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Sabbath Organization Profile . . .
An Interview with Pastor Lester C. Heilman, Jr.
by Robert Sumner
This is an interview with a pastor who
has been called to more of the truths of the scripture these
last two years, especially regarding an understanding of the
Seventh Day Sabbath and God's Festival Days.
Sumner: Pastor Les, Please share some of your
background. How were you called by God and what have you been
doing since then?
Heilman: I started out as a salesman, and was
very good at it, and I thought it was my life. Then in 1979,I
had a heart attack. This got my attention that God, Himself was
dealing in my life. While lying in that hospital,I called upon
God and asked, "OK, Lord, What do you want me to do with my
life?" It was there I received a calling from the Lord, and
was moved to go into the ministry.
In 1980, I went to seminary at The Evangelical School of
Theology in Myerstown, PA. While there, part of my training was
an internship at a church they gave me to preach at in
Wormleysburg. We started with only 12 remaining members. The
first week, I did what I was used to in sales, going up and down
the streets, knocking on doors. It was June then, and I met a
lot of children, sharing with them and some of their families
and inviting them to services. When my first Sunday service
came, 12 children came, which surprised the old timers. My wife,
Helen, started working with them, while I was busy with the
normal pastoral duties. Soon the church grew to 75 members. With
this success, I was transferred to another church nearby in
Enola, PA. The Lord blessed us, and again we were blessed with
many members.
However, after about 18 months, some local politics got involved
and I was fired due to a disagreement with a prominent member's
idea over a building program. We learned a lot of lessons
there. This firing took place on Xmas Eve, as we had to find a
new building to celebrate that holiday. When the news got around
to the members of the church, many of them became upset and
left. They encouraged me to start a new church to begin building
again. We launched out in faith. We ran newspaper ads, talked
with people, and word got around. We started out with 45-50
folks at The Cornerstone Evangelical Free church, which grew to
over 150 members. I remained there as pastor until 1998.
Sumner: When did you learn about the Seventh Day
Sabbath?
Heilman: While at the Cornerstone Church, we
rented our facilities to a Sabbath-observing, Messianic Jewish
Congregation. They shared over the years about the Sabbath, the
Holy Days, and many other Jewish traditions.This peaked the
interest of many of us, and we started studying. However, the
rabbi/pastor of the Messianic group was not really motivated, or
convicted, about the Sabbath. It was merely a tradition to
them. This was not meaningful to me, so I had remembered about
an old friend from seminary days, Jacob Myers, of The Assemblies
of Yahweh. After getting in touch with him, fellowshipping and
studying God's Word with him, I was convicted that the Seventh
Day Sabbath was the correct day to worship the Lord of Creation.
I began hungering for more knowledge, understanding and
fellowship with other Sabbath-keeping Christians.So I started
looking around the Internet, searching in phone directories, and
asking around town. I located in the yellow pages of the phone
book a number for the Harrisburg Church of God, 7th
Day, as well as another Sabbath group. I contacted these pastors
and met with them and accepted their invitation to attend
services. This was in1997, and I've been going ever
since. However, for awhile I was still pastoring the Cornerstone
Church on Sundays, even sharing with them about the Sabbath,
especially on a Friday night Shabbat Service there at
Cornerstone. After a few months, once again local politics and
adversity set in, and in a closed meeting away from the church
members, I was fired. God used this to get me off of the fence,
and devote myself to the Sabbath totally. It's been a harder
journey for my wife, but the Lord is helping her along too.
Sumner: How has the transition from Sunday First
Day services to the seventh day Sabbath worship been for you?
Heilman: It's been a radical
change! I was a Sunday keeper for 65 years, starting
out in the Lutheran Church as a young boy. My wife has had a
harder time adjusting because of missing all her close friends,
and differences with our children and other family members.
Since I was fired at Cornerstone, I also lost my livelihood that
we counted on. My wife became ill and had to quit work too; so
it's been real tough on us financially, and we are learning to
lean on the Lord, and now all the new brethren we've come to
know.
Our schedules and outlooks have changed too. Instead of just a
couple of services per week for a few hours,we now can learn to
appreciate and look forward to a full 24-hour day of
fellowship, family togetherness, and drawing close to
God as never before. It's now a day of celebration and
learning. For example, we have rented a borough hall, and have
Friday night/Sabbath fellowship open to the community. There are
old friends from the Cornerstone Church, folks from other Sunday
churches, and a good number of Sabbath-keepers. Wow! What away
to start the Sabbath! We then fellowship at services Sabbath
morning with the local church which is affiliated with The
General Conference of The Church of God, Seventh Day --
Harrisburg Church of God, Seventh Day.
Our relationships with our children and families have been
strained, but it now is no longer a major issue as-we are
working it out, and the Lord is giving us some peace. One of the
biggest things is learning and growing in the word of God, and
accepting new truths being revealed to us. As we learn to be
obedient to them, we are being delivered from old ideas,
traditions of men, pagan ideas, and many deceptions from the
enemy!
Sumner: What are your plans for the future?
Where do you think the Lord is leading you?
Heilman: Right now we are just in a waiting
pattern. We plan to continue to share with the Friday night
LITTLE FLOCK FELLOWSHIP, as it is now known, and also to
continue to pray and fellowship with believers,studying,
learning and growing. I still serve in some community pastoring
programs; officiate at funerals,weddings, and other activities,
and I will preach anytime I get the chance to.
I love to preach! I love to share God's Word! This is what I've
been trained and called to do, and will continue to do so as
long as the Lord permits. I share in our Sabbath Fellowship as
well. I would love to be a full-time pastor at a Sabbath church
somewhere, someday! My wife and I are open to any opportunities,
so anyone is welcome to contact us and interview us.
Sumner: What final thoughts would you like to
share with TSS readers?
Heilman: My heart goes out to many because they
have been deceived. I want to be part of sharing The Good News,
that our Lord and Savior has come and is alive today! I want to
share the Good News about the Sabbath Day, even though it's
against the traditions and the grains of society. I'd like to
share it with as many people as possible
I've started writing and printing leaflets and tracts to share;
contacting others, am on the Internet, and am witnessing to
everyone that I can. If anyone wishes to contact me by
telephone, my number is (717) 761-0406. My
email is heilman@igateway.com
Our web page can be viewed at http://www.igateway.com/Lff.HTM
Sumner: To the readers of TSS. This is the end
of my interview. I hope it has encouraged you, and strengthened
your walk with the Lord. Pastor Les, as we call him, is a very
loving and devoted follower of God.His wife Helen is a dear
sweet sister in the Lord. We have known them for two years now
and count it a privilege to fellowship with them.
Robert Sumner is a Sabbath-keeping Christian
residing in Harrisburg, PA. He can be contacted at
(717) 652-9348, or faxed at (717)
651-0884.
Would you like to write an article profiling a
Sabbath-keeping group? If so, please e-mail us at biblesabbath@comcast.net
TSS
March - May 1999 The Sabbath Sentinel
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