Willie May’s Legacy A Faithful Pastor Passes the Torch to His Son

Willie May’s Legacy

A Faithful Pastor Passes the Torch to His Son

Ellen Keaton

Ashland Beacon

As a young boy growing up in church, Willie May never dreamed that one day he would become a preacher, much less a pastor. Looking back on those years now, it is pretty obvious that God had chosen him for a greater purpose.

At nine years old, Willie proved his determination when he decided he wanted to play the piano. He simply sat down and taught himself to play by ear. He continued to mature and thrive in church, and as a teen, he served in what may have been his first leadership position as president of the Boyd County Conference Youth Association. By the time he was a young adult, he was the choir director of Sunshine Free Will Baptist Church in Huntington, WV. During this period, he felt a growing call on his life to deeper service for God. After serving in that role for 15 years, Willie took a leap of faith and began evangelizing.

May continues his story: “After a number of years evangelizing, I became the pastor at England Hill Free Will Baptist. That was 29 years ago. It was the only church I ever pastored. It was just a little white church on Paddle Creek with about fifty members when I first arrived.”

The church began to grow and flourish under the leadership of Pastor May, and soon they needed more room. This led to a building program that lasted nearly 12 years. “We started with the sanctuary, and as the congregation grew, our needs grew also, and we made other additions.” When completed, these additions included a new Sunday school wing, youth building, and fellowship hall. As Pastor May retires, all of these projects are debt-free.

In December 2025, Willie preached his last sermon as pastor of the church. He received a diagnosis of Parkinson’s disease about 18 months ago. “I felt myself slipping and went to the doctor, and that’s when they found it.”

At the time of the diagnosis, May had no plans of retiring this soon but said, “I didn’t want to stay too long. I’ve been around churches all my life, and sometimes pastors stay too long. I didn’t want that to happen. I wanted to pass the church on to someone else when it was on the rise.” He felt this was that time.

He didn’t have to worry about who was going to lead the church forward because the one who would guide it to the next generation had been there all along—his son, Justin May. Justin was just nine years old when his dad began to pastor the church and had grown up sitting in a pew as the church grew around him.

Justin answered the call to ministry at just 15 years old. He served as youth pastor at the church for 13 years. “I watched our church grow from hardly any children to one of the largest youth programs in the area. For the past ten years, I have served as Dad’s assistant pastor.”

It is a daunting task to step in after someone has been the pastor of a church for 29 years. Justin shared, “My biggest hesitation was being compared to my dad. I will never be able to fill his shoes. He is larger than life and such a talented musician, but the Lord gave me my own shoes to fill, and He will help me forge my own path.”

Reflecting on his early days as pastor, Willie recalled that his main wish for the church was simple: “I wanted a church that didn’t fight all the time.” Then he laughed and continued, “And I was really surprised—they didn’t! I didn’t want people standing at the door every time I went to church, waiting for me to complain about someone or something. It was a peaceful place to be.” Willie chuckled again and said, “People often say I live in the past. But Justin has great ideas for leading the church forward. I think he has stepped in at just the right time. I know Justin will take the church to the next level. I just hope to sit back and watch it happen.”

Justin has a clear vision for the future of the church. “I want the church to be a place that allows every generation to thrive and exist in the hope of Christ by incorporating various styles of music in our services and sharing messages with the truth of the gospel.”

He went on to say, “My first message as pastor was titled ‘Jesus for Every Generation.’ This is not just an idea. This has been my philosophy for effective ministry through the years. I can’t wait to see what God is going to do for our community and church.”

The legacy has now passed from father to son. Cherishing the past while looking to the future, the torch is handed over with a pledge and promise of “Jesus for Every Generation.”