Bellevue Baptist's Newly Chosen Pastor Promises to Put Christ First
by Allie Martin
July 21, 2005
(AgapePress) - One of the largest churches in the Southern Baptist Convention will soon have a new leader in its pulpit. Earlier this year, Dr. Adrian Rogers retired as senior pastor of Bellevue Baptist Church in Memphis, Tennessee, after serving in that position for 32 years. Last week, Bellevue members unanimously voted to call Dr. Steve Gaines to fill the vacancy.Gaines, who previously served for 14 years as pastor of First Baptist Church in Gardendale, Alabama, was chosen out of 170 candidates to lead the Bellevue Baptist congregation. Now, as he looks forward to taking up his duties in Memphis, he says his plans are simple -- to point people to Jesus and preach the full counsel of God's Word.
"My philosophy has always been that you don't design a worship service to attract people," the 47-year-old pastor-elect contends. Rather, he says, "You design a worship service to attract the presence of the Lord, and the Lord then attracts the people. The focus has to be on Jesus. It's not on Steve Gaines or anybody else."
Gaines says it will be an honor to serve at a church that led the way in the SBC's conservative resurgence and to follow in Pastor Adrian Rogers' footsteps. "Dr. Rogers was the first conservative president elected to the Southern Baptist Convention way back in 1979," his successor notes, "and he started that succession of conservative presidents being elected."
Bellevue Baptist Church has been "such a great church," the pastor-elect remarks, noting that it has been in many ways the flagship church of the Southern Baptist Convention. And, he adds, "I don't say that because I'm going there -- I said that before I ever even thought about going there."
Gaines will preach his first sermon as Bellevue's pastor this fall on Sunday, September 11. Then, as always, he hopes to focus people's attention on the church service is truly designed to glorify. "When people leave a worship service, if they're saying, 'My, what a preacher' or 'My, what a sermon,' or 'My, what a choir,' or 'My, what a church,'" the minister says, "we have failed. If you're lifting up Jesus, He is well pleased and you're doing the right thing."
Allie Martin, a regular contributor to AgapePress, is a reporter for American Family Radio News, which can be heard online.
