ... a seventeen-month-old son, Justin. Participating in the or ... Point in 1992 and is

.C. Warf Ordained Into Ministry Milton Clay Warf was or­

dained to the gospel ministry by Trinity Baptist Church, Reidsville, on October 10, at the request of Temple Baptist Church, Durham. He holds the following

degrees: A.A. from Gardner­ Webb College; B.A. from Wake Forest University; and M. Div. fro the Southern Baptist T ological Seminary.

arf is married to the former tty Austin of Spartanburg,

South Carolina. The Warfs have a seventeen-month-old son, Justin. Participating in the or­

dination service were Warf's father, Rev. Milfon Warf, pastor of Trinity Church; Rev. Charles Page, pastor of Thompsonville Church; Mr. Billy Gann, Chair- man of Board of Deacons, Trinity Church· Rev. D.O. Wright, pastor of Pr vidence Church; Dr. Robert

Bailey, pastor of Temple Church, Durham; Rev. Tom Faircloth, Missionary, Dan

·Valley Association; Rev. Tim Bryant; and Rev. Mike Hooper.

---------- Warf began serving as Associate Minister of Temple Baptist Church, Durham, on ugust 23.

rrcigW'Ttllfc~ - Reidsville Review

OCT 2 9 1971

Page 2: .C. Warf Ordained Into Ministry - Wake Forest University · .C. Warf Ordained Into Ministry ... a seventeen-month-old son, Justin. Participating in the or ... Point in 1992 and is

Warf To Become Temple Baptist Senior Minister The Rev. M. Clay Warf has

accepted a call to become min­ ister of Temple Baptist Church in Durham. Warf, who was the associate

minister, became interim min­ ister in January. The son of a Baptist minister,

he is a native of Reidsville. He received his B.A. degree from Wake Forest University and his master of divinity degree from Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. Warf has done clinical train­

ing in the Baptist Hospital in Winston-Salem. He will preach his first ser­

mon as senior minister on July 13.

Dunn Record Durham Herald 'O'Urham Sun Elizabeth CitY Advance F ayettevllle Observer Fayetteville Times Gastonia Gazette ~ Goldsboro: News-Argus t:; Greensboro Daily News~

'i - ...,,_~ "

Page 3: .C. Warf Ordained Into Ministry - Wake Forest University · .C. Warf Ordained Into Ministry ... a seventeen-month-old son, Justin. Participating in the or ... Point in 1992 and is

J;F- , ) vt SATURDAY, JULY 5, 1975 Warf Is New Pastor Of Temple Baptist The Rev. Clay M. Warf has

been called as minister of Temple Baptist Church. He will deliver his first

sermon as senior minister .Iuly 13; however, he will preside in a service of communion and baptism at 11 a.m. tomorrow. Warf came to Temple in

August 1971, to serve as as­ sociate minister, and in January 1975, was named interim min­ ister. He is a native of Reidsville

and is the son of a Baptist minister. He is married to the former Betty Austin of Spar­ tanburg, S.C., and they have two sons. He has received degrees from

Gardner-Webb College, Wake

Forest lJ'riiversity and Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. Prior to coming To Durham

he served as pastoral intern m 23rd and Broadway Baptist Church and as associate minister of Highland Park Second Baptist Church, both in Louisville, Ky. Warf has done clinical train­

ing in the Baptist Hospital in Winston-Salem. He is a member of the Durham Ministers' Association and Yates Baptist Ministers' Association. He also serves as chairman of tbs Yates Association Student Work Committee and secretary - treasurer of Watts Hospital Clergy Staff.

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CLIPPING SERVICE 1115 HILLSBORO

RALEIGH, NC 27603 TEL. (919) 833-2079

COJJRIER TIMES ROXBORO, N. C.

5 93

(Cla~ \N;n never wanted to follow in his dad's footsteps

By BONNIE DAVIS Religion Editor

"All my life people asked me if I was going to be a minister like my dad," recalls the Rev. Dr. Clay Warf, who began serving as Roxboro Baptist Church's pastor in January. "I said 'no'."

