Obituaries

Dr. Wendell W. Kempton

Dr. Wendell Walker Kempton, who served as President of the Association of Baptists for World Evangelism from 1971-2001, died at home in Lititz, PA, on Sunday, January 6, 2008, following a brief battle with cancer.

Dr. Kempton’s ministry was worldwide, impacting lives not only through his three decades as ABWE President and his continued representation of the mission as President Emeritus following his retirement in 2001, but also through his many years of service at Baptist Bible College of Pennsylvania and his ministry to professional sports organizations across the United States.

Dr. Kempton received Christ at the age of nineteen in Saylorville, IA, following his graduation from high school.  At the time, he was facing a decision as to whether to go on to college or into professional baseball, in which he had received several attractive opportunities. On the advice of his pastor and spiritual mentor, he enrolled at Moody Bible Institute in Chicago, IL, earning a diploma with a Bible major and a missions minor.  He then attended Baptist Bible Seminary in Johnson City, NY, where he earned a Th.B., and Dallas Theological Seminary in Dallas, TX, where he earned a Th.M.  He also did additional graduate work at Syracuse University in Syracuse, NY. An honorary Doctor of Divinity degree was conferred upon him by Grand Rapids Baptist Seminary, Grand Rapids, MI, in 1972.

While attending Moody, Dr. Kempton met fellow student Karolyn Rose Koerber.  They married in 1956 and had three children (Mark, Stan, and Wendy). In 1980, Karolyn suddenly went home to be with the Lord. In 1982, Dr. Kempton married Ruth Royer, who also had three children (Jennifer, Amy, and Tim) and whose first husband, Lee “Rock” Royer, a football coach and evangelist, had died suddenly nearly a decade earlier in an airplane accident. 

In the fall of 1961, Dr. Kempton accepted an invitation from Dr. G. Arthur Woolsey to become a member of the staff of Baptist Bible Seminary. He served the school as the director of Christian education, director of public relations, athletic director, and basketball coach and helped to found both the baseball and soccer teams. From 1968-1971, he served as the director of development and was instrumental in helping the college transition to its current campus in Clarks Summit, PA.  Later, in 1974, he was recognized as the Alumnus of the Year. During this time, Dr. Kempton was further honored by being nominated as Outstanding Young Man of America by the Outstanding Americans Foundation.

As ABWE’s presidential search committee looked for a successor to Dr. Harold Commons, they considered Wendell Kempton’s evangelistic fervor, his passion for preparing young adults to serve the Lord, and his outstanding leadership skills. On June 1, 1971, Dr. Kempton became President of ABWE, a position he would hold for the next thirty years. It was under Dr. Kempton’s leadership that ABWE made its major move from the greater Philadelphia area to Harrisburg, PA, which involved relocating more than forty families, as well as the corporate offices. God marvelously provided more than twelve hundred volunteers from twenty-seven states and eight foreign countries to build the new International Administration and Training Center in Harrisburg. Dr. Kempton’s ministry at ABWE included worldwide travel to encourage missionaries and nationals, to represent ABWE in churches and schools, and to develop a network of people interested in missions. During his presidency, the number of ABWE missionaries grew from 350 to 1,000 serving more than 60 countries. Following his retirement on March 1, 2001, and appointment as President Emeritus, he continued to actively represent ABWE through speaking engagements across the United States.

Dr. Kempton’s extracurricular ministries included speaking to various professional sports teams, and he was invited to speak at three Super Bowls and a World Series. He also held weekly neighborhood outreach Bible studies. He served on the boards of several well-known organizations, including a nationally-known insurance company, Baptist Bible College of Pennsylvania, and Word of Life. Dr. Kempton traveled to every continent and spoke weekly throughout America in local churches, colleges, seminaries, and universities.

Dr. Kempton is survived by his wife, Ruth Royer Kempton, and their six married children:  Mark and Andrea Kempton of Audubon, NJ; Stan and Cynthia Kempton of Lakeville, MN; Mark and Wendy Flannery of Lakeville, MN; Jennifer and Bruce Vosburgh of Wilmington, DE; Amy and Greg Phillips of Rome, GA; and Tim and Amy Royer of Grandville, MI.  He is also survived by twenty grandchildren and his sister, Mardelle Cross of Urbandale, IA.

The funeral service will be held on Friday, January 11, 2008, at 2:00 pm, at Calvary Church, 1051 Landis Valley Road, Lancaster, PA 17601 (www.calvarychurch.org; 717.560-2341). A 4:00 pm reception with the family will follow the funeral.  Due to limited capacity in the church reception hall, please register online at www.abwe.org .

In lieu of flowers, the family has requested that memorial gifts be made to “ABWE” and mailed to PO Box 8585, Harrisburg, PA 17105, designated to the “Wendell Kempton Memorial Fund.”  Gifts may also be made online at abwe.org, and are fully deductible for tax purposes as allowed by law. 

Announcements regarding an additional memorial service for the worldwide missionary family of ABWE will be posted at a later date.

Funeral arrangements are under the care of the Charles F. Snyder Jr. Funeral Home and Chapel, 3110 Lititz Pike, Lititz, PA. To send online condolences, or to receive information, please visit www.snyderfuneralhome.com.

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Condolences to the Family

November 26, 2023

I knew Dr Kempton and his wonderful family from Bethel Baptist in Cherry Hill, NJ. Though I have been all over the country I never lost memories of the love of Christ they shared. 
I just saw that his wife Ruth passed this July 2023 near my home in Westminster, SC. My condolances go out to family with whom I have very fond memories. And the hope in Christ we see each other again in heaven. I have never forgotten the love. 
William Brown

Dear Mrs. Kempton and family,

Dr. Kempton was a warm and loving person that had an amazing impact on everyone he met. Many Canadians have special memories of his ministry visits to Canada over the years.  He modeled a wonderful caring spirit, had a great sense of humour and showed a deep passion for the lost across the globe.

