Jim & Louine

James Simrell Woodroof (Jim) was born on the 9th of March, 1933, to Claude and Bessie (Simrell) Woodroof in Obion, Tennessee. In 1951, Jim graduated from David Lipscomb High School in Nashville, Tennessee, then moved to Memphis and attended Memphis State University for his freshman year in 1951-52. During that year, Jim led singing and worked with the youth at the Union Avenue church of Christ. It was at Union Avenue that he met his future wife, Louine Miloe McGee. Louine was born on April 21, 1934, in Boyle, Mississippi, and was raised in Germantown, just on the outskirts of Memphis. Each Sunday morning, her mom, Daucie McGee, would get the five children up and ready, then flag down a train going into Memphis so that they could attend worship at Union Avenue church of Christ.

In the Fall of 1952, Jim returned to Nashville, and enrolled in David Lipscomb College. And at the end of the following summer of 1953, on August 21, he and Louine were married. They had a double-wedding with Louine's sister Racine and her groom, Bill Kritz. Jim's father, Claude Woodroof, officiated. From 1952-1955, Jim attended Lipscomb and graduated with a BA in Biblical Studies. In the early 1960's, Jim began work on a Master's of Arts in Religion from Harding Graduate School of Religion in Memphis. But, due to ministry and family demands and the decision to do mission work in New Zealand, he was delayed in completing this graduate degree until 1967.

Five children were born to Jim and Louine over a ten-year span: James Timothy in Hickory, North Carolina, in 1955: David Bryan in Hickory, North Carolina, in 1957; Jonathan Bradley in Columbia, South Carolina in 1959; Amy Elizabeth in Little Rock, Arkansas in 1962; and Rachel Louine in Christchurch, New Zealand, in 1965. Jim's and Louine's partnership in both family and ministry was - besides faith in Jesus himself - the greatest blessing either of them knew. They were married for 64 years.

Jim and Louine served a number of churches during the course of their six plus decades of ministry.

• Berea church of Christ, Berea, Tennessee (1953-1955)
• Hickory church of Christ, Hickory, North Carolina (1955-1957)
• West Columbia church of Christ, West Columbia, South Carolina (1957-1959)
• South Highland church of Christ, Little Rock, Arkansas (1959-1963)
• Union Avenue church of Christ, Memphis, Tennessee (1963-1965)
• Bryndwr church of Christ, Christchurch, New Zealand (1965-1970)
• White Haven church of Christ, Memphis, Tennessee (1970-1972)
• College church of Christ, Searcy, Arkansas (1972-1980)
• A&M church of Christ, College Station, TX (1980-1984)
• Burlington church of Christ, Burlington, Massachusetts (1984-1990
• Muskogee church of Christ, Muskogee, Oklahoma (1990-1997)

In the closing years of his ministry, Jim also did interim ministries with several churches, including churches in Arkansas (Searcy and Olyphant), Texas (Corpus Christi and Belton), and Tennessee (Antioch, and Nashville). Jim and Louine always spoke fondly of their time in New Zealand (an experience Jim called "pivotal" to his thinking and future ministry) and their work with college students in Searcy (the "high point" of their ministry life).

Writing and Speaking: Jim wrote several books, addressing issues relevant to churches of Christ or focusing on favorite biblical passages. His books have been translated into several languages and were pivotal in shaping the thinking of ministers and church leaders in churches of Christ over the past half century: The Divorce Dilemma; Struggles of the Kingdom; Four Realities; The Aroma of Christ; Beyond Crossroads; Between the Rock and a Hard Place; The Church in Transition; and Sayings that Saved my Sanity. (His last book - Sayings - was written and published at the age of 81.) In addition to his writings, Jim was a popular speaker, preaching at lectureships, retreats, and congregational meetings, as well as at events around the world (in Asia, Europe, and the South Pacific).

Jim's preaching and writing ministries occurred during interesting times in the history of churches of Christ. At a juncture where churches of Christ in general were struggling with more sectarian and reactionary tendencies, Jim stressed the centrality of the person and work of Jesus Christ, the priorities of love and unity over doctrinal divides, and the need for personal transformation by the power of the gospel. Many people who sat under his teaching or read his writings testify to the influence of Jim's Christ - centered teaching on their own understanding and practice of faith.

Louine was a talented cook (oh, how she loved to cook - so we all thought!), furniture refinisher, knitter (teaching all the grandchildren to knit), tea party host, linguist (teaching any who would listen how to speak proper English), seamstress, speaker, Bible class teacher, thrifter, house fixer-upper, and globe-trotter. She accepted her support role in their ministry by creating a welcoming home and providing spontaneous hospitality to family, friends, and strangers, helping people in need, find a bed, a meal, clothing, shelter, whatever was needed. Below is a poem that mom liked; one of its verses hung in a frame on a wall in her house - by the side of the road.

The House By The Side Of The Road - Sam Walter Foss, in late 1870s

There are hermit souls that live withdrawn in the place of their self-content; There are souls like stars, that dwell apart, in a fellowless firmament; there are pioneer souls that blaze the paths where highways never ran- but let me live by the side of the road and be a friend to man.

Let me live in a house by the side of the road where the race of men go by- the men who are good and the men who are bad, as good and as bad as I. I would not sit in the scorner's seat nor hurl the cynic's ban- let me live in a house by the side of the road and be a friend to man.

I see from my house by the side of the road by the side of the highway of life, the men who press with the ardor of hope, the men who are faint with the strife. But I turn not away from their smiles and tears, both parts of an infinite plan- let me live in a house by the side of the road and be a friend to man.

I know there are brook-gladdened meadows ahead, and mountains of wearisome height; that the road passes on through the long afternoon and stretches away to the night. And still I rejoice when the travelers rejoice and weep with the strangers that moan, nor live in my house by the side of the road like a man who dwells alone.

Let me live in my house by the side of the road, where the race of men go by- they are good, they are bad, they are weak, they are strong, wise, foolish - so am I. Then why should I sit in the scorner's seat, Or hurl the cynic's ban? Let me live in my house by the side of the road and be a friend to man.