FOUR OAKS — On a recent Sunday at Beulah Hill Christian Church, new pastor J.O. Williams told his listeners that God would never forsake his children.

The sermon drew shouts of “Amen” from some church members. Others nodded their heads in agreement or wiped tears from their eyes.

“There are people who are frightened to death about the economy being where it is, but you know, I am really kind of at peace,” Williams said. “I have as much now as when things were flowing. I mean, that is nothing to brag about, but he promises never to leave me alone.

“And I think about the times when I was so hungry and all of my family was hungry and I had no food to give family. He took care of me then and he assures me today, ‘J.O., you’ll never be alone.’”

Williams’ message hit home for Pearl Davis, who drives from Raleigh to attend Beulah Hill. A Johnston County native, she has been coming to the church since 1981. Williams, Davis said, is unlike any other pastor she has known. He uses his personal experiences in his sermons, has a “down to earth” personality and makes Davis feel like she is home again.

Williams is different too because he is Beulah Hill’s first African-American pastor since the church opened its doors nearly 100 years ago. But Williams’ color has not stopped the congregation from welcoming him and his wife, Ida.

“When I see him, I do not see color,” Davis said. “I see a servant of God who dearly loves his Lord and who is trying hard to bring that message to us as a congregation.”

Sam Blackman of Four Oaks, an elder in the church, joined Beulah Hill in 1989 when he married his wife, Lisa. Williams has been able reach a more-diverse audience in the community, said Blackman, who enjoys Williams’ Bible-based sermons, which often “build an invitation for people to accept Jesus.”

It’s hard not to like Williams, who has knack for befriending everyone he meets, Blackman said. “Even from our little small children up to the older folks in the congregation, people just naturally kind of take to him and like him,” he said. “He is a very lovable and caring pastor. People pick that up, and they give it back.”

Williams recently marked his 50th year in the ministry. He always felt a calling to the Lord but did not act on it until he preached his first sermon at age 26 in 1959. Williams and his first wife, who later died, were rearing five children. He was driving trucks and preaching on the weekends. After Williams’ wife finished nursing school, he received his ministry degree from Shaw University.

Since then, Williams has served churches in Fayetteville, Winston-Salem and Fremont. Williams, who grew up in Lenoir County, retired twice before coming to Beulah Hill. He joined the 150-member church as a supply pastor last March. On Jan. 1, Williams became pastor.

“When I came to do those couple Sundays, there was a lady talking to me about coming back to serve the church,” Williams said. “She was telling me about how they were in the process of forming a search committee and her little son said to her, ‘I like him. Why can’t he be the preacher?’ I was really touched to think that a child who had only seen me two or three weeks would say that.”

Beulah Hill has become extended family for Williams, a Tarboro resident who grew up in a large family. “I don’t know in the 50 years of ministry that I’ve served a church I’ve enjoyed as much as I do here,” the 75-year-old said. “For one thing, I haven’t felt the challenge to prove myself. They accept me for who I am.”

Acceptance has not always come easily for Williams. Growing up, he walked to and from school — 16 miles roundtrip — because his family did not have a car, and buses would not come pick him up. He often hid behind tobacco barns to avoid racial slurs and objects thrown at him by white kids riding school buses.

Those experiences, and others, could have left Williams a bitter man. Instead, it seems to have made him just the opposite. Acceptance from Beulah Hill has shown Williams that racism is waning.

“To me, it says there has been a change in the mindset of people,” he said. “It’s a great accomplishment.”