by Nicole Hackett, Student Public Relations Writer
Dr. Warren Wiersbe, a prominent 20th-century pastor who just passed away May 2, was the senior pastor at The Moody Church in Chicago from 1971 to 1978. During that time, more than 360 of his sermons were recorded and then left untouched. Until now.
The Moody Church staff is currently cataloging the audio recording of every Wiersbe sermon online. Helping with this project is Cedarville University junior Emily Pitts, a professional writing and information design major from Riverside, Illinois.
— Emily Pitts
Pitts started working on this project in May 2017 after a database of Wiersbe sermons was created. When making a database entry, Pitts fills out the basic information about the sermon, including the Scripture passage and main topics. Then she listens to the sermon to write a one-paragraph summary, an outline of the sermon and search engine tags and descriptions.
“Wiersbe was a phenomenal speaker who stayed true to the word and was very clear and applicable in his sermons,” explained Pitts. “Of course they are old, in terms of the quality of recording, but that doesn’t change the importance of the message.”
Pitts is aiming to complete her portion of the project by the end of this summer, with the hope that these sermons will be posted on The Moody Church’s website soon thereafter.
“It is cool to know that anyone can access these sermons,” noted Pitts. “You don’t know who will listen to them and whose life will be changed. They are going to people across the world.”
Before his passing this spring, Wiersbe had announced at the end of 2018 that he would gift his vast library of commentaries, nonfiction publications and works of literature to Cedarville University. The collection, totaling 13,000 to 14,000 titles, will be housed in the Warren and Betty Wiersbe Library and Reading Room in the Center for Biblical and Theological Studies, available for reading and study by Cedarville students.
Located in southwest Ohio, Cedarville University is an accredited, Christ-centered, Baptist institution with an enrollment of 4,193 undergraduate, graduate and online students in more than 150 areas of study. Founded in 1887, Cedarville is recognized nationally for its authentic Christian community, rigorous academic programs, including its master of divinity program, strong graduation and retention rates, accredited professional and health science offerings and leading student satisfaction ratings. For more information about the University, visit www.cedarville.edu.