Note: You’ll find links some really fun stuff at the end of this article.
It is entirely fitting that Bev and Kathleen Sullivan would meet at church. Bev Jr.’s parents always told him that church absolutely was the best place to look for—and find—a wife. And church is where Kathleen Frink was! Kathleen was second of six children in a family residing on a farm in eastern North Carolina, and the Frinks were very active in their local country church. It was there, as well as at home, that Kathleen learned about Christ and His offer of salvation. As a young girl, she responded to that offer and gave her life to Christ. She didn’t just give her life to Him on that one day, either; she gave it incrementally, on a daily basis, until the day she died.
Bev also grew up in a Christian home, but in Winston-Salem and as an only child. He and his parents went to church regularly, too—and as an 11-year-old boy, he also became a Christian. Like Kathleen, he would live his life for his Savior daily for decades to come. Bev and Kathleen were far from perfect, of course. They had their spiritual struggles and challenges. After becoming Christians, though, they realized that life’s supreme choice had been made, and they followed that path the rest of their lives.
After completing high school, college, and a tour of duty in the Navy near the end and in the immediate aftermath of World War 2, Bev began a career in Winston-Salem as a research chemist.
Kathleen’s pilgrimage brought her through college and seminary to a job as a ministry specialist at the Pilot Mountain Baptist Association in Winston-Salem. She believed her local church-planting work might be a step in a journey that eventually would take her to the foreign mission field. She was “all in.” In her ministry she used her relational and social skills to the fullest, with God’s help. She joined and became active in the church where Bev and his family were members, and that is where they met.
After church social events held for the young adults, Bev and some of the other young men would drive the young ladies to their homes, and Kathleen kept hoping and praying Bev would take her home last. When that finally began to happen, a bond developed between the two. As their relationship deepened, Kathleen initially struggled with regard to God’s call on her life—but eventually she came to realize that God wasn’t calling her to foreign missions after all, but to Bev. So, when Bev proposed to her, she already had prayed about the decision, and she joyfully said yes. The two were married on May 8, 1954.
Kathleen continued her ministry at the Pilot Mountain Baptist Association until Ruth, the first of three children, arrived. Soon thereafter, Bev 3rd, and then later Kathy, showed up. Kathleen and Bev sometimes would say they briefly discussed the idea of having more children but decided against it since they had the responsibility to “drag up the ones that already had been born.”
Regularly active in church and consistently training their children in the things of God, Bev and Kathleen led all of their children to Christ at around the same time. All made professions of faith and were baptized in April of 1967.
The entire Sullivan family moved their membership to Calvary Baptist Church in early 1971. They were “all in,” reminiscent of the way Kathleen had engaged in her work in the Association. Through Calvary, the Sullivans grew in their understanding of biblical truth and in their commitments to Christ. The family would stay and enjoy the fellowship after nearly every service and typically were among the last to leave. Bev still was taking Kathleen home last, but in a different way!
Kathleen had a way of “pulling strings” at church. She never was underhanded or sinister, but compellingly persuasive. Frequently when she talked to Pastor Mark Corts, she would preface what she had to say with these words: “Now Mark, you know I’m chairman of the grapevine committee, and….”
On one occasion she went to Pastor Corts and shared with him that things weren’t going well for her as a Sunday School teacher of fifth-grade children. “Mark, I’ve prayed about it, and I really believe I need to step down from that position.” Pastor Corts was persuasive too, and he encouraged Kathleen to give it a bit longer. After she insisted once more that it was time for her to find another place of service, Mark said, “Why, Kathleen, I believe the devil is speaking to you!”
Immediately she smiled and shot back, “Mark, you’re absolutely right! He is speaking to me, and he’s telling me to stay in there!” It was one of the few times Pastor Corts couldn’t offer a response!
Bev was the quieter of the two, but he was rock-solid in his commitment to Christ and to Calvary Baptist Church. During a service in which Pastor Corts talked about an upcoming television broadcast of services at a recent Billy Graham Crusade, Mark said, “Wouldn’t it be great if we could purchase a spot on television and invite people to Calvary? We just need to be able to pay for it.” At the end of that service Bev told Mark he’d love to give $100 to make the ad a reality. That exchange took place in the early 70s when $100 was harder to come by, and when it went further than it does today!
Eventually, all of the Sullivan children would find their places in vocational Christian ministry. Each one attended seminary, and that made Bev Jr. the only one in his immediate family without a seminary degree. So, in the mid 1980s, the family presented him an honorary degree—“Master of Religious Finance.” It was entirely appropriate. He had worked diligently and contributed faithfully to make a formal theological education possible for each of his children.
Bev, however, received genuine theological and Christian training week after week just by attending Calvary and being involved in its work and ministry. And it “took”! Perhaps I should say it reinforced his prior commitment to Christ, something he never abandoned. He lived out the faith he professed at church, at home, and everywhere else. The same things were true of Kathleen. Their lives were marked by integrity, faith, generosity, love, hospitality, warmth, engagement, commitment, and devotion—first to God, then to each other, and finally to their children.
Moreover, they loved their church. Nothing pleased them more than to help advance Christ’s work through Calvary’s ministry. Their legacy lives on, not only in their children and grandchildren, but also in the lives of a countless number of others they knew and encouraged.
As Scripture says in Proverbs 22:1 and Psalm 112:5-6,
A good name is more desirable than great riches;
to be esteemed is better than silver or gold; [and]
Good will come to those who are generous and lend freely,
who conduct their affairs with justice.
Surely the righteous will never be shaken;
they will be remembered forever.
Amen!
Copyright © 2017 by B. Nathaniel Sullivan. All rights reserved.
- Click here to read “The Sullivans, a Couple Who Live Their Faith” This article appeared in Salemtowne’s monthly publication, Reflections, in May of 1999.
- Read Bev Sullivan’s testimony in his own handwriting here. This was one of two known instances in which he wrote his testimony.
- Kathleen once made her own hats. Here’s a newspaper article to prove it!
- Read Kathleen’s card to Bev on Father’s Day in 1967—50 years ago this year!
- Continue scrolling down to learn about the Bev and Kathleen Sullivan Legacy Fund at Calvary Baptist Church in Winston-Salem, North Carolina.
- This webpage is a part of www.wordfoundations.com, a website owned and maintained by B. Nathaniel Sullivan— “Bev 3rd.” Go here to learn about the site, its purpose, and its contents.
- The theme “All In” has been borrowed from First Baptist Church, Hendersonville, Tennessee. Used by permission.
The Bev and Kathleen Sullivan Legacy Fund
On July 9, 2017, during the worship services of Calvary Baptist Church in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, Bev and Kathleen Sullivan will be remembered and their legacy affirmed. An abbreviated version of this article will be made available to the Calvary family on that date. That version includes these paragraphs:
Today, we celebrate this couple’s legacy and generosity. As a result of the Sullivans’ planning and influence, resources from their estates have been made available to the ProVision Foundation, a supporting foundation for Calvary. With those resources, the church is pleased to create The Bev and Kathleen Sullivan Legacy Fund within the ProVision Foundation.
Bev and Kathleen became the first family to receive legacy-planning services. ProVision Foundation provides no-cost estate planning for its members and serves donors in a variety of ways. This fund will be used to sponsor costs associated with these services for the Calvary family.
Go here to read the release of this article from Calvary Baptist Church. Also go here.