DOCTRINAL STATEMENT SCRIPTURES I believe in verbal, plenary inspiration of the Bible. Verbal, plenary inspiration means that the spirit of God guided the choice of words for the entire Bible. None of the Bible is the result of man's ideas or philosophies but comes straight from the mouth of God, making them without error. This applies to the original manuscripts, but I also believe God has protected His word from error. I also believe we have all we need in the Bible. TRINITY There is one God who reveals Himself to humanity is three forms, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost. While each seems to have his own distinct personality, all three reveal the total character of God. GOD There is one all-knowing, all-powerful, all-present God, who manifests Himself to humanity as the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. He is the ruler of the universe, supreme of all. His promises, statements, and prophecies will all occur because of His sovereignty. Christians should submit themselves to His leadership. The day will come when all humanity will recognize His sovereignty and be under His complete judgment. JESUS CHRIST Jesus Christ is God come in the flesh, born of a virgin, died on the cross, and resurrected on the third day. Outside Him and His work, no individual can be saved. His life was the ultimate example of God's love for humanity and demonstration of God's love. His teachings should be the guiding light for believers to live by. HOLY SPIRIT That part of God that indwells the believer, empowering them for service, guiding them into truth, and convicting them of sin and righteousness. The Holy Spirit draws the unsaved to Jesus Christ. SALVATION Salvation comes only through accepting Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior through confession of sin and belief in His saving power. Those who are saved demonstrate a new lifestyle brought on by the fruit of the spirit. Good works are a result of salvation. BAPTISM Baptism is symbolic of our relationship to Christ, showing our death, burial and resurrection in Him. Administered through full immersion, in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost. Salvation is not dependent on baptism. Only those who have professed Christ as savior should be baptized. Baptism is the first act of obedience for the new Christian and the entrance into church membership. LORD'S SUPPER The Lord's Supper is to remind the Christian of Christ's sacrificial work for them. It should be observed regularly by those who are saved. The elements represent the body and blood of Christ's sacrifice for us. No person should partake of this unless they have examined themselves and confessed their sins to God for forgiveness. THE CHURCH The church is God's only organization on the earth. It's purpose is to carry out His work and present a witness of Jesus Christ. While the local church is the focal point of God's work, every born-again believer is a member of God's family or as some call it, the universal church. THE DEVIL Satan is the opposite of God. He is the tempter of humanity and intends to destroy all that God has created. He is limited in power, knowledge, and presence making him subordinate to God. TESTIMONY I was born on February 5, 1950. My mother was a Christian and a member of the First Baptist church of St. John, Missouri. From birth until I left home, I never new anything except regular attendance in Sunday School and Worship. At the age of seven I accepted Jesus Christ as my personal Lord and Savior, for I knew that I needed Him. Shortly after my salvation experience, I was baptized by our pastor. In 1964, I first felt the call into the ministry. This commitment was made public. I did not receive guidance from my pastor and did not respond to the call then. This led to a time in my life that I wandered away from God and His work. When I was 25, my family and I became active in First Baptist Church of Pinellas Park, Florida. God began to work in my life again. Once again He impressed me with a desire to serve Him. I recommitted my life to his service in 1976. After a year of struggle over the direction of this call, we moved to Hannibal, Missouri where I started college to prepare for the ministry in 1977. During my first year I was called to pastor the Friendship Baptist Church. The last nineteen years have given me assurance that I fill the role God has planned for my life. LEADERSHIP STYLE Each of the five churches I have pastored have been unique. The first was a small rural church, where I served bi-vocationally and attended college. The second was in a small town of 200 people, with great potential and sponsored a mission. I was full-time. The third was in a small city and most of the members were senior adults when they called me. The challenge here was to reach younger families. The fourth church was in a major metropolitan area that is predominantly LDS. It required a complete organizational overhaul. A new building has been built. My current position is in a transitional city of 20,000. Previously, this was a farming community, but is rapidly become a bedroom community for Indianapolis. This is a major change for the church family. All five of these churches required a different style of leadership. The challenges and ministries in each required different roles of the pastor. Churches, like people have distinct personalities and the pastor must adapt his leadership to fit the need of the church. While these churches have been unique, requiring a different skill of the pastor, they have all shared four common characteristics, which I believe are common to all churches. Each of them needed leadership into God's work. They all required spiritual development. All needed to discover, define, and develop a vision of God's purpose for them regularly. Training and education in preparation for God's work was a need in each church that I have pastored. PHILOSOPHY OF MINISTRY Flexibility is the key to my ministry. I have adapted to the need of the church God called me to serve. Evaluating the needs and meeting them is my method. While the methodology and strategy have changed between churches and developmental stages, the goal has remained the same. My Goals are outlined in the Great Commission, converting people to Jesus Christ, baptizing them, teaching the believer. The use of available personnel is important. As pastor, I can only lead a church, I cannot do everything. The evaluation of the ministry and carrying out of the ministry is the job of the entire church body. Those involved in ministry should be given the freedom to perform the ministry as God leads them. As pastor I offer help when needed, advice when asked for, and training for ministry improvement. It is my dream to have every Christian participating in some form of service to God. Personally, I believe that with all the roles I have filled, the most important is that of preacher, teacher, and equipper. I seek to be prepared every time I preach or teach. I try to stay informed in all aspects of the ministry, allowing me to be a resource person to equip church members for the ministry. This means that study is important to me. I spend a great deal of time in personal study and never feel I have studied enough. Visitation is one ministry that no church or pastor can overlook. My personal opinion is that ever visitor to a church deserves a visit by the pastor or member the same week they attend. The lost need to be visited by an experienced witness as often as needed to bring them to Christ. New witnesses should by trained through visitation. The sick need visiting and prayer. Those with special needs require counsel. Much of my time is spent in visitation.