Sherrill D. Wellborn

Year Inducted: 2019

Sherrill D. Wellborn was born in Boone, NC. He graduated from Appalachian High in 1959. He achieved an Honorary Doctorate of Divinity from Foothills Christian College in 2010.

Wellborn came to Wilkes County in 1971 when he was hired as full-time pastor of Lewis Fork Baptist Church. Holding this position for 41 years, Wellborn established a local legacy defined by his dedication and true servant-leadership. A church member stated about Wellborn, “His dedication to building a thriving church increased Sunday School attendance from an average of 203 in 1971 to an average of 330 in 1981, and shortly thereafter Lewis Fork was named ‘N.C. Rural Church of the Year’. The church also established an eighteen year continuous record of the most baptisms in the Brushy Mountain Association under his leadership.”

The desire to see men and women enjoy decent lives is what steered Wellborn to deliver his message not only to his church but beyond the United States to Israel, Russia and Romania. Wellborn has dedicated most of his life to helping others. He has a strong belief in using one’s abilities, whatever they may be, to promoting common decency.

He has shown a great foundation of leadership not only in the church, but in the community. A large part of Wellborn’s community outreach included the younger generation through programs such as Vacation Bible School. Numerous children were baptized as a result of their attendance in these programs and many were lead to become pastors themselves including Wellborn’s son, David. In addition, throughout his years at Lewis Fork Baptist, Wellborn worked constantly to gather offerings for multiple charities and his fundraising initiative for the West Wilkes Medical Center. In 1980, Wellborn was elected Wilkes County Commissioner. He has served on the board of many organizations such as the West Wilkes Medical Center Board of Directors, the John A. Walker Community Center Advisory Board, the Uplands Reach Conference Center Board, the Fruitland Baptist Bible College Board, and the Wilkes County Library. He has served on the Christian Action League of North Carolina for twenty five years.

Wellborn retired from preaching in 2012. Upon retiring, he kept a very busy schedule filling in as interim pastor to help local churches through leadership changes. He doesn’t believe much in leisure or personal time as these only stall his efforts to reach others. To the community, Wellborn always puts others’ time ahead of his own and selflessly offers spiritual comfort to those in need. One community member stated, “Over his years of serving Pastor Wellborn always remains on call. You can always count on him to be by your side when needed day or night with a kind, encouraging word or prayer.” Wellborn accepted a full-time position as pastor of Flint Hill Baptist Church in 2015.