His reaction was typical of other preachers' kids who grow up knowing all the demands the ministry makes on pastors. Ob­ viously, something changed along the way since Warf, whose father is a retired Baptist minister, has been in the ministry over 20 years.

"When I was a freshman in college, I surrendered to Chris­ tian service, but not to pastor," Warf said. "I was open to doing anything else."

A 1963 graduate of Reidsville High School, Warf graduated from Gardner-Webb Junior Col­ lege and received a B.A degree in religion from Wake Forest University in 1967. He earned a master of divinity degree from Sout?ern Seminary in Louisville, Ky. m 1971 and came back to North Carolina. He served Temple Baptist Church in Durham for 21 years, his entire career until coming to Roxboro. During that time, he also earned a doctor of ministry degree from Southeastern Baptist Theologi­ cal Seminary in 1984.

Warf served as Temple's as­ sociate pastor for the first four years and then became its pastor after overcoming his resistance to God's call to the pastoral ministry.

"Fortunately, it was a place where we could have stayed right on and on,"Warfsaid ofTemple, a downtown church in a chang­ ing area of Durham.

Warf and _his wife Betty, who

there was no need for us to leave there. But we just felt led to go; we had to decide if this was God's will for us. And it was."

As with many ministers, Wart's favorite aspect of the ministry is what he calls "pastoring." "If I could, I would spend all

day visiting people. I like to be with people; I like the ministry part," he said. "My spiritual gift is the gift of mercy, a feeling gift where you sense things-tension, joy, sadness. rm most comfort­ able operating out of that mode and relating to people out of that mode."

He said he "loves the preach­ ing event", but that "getting to Sunday at 11 a.m. is gut­ wrenchingwork."Warftakes that responsibility seriously, admit­ ting that he is a workaholic and that's he not proud of that fact. Mornings find him working and studying in his office, preparing the messages that he has printed up to distribute to shut-ins and those who request copies.

Even so, Warf, remembering his father's busy schedule as a bi­ vocational minister, has always tried to make sure that he has time for the couple's two sons 1

. ' missing very few ball games and school events during their earlier years. The Warfs' sons are now grown and away from home for the most part. Their older son Justin, 23, graduated from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point in 1992 and is a second lieutenant in the U.S. Army, serving in a field artillery unit at Fort Carson, Colorado Springs, Colo. Their younger son Ryan, 21, is a junior at East Carolina University.

The\Varfs,whohaveboughta home _in Fairfield Park, enjoy traveling and are ACC fans,

Warf said, "and to provide min­ istry opportunities in the com­ munity."

Churches usually try to pro­ vide good youth ministries, but it is also important to offer good programs for other ages. He said he would like to see the church actively involved in community ministries, offering backyard Bibleclubsorworkingwithsenior adults in the county. "We need to do some major

renovations of our facilities and make the church more attractive and functional," he said, citing plans for the church's 1950-era educational building and the addition ofa parking lot adjacent to the church. Work has already begun on the parking lot, which will be paved once funds are raised.

"We have felt a lot of encour­ agement and support from the ----

Rev. Dr: Clay Warf

people," Warf said of Roxboro Baptist. "They were ready for a pastor and are ready to get on with the business of the church."

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- CLIPPING SERVICE 1115 HILLSBORO

RALEIGH, NC 27603 TEL (919) 833-2079

a(µ:! /IJOAI-) COU~R TIME~ ROXBORO, N. C.

/ ;;itl l-'

TV TURNOFF: A Roxboro pastor who successfully

petitioned the North Carolina Baptist Convention on Tuesday to call for a one­ day television turnoff to protest violence and immorality in television program­ ming is "surprised" at the attention the action has received.

"I think it's an indication that people were wanting someone to do something about it," said the Rev. Dr. Clay W~ pastor of Roxboro Baptist Church.

The N.C. Baptist Convention, holding its annual meeting in Winston-Salem this week, unanimously passed Warf's motion designating Sunday, May 1,1994, as "the

Great American TV Turnoff Day". Warf is calling for the action "in protest

of the assault on Christian morals and values as well as common decency by the television industry" and "as a way of encouraging families to spend quality time together" on that day.

