“I believe in the young people in our churches,” John Balyo said in 1983, explaining why he passed up a comfortable retirement to become president of Western Baptist College (now Corban College). “They live in stressful times, but many of them are seeking the right way in this world’s wilderness. They need encouragement, guidance, instruction, and challenge.”
Dr. Balyo, 89, passed away on Sat., April 18, in Salem, Ore., having spent a lifetime encouraging college students and young preachers.
The son of John and Etta (Groce) Balyo, John Balyo was born on Jan. 18, 1920, and grew up in Greenville, S.C. He dreamed of being a lawyer and graduated from Atlanta Law School in 1940, but soon dedicated his life to Christian ministry. After attending Valparaiso University and Goshen College, he earned an MDiv degree from Grace Theological Seminary in Winona Lake, Ind. After seminary, he met Betty Lindstrand, and they were married in 1945.
He then began serving as pastor in a succession of GARBC churches: Simonton Lake Baptist Church, Elkhart, Ind. (1944–46); Bible Baptist Church, Kokomo, Ind. (1946–53); and Cedar Hill Baptist Church, Cleveland Heights, Ohio (1953–72). During his time in Cleveland, he began an extensive Bible conference and radio ministry, in addition to pastoral duties for a congregation of about 800. He was a featured speaker at the GARBC Conference 12 times between 1953 and 1986, and was honored with a lifetime service award at the 1994 GARBC Conference. (Listen to “Eternity’s Up Ahead,” a sermon clip [30 seconds] from the 1986 GARBC Conference.)
“I recall sitting in the morning Bible hour of the 1977 GARBC Conference in Des Moines, listening to Dr. Balyo proclaim the glories of our God from the Psalms,” said John Greening, national representative of the GARBC. “As a rookie pastor, I said to myself, ‘This is what the heart of the ministry is all about. I want to preach in such a manner that God’s flock is drawn into a closer walk with Him.’ ” (Read John Greening’s tribute to John Balyo)
Dr. Balyo had keen interest in international ministry, traveling to mission fields in Africa, Europe, South America, and Korea. He served on the Baptist Mid-Missions General Council from 1957 until 1984, when he was designated emeritus.
In 1972, Dr. Balyo was invited to join the faculty of Grand Rapids Baptist College (now Cornerstone University). Then after a ministry as pastor of Suncoast Baptist Church, New Port Richey, Fla. (1980-1982), he was invited to join the faculty at Baptist Bible College & Seminary, Clarks Summit, Pa., where he taught until becoming the fifth president of Western Baptist College (now Corban College) in 1983. He retired to the position of chancellor in 1991 and became president emeritus in 2004.
Dr. Balyo was one of our most prolific authors for the Baptist Bulletin, contributing many articles and a monthly column that ran from 1983 to 1988. He also wrote Sunday School curriculum for Regular Baptist Press. He served on the GARBC Council of Eighteen and was chairman of the GARBC radio committee in 1969, responsible for developing the nationally syndicated Living Reality radio show. (Photo of radio committee at right: William Kuhnle, John Balyo, Joseph Stowell II.)
Dr. Balyo spoke at the funeral service of Robert Ketcham in 1978, describing the famous Baptist leader as a giant oak tree that stood tall against the sky. Those words of tribute to Ketcham seem a fitting epitaph to Dr. Balyo’s own life: “He was a great man, one of God’s tall men. And today there is a great empty space against the sky.”
He is survived by his wife, Betty; a son, Michael; grandsons, John, of Grand Rapids, Mich., and James, of Flint, Mich.; a brother, Clyde (wife, Elsie) of Miamisburg, Ohio; sister-in-law, Kate of Atlanta, Ga.; and several nieces and nephews. A son, James, preceded him in death.
A memorial service will be held at 1:30 p.m., Sat., April 25 at First Baptist Church, 395 Marion St. NE, Salem. In lieu of flowers, a Balyo Scholarship Fund has been established at Corban College, 5000 Deer Park Dr., Salem, OR 97317-9392.
“The world is passing away, my body included,” said Dr. Balyo during his final sermon at the 1986 GARBC Conference. “Amen! So be it.”
“Eternity’s up ahead, and I’m marching to glory. The invisible things of tomorrow’s long, unclouded day will soon be ours. Let us lift up our eyes and look away to the unfading, never ending glory of all the invisible things—the things which we cannot now see, but for which we now live.
“Let the world go away. Let my body decay. He who does the will of God abides forever.”
