George Roberts

George Washington Roberts was born December 10, 1910, and the love of his life, Mary McCann, was born April 17, 1915. They were married on May 9, 1933, when George was 23 and Mary was 18. Mary had received the Holy Ghost in 1926 at the age of 11, and that same year of their marriage, George received the Holy Ghost at age 23.

The Roberts were faithful churchgoers, attending Harper Tabernacle between Walnut Grove and Carthage until it burned. For the next 12 years, they had no church home, but Sister Roberts, along with other ladies, began prayer meetings in Carthage. Rev. Elzie Hall came to pastor the group, and George was the only man in the congregation when the first Carthage church was built.

George and Mary later pastored the Carthage Church for a short time before moving to Tallulah, Louisiana. Yet Carthage remained close to their hearts, and they returned to pastor there for 17 years. After resigning at Carthage, they pastored Bethlehem for four years.

At age 68, Brother Roberts fulfilled his long-held desire to start a church by founding Walnut Grove United Pentecostal Church, which he pastored for 18 years. He personally oversaw much of the construction of the building. During this time, both he and Sister Roberts were involved in an automobile accident; Sister Roberts remained hospitalized for 95 days.

A skilled contractor, Brother Roberts also built the Carthage parsonage for J.E. Anderson while he was District Superintendent and the parsonage at the old Arlington Campgrounds near Philadelphia under Buford Miller’s tenure as District Superintendent. Bro. Roberts’s ministry extended beyond the local church as he served as Sectional Presbyter for one year.

In the 1960s, while pastoring Carthage, the Robertses were active supporters of Sheaves for Christ and consistently participated in all district functions. Brother Roberts’s last official office was as Senior Pastor at Walnut Grove, but he and Sister Roberts remained faithful attendees at sectional and district meetings, homecomings, and anniversary services, cherishing their many friends across the Mississippi District.

On October 27, 2004, God called Brother Roberts to his eternal home. The Mississippi District honors and salutes George and Mary Roberts for their lifelong faithfulness and dedication to the work of God.