Father-son reunion shows God’s divine plan

By Sharon Mager, BCM/D Correspondent

HUGHESVILLE, Md.—A young Keith Corrick was getting dressed after a junior varsity basketball game when a teammate walked up to him and said, “Your father is here tonight. Get dressed, go out in the stands and meet him." Corrick didn’t remember his father. His parents divorced when he was a toddler; so in reality, Corrick was meeting his father for the first time. 

“That was one of those flashbulbs in life, the ones you never forget like where you were when 9-11 happened, or when President Kennedy was assassinated. I still remember walking down the hall at the school gymnasium,” Corrick said.

It was through that meeting that Corrick eventually found himself at Elkridge Church, where he and his father both gave their lives to Christ. Now Corrick pastors Hughesville Church. His son, Brian, pastors Nanjemoy Church. God redeemed the past.

Keith Corrick’s mom raised him by herself during the 1950’s and 60’s when there was more of a stigma about being a single mom. She worked hard to support her son. As he grew, Corrick began to wonder about his father, but it was a taboo subject.

 When Corrick was in high school, his mom moved to New Carrollton. He stayed in Sykesville with friends.

It was around this time he began thinking more about his father. Amazingly, it was at the same time that Corrick’s dad began searching for his son. In fact, the elder Corrick went to some old neighbors and began asking about Keith. That’s how it came about that teammate Mike Alexander told Corrick that his father was in the stands.

 “I went into the bleachers and shook hands with my father for the very first time. You could tell we didn’t know each other because he called me by my real name, 'Keith,' and I grew up with the nickname ‘Butch.’ He didn’t know that.”

The two sat and watched the varsity game together then went to the older Corrick’s car and talked. Keith found out that his dad had remarried and had four other children.

“Before I left he called me ‘son.’ He said, ‘good-bye, son.’ That’s the first time I ever heard that.”

He and his father, a correctional officer at Jessup, began building a relationship and eventually the younger Corrick moved in with his dad.

Corrick’s new step-mother was an inactive Baptist who decided to get her family back to church. She began looking around and found Elkridge Church; then came home and announced to the family that they were all going to start going there. Keith Corrick wasn’t too agreeable, since he had no church background, but his father and stepmom made him go. The teen didn’t actively participate, but he listened.

“I was really impressed with two things: one was the genuineness of the people and their love and encouragement and the preaching."

Bob Moore, Keith’s pastor,  impressed Keith and even now, he thinks of Moore as his mentor and father in the faith.

“I heard about God in a very real way. Each Sunday Bob preached from the Bible in such a way it felt like he was talking to me. Keith and his father both gave their hearts to Jesus on Palm Sunday in 1970.

Keith felt God’s call to the ministry when he was 18, but struggled with it, feeling inadequate.

Nine years later, he and his wife, Terri, whom he met through one of his father’s co-workers, packed up and went to New Orleans Seminary for Corrick to begin preparing for ministry.

“God has redeemed a lot of what has happened in the past. I met my dad, got saved, met my wife and had three boys, Greg, Brian and Philip. They are our treasures. We never   made any of the boys feel like they needed to grow up to be preachers, but they all know the Lord."

 Corrick said he and his father have grown in their relationship through the years.

“We’re very close today. My dad and I took a ride after my stepmother died. Reflecting back on those days he said ‘that had to be God.'”