Pastor Jesse has served in various full-time, part-time, and lay ministry roles for the last 14 years. He got his start in ministry at a non-denominational church in Wever, Iowa where he served for 9 years. He began as the youth pastor but was eventually promoted to associate pastor. Due to budget cuts, Jesse transitioned to a part-time role for the last 2 years. He began to work bi-vocationally at the church and also at a local car dealership doing online sales.

WAITING FOR WHAT GOD WOULD DO NEXT

Eventually, the part-time position also ended. Jesse and his wife Janelle prayed about what they should do. “We asked God for direction about whether we should move away from our home to pursue another full-time ministry position or whether we should stay close to family and wait for another opportunity. We felt led to stay and wait for whatever opportunities God would provide.” In the meantime, they joined Burlington Baptist Church and began to serve in a lay capacity.

In 2020, Pastor Mark Lowman of Madison Baptist Church passed away after leading the church for 13 years. Fort Madison is one of Iowa’s “river towns” in the far southeast corner of the state just a few minutes from both Illinois and Missouri. It is a small town of about 12,000 but, because of the location, they are able to draw people from multiple states. Pastor Mark Lowman came to Madison Baptist Church after pastoring in Missouri. “It is a small church body but there is a lot of opportunity to grow in Fort Madison.”

AN OPPORTUNITY IN FORT MADISON

Pastor Jesse preached at Madison Baptist several times starting in March of this year as part of the pulpit supply for the church while they continued the pastor search process. Burlington Baptist’s Pastor Kendall Adams put Jesse’s name forward as a candidate.

Being a smaller congregation, the church was specifically looking specifically for a bivocational pastor. When Jesse brought up the idea of working as a pastor while continuing on at the dealership, his boss was strongly supportive of Jesse’s decision to serve as a bivocational pastor. The owner of the car dealership is not only a good friend, he is also a strong believer and gave Jesse a lot of flexibility to serve in both roles.

TO BE FAITHFUL

Pastor Jesse is looking forward to being able to minister in the town where they have been living for the past 8 years. “Now that we’ve lived here for a while, we know a lot of people in town. As a pastor, my hope and my goal would be to draw some young families to the church and to start some new discipleship relationships. At the end of the day, I just want to be a faithful shepherd and to preach the Word of God.”