The earthquake woke me up.  I was napping last Saturday noon trying to ward off a nasty head cold when the 4.5 quake, centered in Jones, OK, rattled me out of a feverish sleep.  At that same moment my wife, Lise, came to the bedroom door to inform me that Charles Branch had died… two seismic events in a single moment.

Dr. Charles Branch, noted neurosurgeon, father of five, elder in the Lord’s Church, mentor to countless preachers, missionaries, and teachers in the kingdom of God, had passed away quietly at his home in San Antonio.  He was 87.

There will surely be great men and women at his funeral because he and his wife, Sylvia, knew and associated with corporate and political leaders in their circle of friends and associates.I am not one of these, but I can speak for those people who received a hand up from this great and kind Christian man.

In 1979 the missionary that baptized me in Montreal, Canada, left the city for another work.  I was a fairly new Christian but felt it was my calling to step in and take up the ministry that the departing preacher was leaving behind.  Brother Branch was instrumental in establishing the congregation where I served and it was he, like Barnabas who mentored both Paul the Apostle and Mark the gospel writer, that stood up for this young and inexperienced servant before the other elders who oversaw this mission and doubted I could do the job.  He vigorously promoted the potential he saw in me and quite bravely supported my wife and I to carry on a work that he himself had sacrificed so much to establish and maintain.  For this he will always have my unending gratitude.

Charles placed a burden of expectation on me for ministry that continues to motivate me 34 years later as I endeavor to preach God’s Word.  His passing is a great loss to his wife and family, colleagues and the Church.  It is also a loss to the many like me, who were considered unsuitable for ministry because of a lack of education or pedigree (I was a college drop out at the time and my dad had been in the “mob” in Montreal) but were encouraged and supported to get the training needed and introduced to churches who were hiring by Elder Branch.  He risked his own sterling reputation and invested in someone no one else would at the time. 

I will miss you Dr. B.  I will miss those late nights talking about church issues and Bible topics when I visited your home.  I will miss the wonderful stories you regaled me with about your early days as a young resident at McGill under Dr. Penfield.  I will miss the  precious friendship offered me by one I so admired.

Thank you for being my Barnabas and setting me on the pathway to  ministry in the church.  Whatever God has done or will do through me will eternally be part of your spiritual legacy.