Tonight our church took part in a special service to officially install our new pastor, Dr. Blake McKinney. Blake has been serving with us since January 1st, with his first official sermon delivered on January 7th. The service this evening was quite meaningful, with Blake's father sharing some insights and background from a dad's perspective about his son's ministry as a pastor and then reading some Old Testament passages. Blake's sons, ages 9 & 11, also read some scriptures from the New Testament. Our pastor emeritus, Dr. Wendell Page, who served First Baptist Church of Lee's Summit for 19 years before retiring in 2000, brought a charge to both Blake and the congregation. Blake's former minister of music at Lost Mountain Baptist in Powder Springs, Georgia, where he just came from was present as well to give a charge to Blake.
As a part of the service, we also read responsively a Pastor-Church Covenant in which both Blake and we as a congregation pledged to serve the Lord together, praying for one another, as well as fulfilling other Christian responsibilities as pastor and church. All of those present then filed by to sign a poster-sized copy of the covenant that Blake intends to frame and hang on his office wall. We had a great crowd tonight, which meant that the process of signing took a good while, even with four folks or so signing at a time. We had strongly encouraged the members to be present for this special service and our usual 150 or so Sunday night crowd swelled to I would estimate 500-550 or more.
The service concluded with the pastor search committee gathered round Blake and our chairman of deacons leading in a prayer commending him to God's care and leadership. It was a very meaningful service and a joyous occasion for our members.
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