O Captain, My Captain! A Tribute to a Hero of the Faith

O Captain, My Captain! A Tribute to a Hero of the Faith-Pastor Dale Eakes

This letter was originally written right before I left Warren Baptist Church in Indianapolis, Indiana to attend Southern Seminary in Louisville, Kentucky in August of 2013. I served for two years as the associate pastor under Pastor Dale Eakes. These were two of the greatest years of my life. I am forever grateful for Dale’s life and the lessons he taught me. He was a giant of the faith to me, my “captain” who steered the ship of ministry so well until he went home to be with Jesus in early October of 2017. Thank you Cap for all you taught me. This is a tribute to you and for God’s glory. May I run the race as you did and be found faithful till Jesus calls me home. The above photo was taken during a mission trip to Ukraine in the summer of 2012. Pastor Dale was one of the strongest leaders and one of the best preachers I’ve ever heard. Here he was preaching to a Ukrainian church with the help of a translator.

To “Cap,”

Words cannot express the gratitude I have for you and all that you have done for me. These past two years have been some of the most difficult yet rewarding years of my life. Under your leadership and mentoring I have grown so much. You chose to take a chance on me from the very beginning and stood firmly by my side through thick and thin. I will always be grateful for your loyalty and belief in me. Because you believed so much in me I have really started to believe in my own abilities and become who God has created me to be as a pastor. I can never repay you for all that you have done but I wanted to put into words how thankful I am to have a pastor like you by my side.

There are so many things I have learned from you to better myself as a leader. One is that everything is important. I tried to keep that in mind in every situation that came up in my ministry. It helped me focus on the importance of dealing with people right away in order to keep issues from escalating. I’m thankful for that. Also, you taught me to be passionate about what I teach. Every Sunday morning you put it all on the line and literally exhaust yourself in order to be God’s messenger. The determination and vigor you display when you preach is a testament to your conviction and strong faith that Christ can always change lives. Being under your teaching has challenged me and spurred me on to be a more effective communicator. Thank you for that. Finally, you taught me to be prepared. This area is my greatest weakness. Your due diligence provided a great example for me to follow. At times I greatly frustrated you but you always met me where I was at and helped me get better. This improved my relationship with my leaders and kids as well. Thank you for that.

One final note, I want to thank you for giving me the opportunity to be your ambassador. On a few occasions you trusted me to go and be your “mini me” and minister to people. This included preaching for you, visiting church members and baptizing individuals. You are a very confident and self-sufficient leader. I’m grateful that you humbled yourself and came down to my level in order to give me opportunities to grow as a pastor.

Now that I am leaving for Southern Seminary I am reflecting a lot on my experience at Warren Baptist. From the time you gave me the privilege to lead after the changes in the youth ministry until now I have looked to you for a godly example and for wise counsel. You have never failed to model the love of Christ and the patience of the Spirit to me and I will never forget that. I do not know all what the future holds but I do know that you will always be in my heart and mind as a spiritual giant of the faith, a Paul that shared his life with me, a leader who carried me by his side, and a close friend who strengthened me. I will never be able to repay you for all you have done for me but God will. There are many treasures in heaven stored up for you and a mansion which houses them.

The Apostle Paul urged a young church to “imitate” him and follow his example as he followed Christ (1 Cor. 4:16; 11:1). I can confidently say that I have sought to imitate you as you follow Christ. At times this has hindered me and other times it has elevated me to be a better man of God. Thank you for serving as a Christ-like example for me to follow after. I am forever grateful to God for your influence. You will always be a close brother in Christ to me. Your brother in Christ,

Steve Sering

8/7/13

“O Captain! My Captain! Our fearful trip is done,

The ship has weather’d every rack, the prize we sought is won…

O Captain, my Captain! Rise up and hear the bells;

Rise up—for you the flag is flung—for you the bugle trills…

The ship is anchor’d safe and sound, its voyage closed and done,

From fearful trip the victor ship comes in with object won…

O Captain! My Captain!”

+O Captain! My Captain! By Walt Whitman