Investing in young men in ministry carries great rewards — as evidenced by what has happened at First Baptist Church Fairdale in Kentucky.
More than a decade ago, senior pastor Josh Greene met a young student in ministry, Jake Beattie, and that relationship resulted in a blessing for both men as well as the church.
‘Trying to serve somewhere’
Greene, who has been a staff member at Fairdale since 2003 and the pastor since 2009, recalls early in his pastoral role that the church had a “single elder model,” which meant staff roles other than the pastor are filled by people on a part-time basis. Greene was getting numerous opportunities to not only preach at church, but at youth retreats, Fellowship of Christian Athletes events and other gatherings. For two straight summers, he preached at another church’s summer camp. “They had all kinds of volunteers — people called into ministry,” Greene said, and it was there that he met Beattie.
“Jake and I started to talk and he told me that God had called him to be a pastor.” He was involved in the camp because he was “trying to serve somewhere.”
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EDITOR’S NOTE — This story was written by Chip Hutcheson and originally published by Kentucky Today.
