Rev. William (Bill) Baker Jr.
Rev. William (Bill) Baker Jr.
At the time of this photo Bill was 80 years old. He is now with the Lord. He was one of the first Gospel magicians I meet and over the years I have learned much from him.
According to Bill, his first stage performance was at the age of two. His dad was a part of a family song and dance vaudeville group. So it was only natural that they would include this young member into their act to “wow” the crowd. I guess it is fair to say that Bill grew up on a stage.
In later years Bill’s dad owned a roofing business. Bill knew that if he worked for his dad one of a couple of things would happen. If he worked hard and was promoted the other workers would say it was because his dad owned the company. No matter how hard he worked his dad would expect him to do more than the other workers. So at the age of 11 Bill and his younger brother went into business for themselves. They took their little wagon and went through the streets knocking on doors and collecting newspapers to be sold and recycled.
One day they knocked on a door and a lady appeared. They asked if she had any newspapers that they could have and she said that as a matter of fact she did. She invited them in and took them to the basement where she had twenty large bundles of papers all tied in bundles. Bill knew that it would take several trips over the next couple of days to hull them away in their wagon.
One day as they were loading up the wagon the lady asked if they would like some cookies and milk. Bill wasn’t too excited about the milk but the sound of cookies was good. As they sat at the table munching away, the lady asked if they knew who Jesus was. Bill was quick to answer that he knew all about Him. He told the lady that Jesus was born on Christmas day. That was the extent of his knowledge. As the days and weeks went on this lady shared stories of Jesus with them and told them about the gift of salvation that was available through Christ’s death on the cross. This lady who opened the door of her house to Bill also opened his heart to the Lord and she lead him to Christ.
The lady invited to take the boys to Sunday school and church but their father would not allow them to go. Just prior to his fathers’ death he did become a Christian. Bill is not sure that his mother ever did even though he knows that she had come from a strong family of believers.
The lady continued to go through the Bible with Bill on a personal level and they became good friends. Bill told me that one of the best days of his life was the day he knocked on her door and introduced himself as Reverend Bill Baker.
From an early age Bill wanted to be a preacher, a child physiologist or a famous magician. Over the years he accomplished all three. During his preach career Rev. Baker pastured four churches. He loved preaching but never gave up his love for magic. He did put his magic aside for two years while he was in seminary because he didn’t want it to get in his way of study.
Over the years Bill collected one of the largest personal libraries on the subject of magic. At one time he owned over 4,000 books and publication on magic. Many of these were first additions and contained complete sets. Books filled several walls in several rooms of his hours in New Jersey.
Bill himself has written 27 books on the subject of magic. All total this includes over 2,000 pages. He would like to do three more before the Lord calls him home so that he will have an even 30. Perhaps you have heard of one young man that Bill taught magic to by the name of David Copperfield.
Bill has been an active member of all of the magic societies and groups over the years. He served as the president of the Fellowship of Christian Magicians on two different occasions with two terms each which is the maximum. He has been featured in many magic trade magazines and journals and I am proud to call him a friend. I am honored that Bill has allowed his books to be available to you on our site. You will notice that at the time it was first published, one of Bills books sold for $25. Now this many years later you can have it for much less. I asked Bill about that and he said he just hopes that people will get and use his stuff to reach others with the gospel. You can find Bills books here.