Special news about Dr. Bob and Evangelist Ethel Willitts
And
Healing in Jesus Name
Dick B.
Copyright 2012. Anonymous. All rights reserved.
Dear Melodye: That was and is a delightful treat and surprise to get
your letter.
Let me give you some background; (1) After 23 years of research and
writing, my son and I gathered together a major work on the various Christian
elements that influenced early A.A., the
Christian upbringing of Bill Wilson and Dr. Bob Smith in Vermont, and the
actual content of the original A.A. Christian Fellowship program in Akron (founded
in 1935). (2) As perhaps the first to see, study, and write about the books of
Dr. Robert H. Smith in Akron, I discovered a number of his books on healing;
and I could see that this cofounder had an intense interest in divine healing.
(3) Two Christian books that particularly caught my eye were James Moore
Hickson, Heal The Sick (London: Methuen & Co., Ltd., 1924) and Ethel R.
Willitts, Evangelist, 2d ed. Healing in Jesus Name: Fifteen Sermons and
Addresses on Salvation and Healing (Crawfordsville, IN: Ethel R. Willitts,
Evangelist, 1931).
As with so much of A.A.’s history, a great cloud of omission has
existed for years. Some because, until I came along, nobody was really
researching or writing on the Christian roots of Alcoholics Anonymous or the
Christian upbringing of Bill W. and Dr. Bob. Sometimes because of inept
research. Sometimes because of anti-Christian bias. Sometimes because of Roman
Catholic or atheist bias. Sometimes
because of the intrusion of secularism into Alcoholics Anonymous rooms,
meetings, publications, and chatter. Sometimes because a few Christian writers
have been determined to criticize and obfuscate the very clear Christian
origins, history, founder upbringing,
founding, and successes of the early A.A. Christian Fellowship. And sometimes
because of financial concerns that A.A. might lose a book customer or two if
word got out about its very clear Christian origins and original program.
I have written in lots of my books about the early A.A. focus on
Christian healing (www.dickb.com/titles.shtml). I have written on a number of the healing books they read
and Dr. Bob studied and circulated.
But the Willitts material has always been of special interest because
of her focus on Scripture, the power of God, the gift of the Holy Spirit, and
healing in Jesus’ name. My son Ken found some material that indicated that
Ethel Willitts did a series of evangelistic meetings in Akron shortly after A.A.
was founded. The time slot, I believe, was 1938. And there were, I believe,
some 15 revival meetings held. And
because Dr. Bob was such an intense reader of Christian literature, had so many
healing books, and also had the Hickson and Willitts books, I have been much in
desire for information as to whether he might
have attended the Akron revivals of Willitts, whether they were reported in any church or Christian
literature or the local newspaper such as Akron Beacon-Journal, whether Dr. Bob
was there, and when and why he acquired
this important book. Also whether there are other records or papers or notes on
Willitts, Akron, Robert Smith, and the revivals in Akron.
I deem the information of great
importance to the present, growing, International Christian Recovery
Coalition (www.ChristianRecoveryCoalition.com) of which I am Executive Director
and to the growing number of Christian recovery fellowships in the U.S. and
around the world that are springing up in what we believe in a Christian
Recovery Movement awakening.
Any information you can convey
about Ethel, about your family, about evangelist healings, about contact with
people like Robert Smith, William Wilson, William Dotson, Henrietta Seiberling,
T. Henry Williams and his wife Clarace,
Rev. Wright of Akron, Dr. Walter Tunks
of Akron, the Firestone family, James D. Newton, Congressman John Seiberling
and his two sisters, Rev. Samuel M. Shoemaker, Jr., Oswald Chambers, Glenn
Clark, E. Stanley Jones, Nora Smith Holm, and others in this field could mark
the beginning of a new era and awakening in this entire field.
I am a born again Christian, a devoted Bible student, a long recovered
AA member; and my son Ken is an ordained Christian minister, my closest advisor
and research-companion, and president of our publishing company.
I expect he will be writing you as soon as he gets a copy of this
letter. And I welcome any and every response you are willing to send along to
him and to me.
In His Service,
God bless,
Richard Gordon Burns, J.D., CDAAC (Writer, historian, retired attorney,
Bible student, and active recovered member of A.A.)
(pen name Dick B.)
Author, 46 titles & over 1,200 articles on A.A. History and the
Christian Recovery Movement
Exec. Dir., International Christian Recovery Coalition
Christian Recovery Resource Centers - Worldwide
Christian Recovery Radio
www.DickB.com
DickB@DickB.com
(808) 874-4876
PO Box 837, Kihei, HI 96753-0837
Ps 118:17 (NJB):
I shall not die, I shall live to recount the great deeds of Yahweh.
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From: Melodye Sent: Sunday, December 16, 2012 2:54 PM
To: Dickb@dickb.com
Subject: Ethel Willitts
Hi "Dick" (I understand that's your pen name, which is why
I'm using quotation marks),
I came aross your website in a search for information about Ethel
Willitts, a contemporary to my father, who was also an evangelist. I'm
wondering if you might have any research materials available to share, and
maybe also some firsthand knowledge of her/her ministry? If so, I'd be very
grateful for your help!
Warmest regards,
Melodye
melodye.shore@gmail.com
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