The Council on Christian Life and Public Affairs, a Baptist organization, is being asked to promote the special observance among North Carolina Baptists and to encourage Baptist conven­ tions in other states to join in the effort as well. Since some of those conventions have already met this year, Warf is ,,--...

Roxboro pastor's motion wins State Baptist Convention nod

asking that the TV Turnoff Day be to say it's just a coincidence. This tells me repeated on May 1,1995. s?mehow that we need to ?e ~ore respon-

Warf said he was encouraged to pursue sibls a~out our p~ogram1?1ng. . . the matter after reading a recent editorial . ~n his conv~ntion motion, Warf s!11d it in the state Baptist newspaper, The is time to say we have had enough ... We Biblical Recorder, in which editor Gene may not be able to tum you around, but Puckett questioned the "conditioning of we can sure tum you off " young minds by a powerful medium that Warf's comments were interrupted by portrays illicit sex, alcohol/drugs, and applause from the approximate}?' 4,000 violence of all sorts as the norm." delegates to the Baptist convention, who

"Many ofus believe that there is a heard Warf's motion as they waited for direct correlation between what is aired results of the convention's presidential into America's homes and what happens election on Tuesday. Warf was able to get in America' streets and schools," Warf to a floor microphone and be reco~~e~ said. "There are just too many similarities See ROXBORO ba~

Warf

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A14 The Courier-Times, Roxboro, N.C. Saturday, November 20, 1993

'Roxboro pastor's TV turnoff motion wins Baptists' nod I

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"I saw it as a positive thing," he said. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "We're not out to get the television . . ,, . industry. We're just calling on them to ~ee~ to have responsibility, Warf said, join a partnership with us. We'd like them 'We re not advocating taking a:iybody's to take some initiative for looking into the freedom ~~ay: We are advo~t1?~ that correlation between what's shown on the t~leVIsio_n mdust~ ~d md1Vldual~ television and what ha pens in societ " ?xercise their responsibility. If something

. ~ ~- is morally corrupting us, we have a moral Warf said he would like to_see t.ele'll- responsibility to try to address the source

sion producers take the lead in doi?g a of that moral corruption." study of the issue and, if a correlation is . found "to be responsible and address the Warf said May 1 is an appropnate day problem." for the TV Turnoff because its is the .

"Anywhere you have freedom, you also beginning of the Baptists' annual Chris-

tian Home Week emphasis. Also, it is May Day, denoting the beginning of spring and also an international radio telephone signal of distress. "By turning off our television on this

day, we can not only express our distress over the significant contribution of television to the moral decay of our land, but also celebrate a new day in which the people of our state and our land say to the television industry, 'Enough'.

"By turning off our televisions on this one day, program sponsors will know tha a large segment of the population will no be viewing their commercials. Program producers will know if they do not exer­ cise their responsibility in programming, we will exercise our responsibility by turning them off," Warf said in his motion.

The positive vote by the Baptist delegates, who are called messengers, caught the attention of the media across the state and as far away as New York, where Warf participated in a live radio talk show on ABC Radio on Wednesday night.

In North Carolina, there are approxi­ mately 1.2 million Baptists in over 3,500 churches, and an estimated 15 million Baptists nationwide. The churches are all autonomous and are not bound by the actions of their conventions, but the conventions do set the agenda for churches.

''We have the power," said Warf. "Ifwe don't watch it [current programming], the television industry will offer us something else."

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CLIPPING SERVICE 1115 HILLSBORO

RALEIGH, NC 27603 ~\( TEL. (919) 833-2079

HOME NEWS MARSHVIU~ N. C.

APR 21 94

( TV Turn Off~ . Advocate To . Speak~- ~qi

The Rev. Clay Warf, pastor of the First Baptist Church of Roxboro, will speak at Wingate College on April 21, at 9:30 a.m. in Laney Hall. Admis- sion to this event, part of the Col­ lege's Lyceum Series, is free and open to the public.

