PASTOR SEARCH COMMITTEE UPDATE #15

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PASTOR SEARCH COMMITTEE UPDATE #15

Greetings Church Family,

“Great is Thy faithfulness,” O God my Father, There is no shadow of turning with Thee; Thou changest not, Thy compassions, they fail not, As Thou hast been Thou forever wilt be.

“Great is Thy faithfulness!” “Great is Thy faithfulness!” Morning by morning new mercies I see; All I have needed Thy hand hath provided “Great is Thy faithfulness,” Lord, unto me!

Let me begin this update by saying thanks to each of you for your faithfulness and especially for your commitment to praying and the patience you displayed as we waited on the Lord these past eight hundred and nine days seeking God to seek our next Senior Pastor. First Baptist Church of Tallahassee, the wait is over! We are truly blessed to have a congregation that has placed its faith and trust in the Lord and did not waver in doing so. Your words of encouragement and your comments that you have been praying for the PSC have strengthened our resolve to continue to diligently serve the Lord all these times. They that wait on the Lord…

This past Sunday we were blessed to have Dr. Gary L Shultz, Jr. as the guest preacher who came to preach in view of a call. Dr. Shultz accepted Christ as his Savior when he was fifteen years old. A year later, he was called into the ministry. He was licensed in 2005 and was ordained a year later.

Dr. Shultz began preparing for the ministry by studying for his Bachelor of Arts degree in Pastoral and Biblical Studies in 2002, a Master of Arts in Intercultural Studies and Missions in 2004 and a Master of Divinity in Biblical and Theological Studies in 2005. In 2008, Dr. Shultz earned the Doctor of Philosophy Degree in Systematic Theology and Preaching from the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, KY.

Dr. Shultz began his ministry as a pastor at Pleasant View Baptist Church, Bedford, KY in 2006. He was subsequently called to be the Senior Pastor at First Baptist Church, Fulton, MO in July 2009 and he has remained there ever since.

Dr. Shultz has served in denominational ministry, served and continues to serve on college boards, and has been a professor at several seminaries where he teaches preaching classes to pastors and leaders of the local church.
Dr. Shultz has a passion for missions and evangelism. He has traveled around the world to North Dakota, Canada, Central America, Southeast Asia, and a place near and dear to my heart, West Africa.

Regarding his conversion experience, Gary said, “the Holy Spirit opened my eyes to my sin, my need for a relationship with God, and the glorious truth that Jesus Christ made it possible through His life, death, and resurrection for me to have an eternal relationship with God despite my sin.”

Dr. Shultz is 37 years of age, married to Kristen, and together they have two beautiful girls, Hayden and Violet.

Following his preaching a sermon titled “Made For So Much More Than This” with Mark 1:14–20 as its backdrop, the PSC moved to extend a call to Dr. Shultz to become the next Senior Pastor of FBCTLH. The vote by the congregation assembled on May 27, 2018, was unanimous and Dr. Shultz accepted the call to become our next Senior Pastor. What a joyous occasion that was! And what an awesome God we have!

I am very grateful to our Associate Pastor Josh Hall for his leadership these past two-plus years and his counsel as we worked with pastoral candidates. We are blessed with a great pastoral staff who have remained dedicated to the cause of Christ working extra shifts to keep us moving. Thank you to John Rice, Penny Folsom, Todd Smith, Clay Mason, Pam Cooke, James Craig, Alberto Santiago, Rhonda Smith, Suzette Mason, and so many supporting staff who dedicated all their energies to make this transition work.

We anticipate Dr. Shultz will return to preach his first sermon on July 15, 2018, and we will confirm this date in the next update. Meanwhile, please continue to pray for our congregation, our brothers and sisters at First Baptist Church, Fulton, MO and Dr. Shultz and his family as they make the move to Tallahassee.

Be blessed,
Seth Ablordeppey and Your Pastor Search Committee