For as long as he can remember, David Wotier has gone by the nickname of “Milkweed.”
Really, he has.
Milkweed grew up on a dairy farm where one of his jobs was chopping milkweed. “You don’t want the cows to eat those,” he said. “The milk will have an oniony taste. Grade A goes to Grade C if it’s an oniony taste. We couldn’t afford that.”
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So, Milkweed oversaw making sure there was no milkweed for the cows to eat.
“I was Milkweed when CB radios were popular. I had that as my handle. I went to college (at Belmont University) in Nashville. I thought, ‘I’m going to call myself Music City Milkweed.’ When they found out I couldn’t sing, I had to change that.”
Just plain Milkweed would have to do, and it has for 62 years.
Name above all names
He has led an interesting life with the interesting nickname. But make no mistake, Milkweed knows the name above all names, as well. He has been the pastor of Pleasant Ridge Baptist Church in Owenton, Kentucky, for 36 years — faithfully preaching Jesus to a congregation that loves him as much as he loves them.
It wasn’t necessarily his intent to be the pastor at Pleasant Ridge Baptist for so long, but he is more than satisfied with what has been a fruitful ministry. The pastor with the unusual nickname knows how to preach. When he came to the church for his trial sermon in 1989, the membership was at 36. It’s about five times that number now.
Milkweed came to Pleasant Ridge at the advice of one of his mentors, Gayle Toole. He was on the staff at Edgewood Baptist in Nicholasville as the youth pastor for Toole, who asked him if he wanted him to give his name to the search committee at Pleasant Ridge.
Toole was raised in the Owen County area and still had family there. He told Milkweed he knew a lot of people there and they were looking for a pastor.
Thirty-six years at ‘steppingstone’ Pleasant Ridge Baptist
Milkweed thought about it but could not help but take the advice of a man he had come to respect as much as any he had known. So, he preached two trial sermons, and they called him to be the pastor. Milkweed took a $20,000 pay cut but said he was looking at the move “as a steppingstone.”
Thirty-six years later, he is still there and just as excited about preaching the Word as he ever was. The church and community love and respect him. Milkweed was the mayor in Owenton for 14 years and he also has his funeral license. He marries people and he buries people.
And they all call him Milkweed. For years his driver’s license had Milkweed on it. When he made the switch to the Real ID, he was afraid that it was going to end. But, lo and behold, his Real ID also says “Milkweed.”
Milkweed was well prepared to be a pastor when he came 36 years ago. He graduated from Southern Baptist Theological Seminary and worked at Bashford Manor and Middletown Baptist as a volunteer, then moved to Walnut Street Baptist Church also on a volunteer basis and was the youth pastor at Edgewood Baptist in Nicholasville.
Three mentors
He had three mentors he leaned on, including Billy Graham. “I did shake his hand. I don’t think he ever remembered that.”
Another was Jim Henry, a pastor in Tennessee and former president of the Southern Baptist Convention. He went on five Bible cruises to the Holy Land with him. And Toole was the other mentor in his life.
But he said the best advice may have come from Bob Bailey, who was on staff at Walnut Street when he was there.
“He said, ‘Milkweed, get in there, love people, preach the Word and everything else will come together.’ I love my people. I don’t love everything they do. I still love them through all that and preach the Word. It is the single greatest piece of advice anybody has given me.”
Milkweed is 70 but he has no thoughts of retiring. In fact, he told his congregation that he may not be in the pulpit at Pleasant Ridge, but he will be preaching somewhere at the age of 92 after hearing a man do a funeral service when he was that age.
“I pray the Lord continues to bless me with good health, strength and a clear mind,” he said.
EDITOR’S NOTE — This story was written by Mark Maynard and originally published by Kentucky Today.
