John 15:16 … “but I have chosen you … that your fruit should remain.”
On Monday evening, November 18, 2024, Roger Atlas Crowder, of Huntsville AL, entered the presence of his Lord and Savior, leaving behind remaining fruit.
Roger was born on June 17, 1942, to Lester and Louise Crowder of Kuna, Idaho. The third of four children, Roger graduated in 1960 from Kuna High School. On February 5, 1961, Roger and his beloved wife, Sharon married. God blessed their family with two daughters. After a short stint in the Navy, God moved their family to Fremont, MI, where they were active at First Baptist Church of Fremont. It was in this church that God chose Roger to serve Him in full-time Christian service.
In 1973 God moved the family again to Greenville, SC, where Roger earned a Master’s of Divinity to prepare for a preaching ministry. After four years in SC, they moved to Illinois where Roger faithfully served as pastor of Paris Bible Church. After seven years of ministering in Paris, IL, God chose them to serve Him in another place.
God used a special verse to call Roger and Sharon Crowder from the pastorate in Illinois to the mission field of Brazil. John 15:16, “You have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain…”. God was so faithful in honoring His Word. Roger and his wife founded the Fundamental Baptist Church of Tristeza in southern Porto Alegre in 1988. God began to build a team through Roger’s leadership. At its height, eight missionary families and three single ladies were actively involved. The main church in Tristeza began to send out the laborers, as further churches were planted in Ponta Grossa (1994), Santa Maria ((1996), Canoas (1996), Alvorada (2000), Julio de Castilhos (2001), Guaiba (2002), Sao Sepe (2003).
Along with the church expansion, Roger oversaw the purchase and development of the Fundamental Baptist Seminary in Porto Alegre (2003-2018) while furthering his own education earning a Doctorate of Ministry. In one case of remaining fruit, that of Daniel Bortuluzzi, God has graciously saved over 100 members of his extended family. Three are ordained preachers. Only heaven will reveal the impact of a life well spent in total dependence on the One who choses, calls, and blesses.
After retiring from the ministry in Brazil in 2012, God chose Roger and his wife to minister to other missionaries around the world as furlough replacements. These places included the Philippines, Cape Verde, Argentina, Brazil, and ending in Scotland. They returned to Huntsville in 2016 where Roger became the missions pastor at Calvary Baptist Church.
Roger, an adventurous soul, used his love of horses, flying, and travel to fulfill his greatest love: sharing the gospel of Jesus Christ. To the very end, he shared the gospel with anyone that came to the house either by giving his personal testimony or giving a gospel tract. One of Roger’s favorite sayings was that God used a young man from Idaho to travel the world and share the gospel of his Lord and Savior.
He was preceded in death by his parents, his older sister, his younger brother, and his dear wife of 63 years.
He is survived by daughters, Shelley (Tim) Schimkus of Virginia and Kelley (Mark) Ballard of Pennsylvania; five grandchildren, Abigail Rose, Bethany Rose, Susannah Schimkus, Richard Schimkus, Amelia Rolle, and six great-grandchildren.
The memorial service will be held Saturday, November 23, at 1 pm at Calvary Baptist Church, 126 Douglass Road NW, Huntsville, AL.
Dr. Jeremiah Cochran and Dr. Greg McLaughlin will be officiating. The family will receive friends an hour before the service.
In memory of Roger, donations can be made to Calvary Baptist Church Mission Fund, care of Mike Ring for Brazilian ministries.
