It is with great sadness that I share our friend and co-laborer, Dr. Toby Weaver, has been called Home to be with the Lord.
If you had the honor of knowing Dr. Toby Weaver, even for a day, you knew the honor of his friendship. He genuinely loved people and delighted to pour into their lives—encouragement, friendship, instruction, mentoring, prayer. I don’t know of a more loyal friend, compassionate soul winner, or dedicated servant of the Lord.
If you’ve heard Toby’s testimony, you know he had a rough start in life. He and his brother, Leroy, were born into a tumultuous home filled with all the instability and chaos of addictions, unaddressed PTSD, and infidelity. They moved often and settled rarely.
But one day, while the boys were in the yard playing baseball, Dr. Jerry Falwell drove by. He stopped, got out, played with them, and asked if they’d come to church if he picked them up. Long story short, Dr. Falwell led them to Christ—and it completely changed the trajectory of their lives. Over the next several years, Dr. Falwell discipled and mentored them.
After graduating from high school, Toby attended Tennessee Temple University and sat under the teaching of Dr. Lee Roberson. Later, he would serve with Dr. Jack Hyles in the 1980s and then for several years with Dr. Clarence Sexton before pastoring in Michigan. Dr. Weaver became a friend to me when he traveled through Lancaster in 1991.
It was at Tennessee Temple, however, that Toby met Rita, who he married two years later. Last month, they celebrated fifty-five years of marriage. For their entire marriage, they have served the Lord side by side—in college ministry, the pastorate, and Christian education.
In 2002, during the first decade of West Coast Baptist College, the Lord laid it on my heart to invite Toby and Rita to serve as Deans of Students at WCBC. They came from a thriving pastorate and have been nothing but a blessing since—to me as their pastor, to our students, to graduates, and to pastors around the country. Over the years, their roles have adjusted, and most recently they served as college faculty while also traveling to represent WCBC in other local churches.
For nearly twenty-five years, Toby and Rita have poured their lives into West Coast Baptist College students. Hundreds of graduates around the world remember not only Dr. Weaver’s classroom instruction but also key moments when he encouraged, challenged, and mentored them personally, as well as through chapel messages.
One of Toby’s favorite areas of ministry was traveling on college tour because he loved encouraging pastors and recruiting new students to train for local church ministry. Once those students arrived at WCBC, he continued to seek them out with a good word of encouragement or admonition. He loved people—young and old alike. Over the past week, hundreds of messages from pastors and WCBC graduates around the world have poured in—people whose lives Dr. Weaver personally touched.
As many of our friends have already heard, eight days ago (in fact, the day after returning from a college ministry trip), Dr. Weaver was rushed to the hospital with what appeared to be stroke symptoms. Tests revealed aggressive brain tumors. In the days that followed, I was grateful for the opportunity to visit him and Rita in the hospital. Each time we talked and prayed together, his spirit was strong, and his heart remained fixed on serving the Lord for as many more years as God would give him.
He wrote me dozens of kind notes through the years. I have over fifty of them in my files. Here are a few:
We got home from winter tour early Monday morning. Thanking the Lord to report we saw souls saved, students sign up, and we got home safely.
___
[During Covid] I really believe God has a special role and plan for your needed spiritual leadership in the near future. I’m fasting and praying for you. God help you. I’ve got your back.
___
We love the college. The kids are always special, but never more than this year. Chapel has been an unusual blessing more than ever. The weekend tour time has been very special and profitable. The Lord has given Rita and me several souls—everyone is a prospect. So, we will not be weary in well doing. We shall reap.
This evening, the Lord called Dr. Weaver Home, leaving an immense loss for me as his pastor and one that will be deeply felt as students return for college next week. I love all of our staff, but Dr. Weaver was intentional to support and encourage me. I will miss him. Yet, even as we grieve the loss of his presence here, we rejoice that he is now in Heaven, serving the Savior he loved so deeply.
Please join me in praying for Rita, their sons Todd and Joey, their daughters-in-law, their grandchildren, and their extended family in this tremendous loss. We are grateful for the eternal investment he made in so many of us.
I will be sure to update below when we have details for Dr. Weaver’s Homegoing service.
