T. W. Barnes

Tom Willis "T. W." Barnes (United Pentecostal pastor, counselor, and author)
Born	July 12, 1913 Bradley, Lafayette County Arkansas Resident of Minden, Louisiana (1947-2006)
Died	April 22, 2006 (aged 92) Minden, Louisiana Resting place: Gardens of Memory Cemetery in Minden
Spouse	Lucille Farrington Barnes (married 1937-2006, his death) One daughter: Ruth Barnes Gray Tanner (deceased) Four grandchildren

Tom Willis Barnes, known as T. W. Barnes (July 12, 1913 – April 22, 2006), was a prominent Pentecostal clergyman and Christian author from Minden, Louisiana.

Background

A son of Alonzo C. "Lonzo" Barnes (1885-1972) and the former Margaret Beshea (1887-1963), who are interred in Bossier Parish, he was born in Bradley in Lafayette County in southwestern Arkansas east of Texarkana. On Pentecostal Sunday, May 23, 1926 (fifty days after Easter), he and his mother were filled with the Holy Ghost in a revival meeting and baptized in the name of Jesus Christ. By the time he was twenty-four, he was a minister in his denomination. He met his wife, the former Lucille Farrington (born May 27, 1920), when she surrendered to Christ at another revival. The couple wed in 1937, had a daughter, Ruth Barnes Gray Tanner (1938-2016), four grandchlldren, and seven great-grandchildren.

Ministerial career

After pastorates in several small Arkansas communities, the Barneses came to Minden in 1947, at which he became pastor of the First Pentecostal Church, which began with twenty-five members. By 2005, the church had more than four hundred members. Originally on Goodwill Street near the Webster Parish fairgrounds in north Minden, the church later moved to a new, larger sanctuary at 612 Highway 531 in east Minden. To expand the church, Barnes held preaching services in brush arbors, cotton fields, and tents. For two years he was simultaneously the pastor of a congregation in Gibsland in northern Bienville Parish. Over the years, he spoke at many religious gatherings, conferences, and camp meetings.

In 1976, the Reverend Barnes brought the main address at the World Conference of Pentecostals held in Jerusalem, Israel. For nineteen years, he was the state missions director for his Pentecostal denomination. For thirty-six years, he was principal of the Louisiana Pentecostal youth camps held in Tioga in Rapides Parish near Alexandria. He preached at the family camp meeting held there each July.

Nell Perry, who assisted Barnes in the preparation of his three book, said that the pastor was besieged with calls for prayer, counseling, and biblical interpretation. Thousands came to Minden to meet with him, nearly a quarter of other denominations. He was a mentor to pastors throughout the world. Mrs. Perry termed Barnes "a prophet", a term that he tried to avoid, and "the epitome of victory over Satan" despite attacks on his church, family, and indeed Barnes himself.

In 1998, Barnes was honored as "Minden Man of the Year." In 2003, he preached at the General Conference of the United Pentecostal Church International, meeting that year in Toronto, Canada. At the conference, Barnes was one of four men named "Men of Faith." His books, Living in the Overflow (out of print), Spiritual Warfare (2000) and If You Need Healing (2002), reflect many personal stories of Barnes' ministerial counseling and faith in Christ He is the subject of Nona Freeman's Prophet in Our Time (also out of print). His oldest grandchild, Michael Dewayne Gray (born August 6, 1960) of Shreveport, Louisiana, published Pure Faith, his personal recollections of T. W. and Lucille Barnes.

In his last years, Barnes was assisted in the ministry at First Pentecostal Church in Minden by the Reverend Bobby Joe "Bob" Rhymes (born November 21, 1944), who after Barnes' passing later moved to Lake Charles in southwestern Louisiana. The Reverend Barnes died in Minden at the age of ninety-two. He is interred at Gardens of Memory Cemetery in Minden.