By By JOHN EBY / Dowagiac Daily News
NILES - Some pastors are doctors of divinity.
Second Baptist Church's choice to succeed Henry C. Smith after 32 1/2 years is a doctor, period.
An M.D. A surgeon. Appointed Jan. 1 to a two-year term as chief of surgery for Lakeland Hospital Systems' Niles division.
Dr. Carl L. Whitt, 52, of Niles, had been Second Baptist's associate pastor since 1998. Smith had been at Second Baptist since June 1972 in a 40-year career. He and his wife, Dr. Jean O. Smith, both served on the school board and guided the local NAACP branch.
Called to preach in 1986 in Youngstown, Ohio, he resisted that call until March 13, 1995.
Whitt was licensed as a pastor at Mt. Calvary Baptist Church in Niles, whose current pastor, Bryant Bacon, is from Dowagiac.
Asked how he will balance two such demanding professions, Whitt replied, "I'm going to let God handle that. I intend to be a full-time pastor. That's what I was elected to do" March 19. "My faith is strong enough that I believe that the Lord will do it and just use me as an instrument to get it done. I was not always a strong man of faith. I've had my stumbling blocks throughout my life .. but when God changes a man's heart - no matter what his background is - that's what gives the strength, the initiative and the wherewithal to accept the challenge and do it .. it's definitely unusual. I'm an unusual individual."
Born Dec. 8, 1952, in Fort Wayne, Ind., he played on the 1970 city football champions and graduated from Fort Wayne Central High in 1971.
Whitt earned a bachelor's degree in 1975 from Indiana University in Bloomington and a bachelor's degree in 1977 from Purdue University in West Lafayette. He completed medical school at Wright State University in Dayton, Ohio, in 1982.
Whitt fulfilled residencies in general surgery and vascular surgery at St. Elizabeth Hospital Medical Center in Youngstown, Ohio, from July 1, 1981, through June 30, 1987.
He has had staff positions in general and vascular surgery and gastrointestinal endoscopy at Lakeland Regional Health System, St. Joseph's Medical Center in South Bend, Ind., and at Lee Memorial Hospital in Dowagiac.
Whitt served as president of the Berrien County Medical Society in 1994.
He has already been in this area almost 20 years. "My wife and I liked it because it was small. We had four little kids growing up. I was tired of big cities after training in places like the Cleveland Clinic, Indianapolis and Akron. You can run to South Bend or Chicago if you want to do the big city thing. All of our kids are out of the house now, but we're comfortable here."
Whitt, a middle child with three older siblings and three younger siblings, comes from a "family of preachers" who "instilled in me the idea of being there for people … to help. I see my role as a pastor as being there with love, unconditionally."
Medicine is another way to help people. "My life has been a life of service," Whitt said. "That's what turns me on. As a physician, it just happens to be an occupation. As a minister of the gospel, it's a vocation. They both have one thing in common - service - and I enjoy that."
He's the only member of his immediate family who is a doctor, though he has two cousins who are chemists.
Whitt lists golf, fishing and camping as his hobbies. "I was brought up as a Boy Scout," he said. "I can't hunt - I'm scared of guns - but I'm a morning person. I'm usually up by 4:30. I do a lot of night fishing in the summertime and get nine holes in by 8 or 9. It's possible if you do it when you can."
His wife, Dianne, works in the deli department for Meijer. "We went to high school together. She's watched this whole metamorphosis. She's really coming into her own now. I'm real proud of her. She's a support person for me. Very low-key and quiet."
Their four daughters are Terennia R., Leha Dee, Christian Lynae and Erin Diann.
The logistics of his dual role "is still in the planning. I'm closed at 12 on Wednesdays and Thursdays in this office. We have Bible study on Wednesday (evenings) at Second Baptist, so I envision that Wednesday will probably be a day I do a lot of counseling and church stuff. The choirs practice on Saturday and the pastor should be somewhere in the building. I've already been involved in weddings and funerals, and that was going to be the biggest quirk in this, but if you haven't figured out, I'm a 'dinosaur doctor.' There's a shingle hanging out there. There's not another physician in this building. I work for me. Which means I can make my schedule."