Rev. Warf's proposal before the Baptist State Convention last fall met with wide enthusiasm and May 1, 1994 was designated as the day for the "turnoff' as a means of protesting what Warf and others see as a grow­ ing tide of unwholesome materijri in

(Continued On Page 2)/ I\

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(Continued From Page 1) commercial and cable television.

The "turnoff' event is also de­ signed to remind families that parents already have the control over what comes into their own homes by sim­ ply changing the channel or turning off the set.

For more information about this event contact the Campus Ministry Office at 233-8026.

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ay Warf pastor at urc of Roxboro,

will speak at 9:30 a.rn. in Laney Hall. Admission to the event, part of the school's Lyceum Series, is free and open to the public. At last fall's Baptist State Con­

vention, Warf introduced a pro­ posal that May 1 be designated "TV Turnoff Day" as a means of protest­ ing what Warf said was a rising tide of unwholesome material on com­ mercial and cable TV. The pro­ posal was approve9:--

CLIPPING SERVICE 1115 HILLSBORO

RALEIGH, NC 27603 TEI,.. (919~ 833-2079

OBSERVER CHARLO~ N.C. CIRs SUNa 269,435

Cla;;w~ APR 21 94

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/~

/TV TURNOFF Baptists to leave televisions off this Sunday in two-prong effort

television viewers." To this end, the State Baptist Convention

also has developed a television evaluation form that it is distributing with its materials. The form lists both positive and negative acts and asks the viewer to check the incidences which occur during the program and its commercials. It also has questions for viewers to answer after watching the show, such as "Was it entertain­ ing?", "What, if anything, did you learn?" "Would you recommend this program to a friend?". It also includes a scale for ranking the overall value of the program.

The Baptist State Convention has had a "big response" to its offer to provide churches with the TV Turnoff materials, according to Steve Sumerall, Director of Family Life and Substance Abuse, a division of the Christian Life Council.

"Our office has looked like a mailroom. We've been sending out packages everyday," he said.

Sumerall said every day staff members have been talking to reporters from across the state and in other parts of the country who have learned about the effort.

"Interestingly, the Southern Baptist Conven­ tion has not called or make inquiries about doing this denominationally, although they Ken Martin/C-T certainly know we're doing it," he said. Roxboro Baptist pastor, the Rev. Dr. Clay Warf, initiated

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The Courier ·Tim.es Roxboro, N.C.

Television screens will be blank in many homes across the state on Sunday during the observance of The Great American TV Turnoff, an event planned by the North Carolina Baptist Convention and initiated by a Roxboro pastor. Baptist pastors in many of the 3,500 churches

across the state will be encouraging their congregations to refrain from watching televi­ sion on Sunday to make a statement about responsible television programming.

The TV Turnoff was born in Roxboro, con­ ceived by the Rev. Dr. Clay Warf, pastor of Roxboro Baptist Church. Warf successfully presented the idea for the TV protest to Baptists last fall during the annual Baptist State Con­ vention at its meeting in Winston-Salem.

Approximately 4,000 people who attended that meeting unanimously passed Warfs motion calling for people to turn· off their televisions on May 1 "to protest the assault on Christian morals and values as well as common decency by the television industry" and to encourage families "to spend quality time together."

Warf also asked that the Baptist State Convention's Council on Christian Life and Public Affairs help promote the observance, which comes at the beginning of the Baptists' annual Christian Home Week.

The State Convention responded by prepar­ ing colorful inserts for church bulletins showing an outstretched hand and bearing the slogan, "Power-It's In Your Reach".

"Power to decide what programs come into your home. Power to reject unwanted violence, sex, and immorality in programming. Power to join with other N.C. Baptists to send a message of protest by turning your TV off for a whole day .... Unite with us to form one powerful voice on May 1st to say 'ENOUGH' to the television industry. On this day, and every day, the power and the choice are within your reach," the flier reads.

