It Happened in Crawford County: A 'sign' that changed Becky Stephens' life
Pastor Becky Stephens, a daughter of Doyle and Pat Stephens, was born and raised in a small town in Maryville, Tennessee, on a cattle farm. She graduated from Heritage High School in 1991 and always thought she was going to be an elementary teacher.
She entered Maryville College for a degree in early childhood development. Three-quarters of the way through, she realized there was something else tugging at her heart. She loved kids, but she felt God calling her into the ministry. Becky changed her degree to religion, with a minor in child development psychology. Next, she went through the processes of the United Methodist Church and became a licensed local pastor while also finishing her college education.
After 5 years as a local pastor, her district superintendent approached her about going on to seminary.
“Just so you know, I hated college," said Becky. "It got in the way of me living.”
She had moved out of her family’s house when she was 18 and was working three to four jobs just to stay afloat, in addition to college. The thought of scraping by for three to four more years while she tried to survive seminary was more than she could handle.
“I did what any human being would do who is trying to run away from God. I bought a truck!” she exclaimed.
Her statement to God went something like this: “See — I told you I can’t go to seminary, I have a truck payment!” Well, God had other plans.
Becky was housesitting for her friend and began crying out to God — "if that’s what you want me to do, you’ve got to make a way and you’ve got to give me a sign. This ‘sigh too deep for words’ business, and ‘still small voice’ stuff won’t cut it. I need a sign!”
Wouldn’t you know it, within the hour she was looking through a magazine at her friend’s house and happened to open it up to a full-page ad for a poster quoting Eleanor Roosevelt: “You must do the thing you think you cannot do!"
“I got my sign! I made the call, and that fall I relocated to Ohio from my home in East Tennessee and began seminary at METHESCO in Delaware," said Becky.
The minute she said “yes” to God to go to seminary, she began to worry about her new truck. Literally, less than 30 minutes later, she received a call from her Dad (who never calls). She thought someone had died!
“He told me he had been thinking and, if I would go on to seminary, he would take over my truck payments while I was gone," she noted. "He didn’t even know I was looking and praying about seminary! That, my friends, is prevenient grace — that grace that goes before us when we didn’t even know we needed it!”
“It was while I was in seminary that I began to realize that God had been at work all along in my life," Becky recalls. "God had orchestrated the whole thing. When I was age 3 to 4, I’d come home from church (Freewill Baptist) and line my dolls up along the couch. Then, taking my favorite book, “The Pokey Little Puppy” — I didn’t have a Bible then — and my Sunday School card and preach to my dolls. Sharing God’s love was a part of who I was, and I didn’t even know it. I even baptized a few of my new converts in the toilet!”
Becky moved to Delaware for Methodist Theological School in Ohio in 2001, graduating in 2005. She moved back to Tennessee after graduation, began serving churches there and dating. Becky later married David Smithey, the pastor at Mt. Zion UMC. Their daughter, Olivia was born in 2010, the true love of Pastor Becky’s life. She is 12 and will graduate from fifth grade at Bucyrus Elementary School this year. She is differently abled than most of her peers, but the smartest, most compassionate, and best little evangelist Bucyrus has ever seen. Olivia was born with a variety of anomalies going on in her little body. She functions at about a kindergarten level because she doesn’t have a bridge in her brain (Agenesis of the Corpus Callosam).
Because of a missed diagnosis at birth of a tethered cord, Olivia deals with a lot of GI and mobility issues and 23 other diagnoses on her chart. She is quite the trouper and takes all of her surgeries and hospital visits in stride. She enjoys cheering for Upward Flag Football. She is involved in the pep squad with Special Olympics through the Crawford County Board of Developmental Disabilities where Pastor Becky is the coach. She also loves to sing and do sign language and dance as a part of the church Praise Team.
Pastor Becky was ordained an elder in the United Methodist Church in 2007 and has been serving as full-time pastor for 23 years. She has served at Bucyrus UMC as associate/co-pastor to Mike Corwin for the last 8 years. With his official retirement, she will be appointed as senior pastor there. Rev. Matt Anderson will be coming, effective July 1, as the new associate/co-pastor.
The motto for her life is, “If God leads you to it, God will see you through it.” And that’s been proven throughout her life and the life of her daughter.
Go online for more of Mary Fox’s stories and photos on bucyrustelegraphforum.com. If you are interested in sharing a story, write Mary Fox, 931 Marion Road, Bucyrus, OH 44820 or email littlefoxfactory@columbus.rr.com.
This article originally appeared on Bucyrus Telegraph-Forum: Rev. Becky Stephens and her path to the ministry
