Bishop Dillard and his wife Betty Lady Gay Dillard- Courtesy Photo
The Second Baptist Church in Monrovia is celebrating the 40th anniversary of its Pastor, Under-shepherd Bishop, Dr. William Larue Dillard, with a grand banquet this Saturday, March 29. There will also be two jubilee sanctuary worship assembly celebrations in May on the 18th and 25th at 4:00 p.m. at the church. The banquet will be held at the Pacific Palms Resort in La Puente.
Dillard is a native of Suffolk, Virginia and attended schools in that city as well as in Brooklyn, N.Y. where he attended Franklin Knight Lane High School. He completed his degree while in the United States Air Force. He was called to the ministry in 1957 and preached his first trial sermonic message on February 19, 1957. He was later ordained a Baptist clergyman through the ministry of Mount Zion Baptist Church in Los Angeles by the late under-shepherd Dr. Edward Victor Hill. Sr.
He has earned both a doctorate of theology from the American Bible Institute and a doctorate of human behavior from Hamilton University in New York.
Dillard’s first parish assignment was in 1959 at Faith Mission Church in Portsmouth, New Hampshire for one year. After two other parishes over the next ten years, he was assigned to the historic Second Baptist Church in Monrovia on January 1, 1974. The church has been in existence for 110 years. Dillard has been with the church for more than a third of those years.
“By far, my under shepherding bishopric oversight for a generation here at Second Baptist Church Monrovia, California has been a labor of love producing consequential commentary among my congregants and society at large,” Dillard said. ” “Christ Jesus assigned me to the under-shepherding bishopric at Second Baptist Church Monrovia, California, on January 1, 1974. February 18, 2014, marked my 57th year as a divinely called and commissioned clergyman,” he explained.
The Bishop has also authored several books, two of which are still available on Amazon: Biblical Ancestry Voyage, Revealing Facts of Significant Black Characters, and A Burning and A Yearning in My Soul. He writes on biblical history and prophetic happenings.
He has been married for over forty years to Lady Betty Gay Dillard. They have had five children, BaLinda Renee; Herbert Lee, (in heaven), Stephanie Jane, Brad Tirrell, Raven DeLandria and Devon Johnson and grandson Dylan. For more information see the church website, www.secondbaptistmonrovia.org.
By Susan Motander