On the flip side, the insert has directions for folding the scored rectangular card in half and placing it on a television "as a reminder to use your powers of discretion and choice".

The Courier-Times, Roxboro, N.C. Saturday, April 30, 1994 B15

Churches & Reli ion

'We're not anti­ television. We're asking people to be their own conscience, to be responsible television viewers.'

-The Rev. Dr. Clay Warf

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1--°"'They did it!

RALEIGH, NC 27603 TEL. (919) 833-2079

~ {)t. CVrl v•f Qi)UIJER TIM§S ROXBORO, N.O.

\C;\ APR 22 95

The Roxboro Baptist Church pastor and his wife who attempted a 50-mile walk over Easter weekend were successful in their efforts.

Both the Rev. Dr. Clay Warf and his wife Betty walked the entire 50 miles over the two-day span, finishing last Saturday afternoon in the Gordonton community, about 12.5 miles from their home, where a group of people from their church were on hand to cheer their accom­ plishment. The couple was joined on the last 1 O miles of their walk by others from their church at various points along the way in a show of support.

The two say they were tired and sore, especially their feet, but that they learned they could do a lot more than they thought they could.

"I wouldn't want to try it again anytime soon," said Warf. I Warf decided to make the 50-mile walk after celebrating his 50th I

birthday in January and thinking about the things he had always wanted I to do in his life but had not yet accomplished. Betty said she joined I him "to keep him from hurting himself' by walking too fast. I

The walk benefited Roxboro Baptist's organ renovation fund since I Warf challenged the congregation to make $100 pledges to the organ fund if he completed the walk. Over $7,000 in pledges were raised for I the fund.

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COURIER TIMES ROXBORO, N. C.,

e)Wv)~Wb ~?' NOV 19 97

Ken Martin I C-T

The Rev. Dr. Clay Warf, pastor of Roxboro Baptist Church, holds his self -produced CD recording of original songs

Roxboro Bapti tChunn pastor protluces recording of original songs By WINKIE WILKINS C-T Associate Editor

(Gronback) calls 'mastering.' That was where it got to be real expensive."

All of the expenses involved in All From Clay have been born by Warf and wife Betty. "You pay an hourly rate for the studio. In this case, it was $60 per hour," said Warf. "You buy the (reel to reel) tapes for the recording sessions and they cost $100 a reel. It's an expensive proposition to go to a recording studio." The W arfs also chose to underwrite production of the CDs and cassette tapes, rather than to seek a recording company to handle production. That decision gave the Warfs control over the product. It also meant that they shouldered all production costs.

"If you come out with a product such as we have, it's a very expensive thing," said Warf.

After he and Betty began having songs copyrighted, they began getting contacts from recording companies.

"But, I didn't know any of these people," said Warf. "These are my songs. I didn't want people that I didn't know doing my stuff."

After Clay and Betty Warf had selected Oasis Recording as the production company, Oasis sent the Warfs a form that was to be filled out and returned. One question asked about the type of music included in All From Clay. The form included many different types of music and all that had to be done was to check one.

"'l'he)' didn't have a category that I liked," said Warf. "l called it 'classic American.' It's just American music. One song, You Can Go Home Again, is about Person County and Rockingham County, where I grew up. Give Me, Lord, This Mountain is a song I wrote during the 1996 Olympics. I would like to see it used in some way in the 1999 Special Olympics.

"A second song that I would like to see something special done with is My Blue Heaven. It's about North Carolina. I believe that song could be used to promote North Carolina."

On Thursday of this week, local radio station WKRX will begin playing selections from All From Clay. Warf is hopeful that those airings will help sales. Yes, he does have some goals in mind for his first recorded product.

"Here's what I hope," he said. "I hope that we can sell these CDs and cassettes. Secondly, I hope that some record company would be interested enough in them to give me the opportunity to record the songs for them. The third thing is, if I can't record the songs myself, I can sell them to someone who would."

But, Warf was quick to add, if none of that happens, it will be okay.

