Pat Chesnut has been the pastor of Beacon Baptist Church in Barbourville, Kentucky, for a little more than a year but he also has kept the music in him.
“My life has been blessed with music,” he said. “I play the keyboards and sing some, although I try not to sing too much.”
Beacon has been known for its good contemporary music and that certainly hasn’t changed since Chestnut, a longtime youth pastor, became the church’s lead pastor last February after serving as the youth pastor since 2017. He said the church has baptized about 35 over the last year and he uses his love of music to help disciple the youth.
Music’s impact on his life
“Music has been part of my life for a long time,” he said. “I was into music long before I was ever a Christian. I wasn’t saved until 2004 and I knew then I’d be called into music and be a worship leader.” He has been part of church music since then.
While the pastor position has been emphasized in the Kentucky Baptist Convention’s Called Out the Called initiative, having a calling holds true for many ministry positions. That includes worship pastors, missionaries, Bible study teachers and more. The KBC offers a Kentucky Student Worship Camp July 15-19.
“I know there is a shortage of pastors but there’s a shortage of worship leaders, too,” the pastor said. “In a lot of cases, it’s not the future, it’s now. So many churches need worship leaders. Most of the time musicians don’t walk off the street.”
Chestnut said he tries to encourage young people to get into music if that’s where they have a passion. He is quick to offer to teach them and use it to disciple those who are Christians.
Getting kids involved
The band that is currently playing in the church includes three who learned to play in the youth band, including Chesnut’s son, Trey, an accomplished drummer who does some of the teaching to aspiring drummers. He has played for popular Christian artists like Anne Wilson and played alongside musicians from Casting Crowns.
“They are all talented musicians,” Chesnut said of the church band. “We brought them up and taught them to play.”
The pastor said last year he had kids from high school singing in their choir, but currently doesn’t have any participating. “They’re needed,” he said. “We have to get kids involved.”
“We have a choir every week,” Chesnut said. “Before COVID, it was probably 25-30. Now we have 14-17. We’ve never bounced back from that. Even though we sing a lot of contemporary stuff, we use that choir that adds some dynamics.”
The pastor said Spirit-filled singing can set up the congregation for the message.
“This has been a good year and I loved every second of being a pastor,” he said.
Pat’s father, Dennis Chesnut, is the former pastor of the church that was planted in 2001. The church has been in the current location since 2004.
EDITOR’S NOTE — This story was written by Mark Maynard and originally published by Kentucky Today.