We will deeply miss his earthly presence, but with God’s grace we will strive to carry on the Godly inspiration and example that he was to each of us. 

We will continue to remember you and your family in our thoughts and prayers.

Serving Together for Him,

ABWE Canada: David and Cathy Smith, Board, Staff and Missionaries

To the family of Dr. Wendell Kempton,

As we extend our sympathy to the family of Wendell, I realize his family was much broader then just his immediate family. He was a great man that always thought of others and has contributed greatly to mankind throughout the world.

Our acquaintance with Wendell and Ruth began when they purchased out home in Lititz at the Bent Creek Country Club. Shortly thereafter, a friend asked, "On a scale of 1 to 10, how would you rate him". My answer as I recall was, "An 11". After reading all that he accomplished, I was not nearly as generous as I should have been.

Very few of us will leave this earth to join with Our Lord in Heaven with the credentials of Wendell. God Bless Him and His World-Wide Family. 

Lou and Pat Varljen

To Wendell’s Family,    We met Wendell in 1961 and we treasure the many fond memories we have of him.  Certainly he enriched our lives and thus we thank the Lord for the gift of his life.

John Wesley said: "Our people die well".  On Sunday.January 6, 2008, Wendell died well because he died in the Lord.

We offer our deepest condolences to each one of you.

Death can hide but not divide,

Thou art but on Christ’s other side.

Thou art with Christ and Christ with me:

In Christ united still are we.

When the noted pastor and preacher Phillips Brooks died on January 23, 1893, a little girl in his congregation said to her mother: "Oh Mama, how happy the angels will be".  With the passing of our friend Wendell this past Lord’s day, we say: ‘how happy the angels in heaven must be’.

Blessings and comfort to each of you.   Yours in the God of all Comfort, Rev. David and Jeaneth Seaver – Endicott, New York.

Our prayers are with you in the coming days.

Keith and Ada (Crandall) Symonds, Cornerstone Bapt.Church, Hamilton,NY

To the Kempton Family,

My first introduction to Dr Kempton was as a student at the WOLBI in 1975 in a Minor Prophets class in which Dr. Kempton taught the Book of Jonah.  I will always remember that class.  It wasn’t until chapter 2 of Jonah that I sensed the real character of the man teaching the book, with tears streaming down his face, with a slight quiver in the inflection of his voice, it was evident that just as Jonah was pouring himself out before the Lord in prayer and confession, he to was moved by the Holy Spirit to confession and prayer which I believed challenged us to develop a prayer life that moves the arm of God.  There wasn’t one dry eye in the class that morning.

My second introduction to Dr. Kempton was in 1989 and throughout 1990 when our church was in search of a new pastor; Dr. Kempton also served as interim pastor.  While on one of his trips to a conference with ABWE at the Southampton Princess, he took time from his busy schedule to come by the office one afternoon just to sit and chat, but it was more that just chat, you were concerned enough to ask me about my walk with the Lord and probe as only he could into my personal life, and I so appreciated how at that very moment he made me feel I was important enough of his time.   The rest is history, and for the past 18 years of my ministry here in the church, whenever he was on the island, I will never forget his phone calls, little notes and emails of encouragement.  His latest phone call came the first week of December 2007 early in the morning, and when I heard his voice my immediate thought was that he was calling to speak with our present interim pastor, Dr. Richard Christen, but that was not the case, he was calling to find out how I was doing physically and spiritually, and to say he was praying for me and for our church, and that God would send us the “unique” shepherd that we needed here at ECB. 

I close with a verse from Jonah 2:9 “But I will sacrifice unto thee with the voice of thanksgiving; I will pay that that I have vowed.  Salvation is of the Lord.”  What a legacy he leaves!

Because of his great sacrifice and love, he has kept his promise to God and obeyed Him, and today thousands around the world can say “Salvation is of the Lord.”

We will be praying for the Kempton family in the days head.

Glory!

Dinah Correia
Secretary
The Evangelical Church of Bermuda

Dr. Kempton has been a great blessing and example to us down through the years.  He ministered to Sherry while she was an ABWE missionary, and also had great times of encouragement to Ted in his many years at BBC.  Thanks be to God for this wonderful life lived for His glory.  We have been and will continue to pray for Ruth and the family.  May the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all.

Ted & Sherry Boykin

Baptist Bible College

Clarks Summit, PA

Dear Kempton Family

My wife and I send our deepest sympathy at this time of the homegoing of Wendell. We knew him very well as he came to our Church ( Evangelical Church of Bermuda ) and we greatly enjoyed his ministry here. Over the years he came for various conferences and as a visiting speaker as well as two periods as interim pastor. More recently at our last Missions Conference we spent time together reviewing details of the project and updates on how well the offerings were going ( which I was able to do in my role as Treasurer to the Missions Committee ). The conference was a great blessing to us as he challenged us on our commitment to Missions for which he was the ultimate ambassador as he travelled globally to encourage those on the field and followed up on projects. We particularly remember the time when he shared that he had gone to Russia and they had to go into the forest to hold meetings and it was very cold but he preached the word to the hungry people for many hours.

I remember that he had to take the actual funds for our project to the location and hand it personally to the local people, he was a man of great integrity and did this so that we could have confirmation of the allocation of the funds.

He was truly a great man of God serving so faithfully for many years and never let the opportunity go by to lead someone to The Lord.

We will miss him tremendously as we are sure that the family will also.

We are much in prayer for you all at this time and we know that The Lord will comfiort you through this time of bereavement and in the days that lie ahead til He Comes

Audrey and Tony Harkness

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