"Betty and I are partners in this thing and we decided that from the beginning," he said. "We decided, if none of that happens, we would still have my words, my songs, my voice. They will be our songs. We sat down and said from the beginning, if nothing ever comes of this, we will have a good recording of these songs."

"I think there are three or four more that I have written since then," Warf said. "But, I've just put that on hold until we get this project (the initial product) off the ground.''

Warf doesn't know how other song writers do things. What he does know is that his own efforts must come naturally.

"I never sat down and just said, 'I'm going to write a song," he said. "It just doesn't happen that way for me. I don't think I could do that.

"For instance, the second thing that I wrote was a poem for my mother for Mother's Day," Warf continued. "I had written that and had actually given it to her. Then, I decided to set that to music. I did and I added a chorus to it. So, the poem that's hanging in her house doesn't have a chorus. We had already had it printed out nice and matted and framed for her."

During his younger years, Warf had voice training. "I learned to read music by playing in the band in high school,"

he said. "I played trumpet. But, I never did a lot of singing. Sure, I sang in my church, but I never did a lot of singing until I went off to college. I went off to college and I was encouraged to get some voice training and I did for probably three years.

"After I had written several songs, I would sing them for Betty," he said. "She liked them. I would share the songs with other people from time to time, but Betty was the one who really encouraged me. When l would share them with other people, it was obvious that some didn't know what to say.

"When it's your baby, you always think it's pretty. You don't , know if you want to expose that baby to somebody else.

"But, Betty was the one who always encouraged me. With her encouragement, I persuaded Beth Gillis and Urel Gillis to work with me: I engaged them to help me with this project. They have both been very generous and very accommodating. I think they have both enjoyed it as well."

For the songs that make up All From Clay, Beth Gillis accompa- nies Warf on piano and Urel Gillis on 12-string guitar. Both Gillis' also sing harmony parts. ·

The CDs and cassette tapes have been produced by Oasis Record­ ing Inc. of Flint Hill, Va. The soundtrack was made much closer to home.

"We did the recording at TGS Studios in Chapel Hill," said Warf. "I just looked up recording studios in the phone book in Durham. Actually, there are several listed. I talked with several of them and I just liked the way this man (TGS owner Steve Gronback) talked. I went over there one time, saw his studio and just liked him."

All From Clay was done during three recording sessions. "We (Warf and the Gillises) would go over there in the evenings,"

Warf said. "We would get there at about six o'clock and work until about 10. Then, I had a fourth session, just me, for what he

Most know him as a preacher of the Gospel. Many, especially those who attend Roxboro Baptist Church, also

know that Rev. Clay Warf has a tremendous singing voice. It's likely that few know that Clay Warf is a song writer and

composer. Actually, Warf himself did not realize that he had those latter

capabilities until three and a half years ago. Today, Warf and his wife and strongest supporter Betty are giving

the public an opportunity to enjoy ... and judge ... Warf s capabilities as a song writer and composer and singer.

It's called All From Clay, and it's available on compact disc and cassette tape. All From Clay is a collection of the first 15 songs Clay Warf ever

wrote. Until a couple of months ago, they were the only 15 songs he had ever written. Since the taping of All From Clay, Warf has written a few more songs.

All From Clay is available here at Community Pharmacy Ser­ vices. The CD is $13.99 each, the cassette tape is slightly less.

The 15 songs, all written in the past three and a half years, are songs about things that are real- Warfs wife to whom the entire collection is dedicated, his mother, his father (also a preacher), his dear friend who died at an early age.

"I had never even thought about writing a song," said Warf. "But, about three and a half years ago, some incidents happened.

"I had lost a dear friend of mine years ago, almost 20 years ago, and I had never dealt with that. I had been having some trouble sleeping. I wasn't able to sleep one night. I had that (the friend's death) on my mind. Suddenly, the words and the music just came to me that night ... at the same time, which is very unusual.

"I got up in the middle of the night and wrote down the words. Then, I found a tape recorder in the middle of the night and sang the lyrics. How all that came to me at that time, I have no idea. That was the first time anything like that had ever happened."

