Paul Easter
Lead Pastor
My wife Lori and I have been married almost 44 years. God has blessed us with two married sons (Charles and Andrew) and five grandchildren and two great-granddaughters! We are so proud of our boys as they are raising their children to love the Lord. We also have a ferocious watchdog named Twix—he is a caramel-colored dachshund. He’s not vicious, he just thinks he is!
I was employed by a tank and vessel company and spent much of my time under a welding hood and later moved up to a supervisor position. But God had a different plan for my life. At the age of forty, I was converted as the Holy Spirit convicted me of my sin. I turned to my Savior and repented of my sins and pleaded with God to extend mercy and grace to me. At that moment my new life in Christ began (2 Cor. 5:17). I remind myself that Moses also spent forty years in the wilderness. But praise God, even in the wilderness, God was preparing me for what was to come.
My call to ministry began with teaching adult Sunday School and soon thereafter I was ordained as a deacon. However, as I continued to work in the construction industry, God kept working, shaping and forming this old lump of clay. One Sunday morning I remember telling my wife, “Lori, I believe God is calling to me to be a pastor.” Of course, a little anxiety crept into our hearts as we contemplated what this would mean for us. I left the security of my secular job and went to Seminary at the age of fifty. After all, I needed new tools to work with. My welding hood would not suffice any longer. So off to Southwestern Theological Seminary in Ft. Worth we went. There I received a Master of Arts in Christian Education with a concentration in missions and a Master of Theological studies. I was ordained into ministry at my first church, Elliott Baptist in Camden, Arkansas. I furthered my studies as I served as senior pastor at First Baptist in Hatfield, Arkansas and was awarded a Doctor of Ministry from Newburgh Seminary.
What do I do for fun? I am an avid reader, love to run, and spend as much time as I can in the deer stand. I love to travel to different countries for mission work and God has graciously allowed me to go to Zambia, Madagascar, Honduras, Mexico and Thailand. It has been “an inexpressible joy” serving the King of Kings!
“For if we live, we live to the Lord; and if we die, we die to the Lord. Therefore, whether we live or die, we are the Lord’s” (Romans 14:8).