At 95, Ellen Blackwell is still involved in full-time ministry.
She is senior pastor of Way of Faith Assembly of God in Fairfax, Virginia. She also travels 90 minutes one way every Sunday afternoon to preach at Mount Zion Assembly of God in Charles Town, West Virginia.
Blackwell planted Way of Faith AG, which has an average Sunday morning attendance of 180, in 1970.
"I went through the school of hard knocks and experience," she says.
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Ellen Blackwell, center, is 95, but is still |
She says her main focus is training young people for the ministry. Gokul Raaj, 28, has attended Way of Faith AG for two years and considers Blackwell a spiritual role model.
"When I see her at this age able to speak up and stand for God, I think how much I can do for God when I am so young," Raaj says. "She has enabled me to see a greater depth and truth in the Word of God."
She also has compiled verse-by-verse study manuals for books of the New Testament and is nearing completion on books of the Old Testament.
This year the Potomac District recognized Blackwell for 50 years of ministry as an ordained minister.
"She is one of the people that I esteem the highest in our district," says Potomac District Superintendent Larry Hickey.
Way of Faith AG church has developed a prayer center in Israel in Galilee. Blackwell goes at least annually to lead tour groups. She plans to go in September and December this year.
Blackwell, who is single, doesn't have plans to stop working. "I would be miserable to retire," she says.