It wasn't to be the last. Warf continued to write the words and the music for songs and frequently did so in the middle of the night.

"The first time we (Warf and wife Betty) copyrighted these songs, we called them 'Songs in the Night," Warf said. "I wasn't sleeping well at night at that time. The second group we copyrighted, we just called 'More Songs in the Night.' The last two we did, I think we just called them 'Two More Songs in the Night.' Those last two we actually copyrighted this summer. That accounts for the 15 that are on the CD."

There have been a few more since.

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Roxboro Baptist's-senior minister steps doW/1 BY LEAH VESSELOV

C-T Staff Writer

It is not often that at the age of 53, a man is called upon to drasti­ cally change his life, to leave be­ hind those that he loves, but that is exactly what has happened to the pastor of Roxboro Baptist Church.

Dr. Clay Warf, senior pastor of Roxboro Baptist for the past five years, resigned last Sunday to be­ come the next executive director of the North Carolina Baptist Foundation in Cary.

The foundation was founded in 1920, to support Baptist work by encouraging charitable giv­ ing to institutions, missions, and other ministries affiliated with the Baptist State Convention of North Carolina and the South­ ern Baptist Convention. At present, the foundation manages over $73 million in assets.

As executive director for the foundation, Dr. Warf will travel throughout the state educating church congregations about the foundation's work and encour­ aging Baptists to design a life plan through the foundation that will benefit theirfavoritecharities or organizations in perpetuity, while also taking care of their heirs.

In a decision he agonized over for some weeks, Dr. Warf came to believe that accepting the execu­ tive position was part of God's will. "I wasn't looking for some­ thing else," explained Warf, but a long-time friend and board member of the foundation sought him out four or five weeks ago and asked him to meet with the foundation's search committee to at least explore the opportunity.

Warf said that before meeting with the search committee, he explored in his own mind why he would consider leaving a church where he is happy and everything

<>

is going well. He determined that he truly believed in the work of the foundation and discovered that he would continue to per­ form some of his favorite duties of the pastoral ministry such as preaching, speaking and writing, and ministering to the people he will come in contact with on a daily basis.

After being a Baptist minister for nearly 30 years, Warf is ex­ cited about being the first pastor selected as the foundation's ex­ ecutive director. All the other directors have been business leaders, but, Warf explained, the foundation was feeling a need for someone able to relate and min­ ister to people as well as manage an administrative work load.

Yet, to consider leaving was still an agonizing prospect for Warf, who said there were times whenhecouldn'teatorsleep, but that his wife, Betty, seemed to know what to do, whether it was walking with him through their neighborhood at midnight, or let­ ting him go out alone to wash the car late one night.

"It's been a very difficult deci­ sion, primarily because of the re­ lationships here with the church staff. We have had tremendously good relationships, been very supportive of one another and we've worked well together and things have gone so well for us that it is hard for me to leave them."

"I really believe that I could not find a church family that would be more supportive or en­ couraging than this church has been. All that has made it very difficult to try, at 53 years old, something that I've never done before. I'mexcitedaboutthisnew challenge, new opportunity, par­ ticularly at this point in my life, but I'm grieved ... about lea ving a church family where such good things are happening."

Dr. M. Clay Warf will give deliver his final sermon to the cong-regat1onatROXhoro Baptist Ch~ on Sunday, April 19. - Roxboro Baptist's family life

and education minister Sarah Childers said that the congregation's hushedresponse to the announcement of Dr. Warfs resignation last Sunday was as if someone had died. She went on to say that last Wednesday's service prompted many parishioners to pour out their feelings over Dr. Warfs leaving. And in a special moment, Edwin Coats, the former executive director of the Baptist Foundation for the past 20 years, was so moved that he presented Dr. Warf with a small, gold one-of­

· ~

a-kind pin that he had removed from his own lapel just moments before. The pin had been specially made for Coats for his service to the foundation and stated that he just felt Dr. Warf ought to have that pin now. ·

Said Warf, "I've truly come to believe that this is God's leader­ ship and his will. That doesn't make leaving easy, but does make it possible."

