BELMONT, N.C.-- Worship services were canceled Sunday at Southpoint Free Will Baptist Church as parishioners mourned the loss of their pastor.
Reverend Ronnie Wilson, 64, died Saturday afternoon after troopers say the church van he was driving hit a pickup truck head-on.
Church Deacon James Townsend told NewsChannel 36 that four other church members riding with the pastor and were taken to Carolinas Medical Center in critical condition.
The men were returning from a retreat in Myrtle Beach before the crash at around 4:20 p.m. on SC 903 in the Antioch community east of Lancaster.
Troopers said the church van and a 1995 Ford F-150 towing an 18-foot utility trailer were westbound on SC 903 when the pickup truck lost a tire.
Wilson apparently swerved to avoid the tire when the van crossed into the eastbound land striking another pickup truck.
Lance Corporal Jeff Gaskin said three church members and two people in the eastbound truck were airlifted to CMC, and the fourth church member was taken by ambulance.
Gaskin said the driver and passenger of the eastbound truck were not wearing seat belts and were thrown from the vehicle.
The driver and passenger of the F-150 were wearing seat belts and didn't have any serious injuries, said Gaskin.
Several dozen parishioners were filing into the Gaither Road church Sunday, exchanging hugs and condolences.
"He would help anybody that needed help. Anybody if you come to him he would help you with your problem or situation and I just hate it," one parishioner told a reporter as she walked toward the sanctuary.
Danny Hubbard, a Southpoint resident who said he worshiped with Wilson, said he was in disbelief after hearing about the crash.
"My mom called me this morning and told me he died," Hubbard said. "Everybody is going to miss him. He was a good preacher."
