Meet The sTAFF

Pastor McEntire has been serving in the pastoral role for Faith Baptist Church since February 16, 1990. He grew up in a family that faithfully attended and were actively involved in church work. Some of his earliest memories are related to Sunday School and the two churches his family attended. At the age of seven, after a evening service, he was troubled about his spiritual condition. Mentioning his difficulty to his mom he was led to the preacher, Bro. Phillips who took a King James bible and opened the scriptures to him. As he was confronted with being a sinner and in danger of judgment he, with child like faith, trusted the promise of God provided through the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. On November 5, 1970 that young boy was saved by the grace of God. In 1977, at the age of thirteen, his parents were part of a small group of people who were instrumental in helping start an Independent Baptist Church in Freeport. They started meeting in January of that year and the church was organized as Faith Baptist Church on October 20, 1977. During that summer in the midst of a whirl of activity related to the starting of the new church the Lord began to deal with Pastor McEntire's heart about preaching the word of God. After several weeks of wrestling and uncertainty about what the Lord wanted, Pastor McEntire surrendered to the gospel ministry on July 3, 1977, at the age of 14 and preached his first sermon on August 17, 1977. Little did he know that he would eventually be pastoring the church that he was presently helping to start with his family and others. Upon graduating from High School Pastor McEntire moved to Dallas, Texas where he attended the Independent Baptist College for one year. For the next seven and half years he was personally tutored, trained, and educated by P. D. Taylor Pastor of the Pleasant Valley Baptist Church Dallas, Texas. It was at Pleasant Valley under Bro. Taylor's leadership that Pastor McEntire developed his study habits, love for doctrine, commitment to bible truth, and had an opportunity to develop his ministry skills. Pastor McEntire had believed that he would be used of the Lord to start a church somewhere along the Texas Gulf Coast. His inclination in that direction was only partially correct. At the end of 1989 Faith Baptist Church in Freeport Texas was again without a pastor. The church had contacted Pastor McEntire on two previous occasions when they were looking for a pastor to see if he would be interested in coming in view of accepting the pastorate there. Pastor McEntire declined on both occasions. This time however, while not contacted by Faith Baptist Church, he felt the clear leading of the Lord to pursue the possibility of pastoring in Freeport if it met with his current pastor's approval. With Pastor Taylor's approval he contacted the Faith Baptist Church and said that he would be interested in visiting in view of possibly pastoring the church. The church agreed to have him come. So, in January of 1990 Pastor McEntire and his young family traveled to Freeport for the weekend to discuss with the church the possibility of becoming pastor. On that Sunday evening after services the church voted 18 for, 0 against, 2 undecided for James McEntire to become the Pastor of Faith Baptist Church. He accepted the invitation to come as pastor that night and returned to Dallas to begin the transition to Freeport. Pastor McEntire was ordained to the gospel ministry on February 10, 1990 by the authority of the Pleasant Valley Baptist Church Dallas, Texas. He and his family made the move to Freeport on February 16, 1990 at which time he assumed Pastoral responsibilities at the age of twenty-seven. For the past almost three decades Pastor McEntire has been faithfully leading the congregation in Freeport the church where he was called to preach as an adolescent in 1977.

Associate Pastor Caleb McEntire has been ministering in his role since May 2013. He was raised in a Baptist Preacher’s home that took church and ministry seriously. He was blessed to have been raised in church, taught the Bible from his earliest years, and shown a true example of Christian maturity by both his parents and those in the church. At the age of six, after having spent a week at a church camp in Arkansas, he understood not just his need for Christ but also an inability to ever earn his salvation. His father showed him the gospel one Saturday night, both explaining and asking questions to ensure that he understood his true spiritual condition. The Bible was opened, and the verses were clearly explained. Understanding the basics of sin, judgment, and the grace of God, he repented of his sins and put his faith in the work of Christ to save him. On Saturday evening, June 6th, 1991, kneeling by his parent’s bedside, he was saved from the wrath of God. In 2000, at the age of 15, he began to feel the Lord working in his heart about the call to preach. There was a short period of struggle as he was concerned about the Lord’s ability to take care of his people. But the Lord manifested himself in a real and powerful way over several months, and with each prodding of the Lord, more and more peace was gained as he more fully surrendered to the call to preach. After counseling and consultation with his Pastor, the work of the Lord was not just solidified but also embraced. He made public his call on a Wednesday night after a church service, during which a visiting preacher delivered a message ON the call to the ministry. Even this event, having the call to the ministry preached on unbeknownst to the man of God preaching, was used mightily in the heart of Pastor Caleb as confirmation for what had already been building in his heart. He had already been ministering the Word in a very limited role, and this continued. At age 17, he began teaching the boy’s Sunday School and ministered to the young men for 14 years before moving to other ministries. God allowed him to be used as the song leader for the church from the time he was 14 for the next 22 years before stepping aside from that role to focus more on his pastoral and administrative role. When Pastor Caleb graduated high school, he immediately began training for the ministry under the authority of Faith Baptist Church. He spent the next six years being grounded in the truth under the tutelage of his Pastor. Under the direction of his Pastor, he was trained in the finer points of preaching, study, and a love for the truth. In 2013 the Faith Baptist Church was led by the Lord to ordain Pastor Caleb to the Gospel ministry and install him as the Associate Pastor of the Church, a role which he continues to this day. He ministers weekly in the Lord by conducting the mid-week service on Wednesday, as well as filling the pulpit for the Pastor when he is out of town. He has always taken the initiative to streamline and bring purpose and effectiveness to the church with a focus on the administrative and operational side. He serves in many areas of practical ministry, from finance, social media, church website, sound system, building maintenance, and security. He has made it his goal to observe areas of need and meet those seen and felt needs. Pastor Caleb considers himself to be in ministry full-time, but he pays his bills by working in industrial construction. He is joined in his ministry with the sacrifice of his wife Heather since 2003, and three daughters, all of whom sacrifice time spent with him as he works not only his secular job but also as he dedicates his time on evenings and weekends to the work of the ministry.