Warf will continue as pastor at Roxboro Baptist until Easter Sun­ day, and he will return to deliver a final message on April 19. \\

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DR. MILTON CLAY WARF

1971-1975

1975-present

Milton Clay Warf was born at Reidsville, North Carolina, on

January 23, 1945. He is the son of a Baptist minister, Rev. Milton

A. Warf, and Louise Warf of Reidsville, North Carolina. He grad­

uated from Reidsville Senior High in 1963, received an A.A. degree

from Gardner-Webb College in 1965, and a B.A. from Wake Forest

University in 1967. He did a summer in Clinical Pastoral Education

at North Carolina Baptist Hospital in 1968. He received the Master

of Divinity degree in 1971 from the Southern Baptist Theological

Seminary and the D.Min. from Southeastern Baptist Seminary in 1984.

Clay has held church positions as follows: 1967-1969, pastoral

intern, Twenty-Third and Broadway Baptist Church in Louisville,

Kentucky; 1969-1971, associate minister, Highland Park Second Baptist

Church in Louisville, Kentucky, 1971-1975, associate minister, Temple

Baptist Church in Durham; and 1975-present, senior minister, Temple

Baptist Church in Durham.

Very active in denominational service, Clay has served Yates

Baptist As soc t a.t t on as follows:

Student Work Committee (2 years), chairman Annual Meeting Committee (3 years), chairman Missions Committee (5 years), chairman Place and Preacher Committee (1 year), member Retirement Horne Feasibility Study Committee, member Yates Village Retirement Community, trustee Executive Committee (5 years), member Yates Baptist Ministers Conference, vice-president and president

His Baptist State Convention service follows:

Resolutions Committee, member World Hunger Task Force, member World Hunger Committee, chairman Church in Transition Task Force, chairman N.C./Togo Partnership Steering Committee, member Church Extension Department, consultant Camp Caraway (state RA camp), camp pastor Gardner-Webb College Ministerial Board of Associates, member Wake Forest University Ministerial Board, member Life Enrichment Center, board of directors

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...

MILTON CLAY WARF------------2

Service to Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary:

Visiting Professor of Supervised Minister, Spring 1985 and Spring 1987

Case Study Leader, Formation in Ministry course, 1980-present Field Supervisor for Doctor of Ministry students, 1986-present Guest speaker for Chapel services, Fall 1977 and Fall 1986 Annual Lecturer, Urban Ministry Seminar, 1983-present

Community service:

Durham County General Hospital Clergy Staff (Volunteer chaplaincy program)

Durham Ministers' Interdenominational Association Contact Teleministry, Senior Worker, Board of Directors World Day of Prayer Ecumenical Service Planning Committee Durham Congregations in Actions (49 area churches working

together to meet community needs; ministries include Meals on Wheels, Community Soup Kitchen, and emergency shelter), member of Board of Directors

WTVD Moments of Meditation, Sign-on/off Devotionals Durham Cablevision, weekly telecast of Temple's morning worship

Publications:

The Baptist Program Stewardship Sermon of the Month, "According to Capacity",

March 1974 "What Will We Say to Starving People?", June/July 1979

Proclaim "The Christian Funeral", July 1979

Roots of Hope: Miss-a-Meal Meditations, 1979 - Contributor Award-Winning Sermons, vol. III, Broadman Press, "The God of

the Lo s t " The Road of Renewal: The Journey of an Urban Church

Doctor of Ministry Project Publication, 1984 imPACT, published by Metropolitan Missions Department, Home

Mission Board, 1985 "Refocusing the Mission through Creative Dreaming".

Dr. Warf is married to Betty Austin of Spartanburg, South Carolina, whom he married on December 17, 1967. They have two sons, Samuel Justin, born May 15, 1970, and Ryan Austin, born June 30, 1972. Dr. Warf's hobbies are golf, travel, jogging, and spectator sports.

FROM GLORY TO GLORY - A History of Temple Baptist Church, Durham, NC By: Ruby West (286.175656/W52f) Page: 115-116