Special to Atmore News
On Sunday, October 11, Atmore Baptist Temple honored their pastor, Pastor William D. “Doug” Odom, on the occasion of his 74th birthday, which coincidentally came the day after National Pastor Appreciation Day, with a dinner in his honor. Pastor Odom was born October 12, 1946. He was ordained into the ministry in 1980 and is a 1984 graduate of Arlington Baptist Bible College. He served as pastor of Friendship Baptist Church of Troy, Missouri from 1987 to 1991 before becoming pastor of Atmore Baptist Temple on June 14, 1992.
This birthday is an extra special celebration for Pastor Odom as 2020 has been especially challenging for him. After recovering from COVID-19 and pneumonia, he developed a blood clot which went to his lungs and resulted in his being readmitted to the hospital, where he was placed back in ICU on a ventilator. The doctors say he experienced a miracle, in that, normally when a blood clot moves to the lungs, it remains intact and when it arrives in the lungs it takes the life of the patient. But in his case, for no explicable reason, just before the clot got to his lungs, it broke apart into several smaller clots, which the doctors say was the only thing that saved his life. Pastor Odom attributes his miraculous recovery to the power of prayer.
Alexis de Tocqueville in his 1835 book on American society said the number one factor contributing to America’s success was the positive impact of Christianity and its pastors.