Teacher, former student to share the stage at Unity Fellowship

ELIZABETHTON — Time moves so slowly that we don't always realize our lives and relationships are constantly changing. But there are occasions when it becomes very real that relationships move on and change with the times. For Sabrina Keller and Billy Whitson, one such occasion will be the "Home Prayer Meeting Service" being held Saturday, April 25, at 7 p.m. at Unity Fellowship Church of Elizabethton at 907 S. Cedar Ave. The pastor is Greg Wagner. For the special service, Whitson is the guest speaker and Keller is the special praise and worship leader. It is the first time that the two have ever worked together in a church service, but their relationship goes way, way back. Keller certainly recognizes the rarity of their relationship and refers to it as "from pupil to the pulpit." Their relationship goes back to when Whitson was a first-grader and Keller was the teaching assistant for the class. Keller remembers those days fondly. "He was cute as a button. He was small with a big personality. He could make me laugh on my toughest days. Oftentimes he would come to the back table of the classroom to complete his work with me." She still laughs at things he said back then, like the time he told his attractive teacher "you know how I'd like to see you? In a prom dress!" Years later, Keller retired from her job as a teaching assistant but continued to do the worship leader role she has done her whole life. One day, she was asked to sing at a church and was surprised to find her old pupil was in attendance. "This was a church I frequented often. I soon found out his family credits mine and Billy's friendship for their salvation connection. This made my heart glad." Later, her old pupil got married, became a dad and then became a minister. "To say I'm beyond proud would be an understatement," Keller said. But this Saturday will be the first time they have ever ministered together. "I will be leading the worship and Billy will preach. We would love for you to join us. You might just fall in love with Billy and Jesus too."