4070 State Route 60, Marietta Ohio 45750 

         yron K. Guiler, pastor of the Marietta Bible Center Church in Devola, was a 

        college student, working his way along a career path to becoming a high school basketball coach when he came face to face with something far larger and greater.

“I was working in Columbus, Ohio when I became a Christian,” Guiler said.

Three months later— he preached his first sermon, in Monroe County, and he hasn’t looked back since.

“I have no retirement plans until the Lord retires me,” Guiler said.

On Sunday his congregation, Marietta Bible Center Church, plans to honor their pastor for service to the church.

“No words can describe him. He is the pillar of the church,” said Anna Offenberger of Lowell, church member and cook.

She said Guiler is a true man of God, who teaches and preaches the Bible.

“He has dedicated his life to the church,” she said.

Guiler vividly remembers his first sermon at the Calais Church in Monroe County.

“It was Mother’s Day, and the church had invited me to speak,” he said. “I preached from Matthew, chapter 4, about the temptations of Christ,” he said. “It didn’t have much to do with Mother’s Day, but it was the only sermon I knew.”

Fifty years later, Guiler has preached 40,000 sermons in 44 different countries. His favorite few, he sometimes repeats. One such favorite is titled, “Will the Circle Be Unbroken?”

“It’s about a family that meets in heaven, and the question is, will they be reunited there?” Guiler said. “For example, Adam and Eve meet in heaven with their two sons Cain and Abel, but because Cain murdered his brother, his chair was left empty.”

Another favorite sermon is “What Is God Like?” Guiler said he receives requests for these and other favorites.

“I thank the Lord for letting me live this long and preach this many sermons,” he said. “I am planning full speed ahead.”

The pastor of the non-denominational congregation has officiated at 500 weddings and 1,000 funerals. As founder and president, he oversees the Marietta Bible College, which has already graduated 200 students around the world.

At its most recent graduation on May 18, 27 students received four-year degrees in either pastoral studies or Christian education.

Total enrollment at the 30-year-old school, which is affiliated with and adjacent to the church, is about 70 students this year. Students represent eight different countries, including the U.S.

The Noble County native said the church’s approximately 400 members follow a “Baptistic” doctrine. Services are 10 a.m. and 6 p.m. Sunday and 7 p.m. Wednesday.

Guiler said his life has been blessed through Christianity and his church.

“The greatest blessing to me, beyond the blessing of the privilege to preach the message of God, is the people I have met along the way,” he said. “I have preached in 40 countries. I found Christians in Romania under communism, in the Philippines where our graduates have a reunion every year, and in Germany, Mexico and Thailand.”

There is little activity, other than his church that holds his time and interest, but there is one passion—once a year—Guiler would never miss,

“I deer hunt,” he said. “I go back home to Noble County every year and hunt with a group of people. I never miss, and we’ve been doing this for years.”

In addition, Guiler is an avid reader, normally completing two books a week, plus the Bible.

“I read the Bible through twice last year and the New Testament three times,” he said.