September 12, 2024
BLAIRSVILLE, Ga. – First Baptist Church of Blairsville has called Rev. Ricky Powell to succeed Dr. Fred Lodge as pastor. It has been said, “The church is not a campus but a community. Pastors are not CEOs; they are shepherds.” All indications provide evidence that Pastor Powell is God’s shepherd to nurture the existing spirit of unity and community among the people of Blairsville’s First Baptist Church.
Powell commented, “I am a pastor at heart. I love and care for people in our church. I also love preaching God’s Word in a contextual and relevant way. I am committed to leading with integrity. I am a collaborative leader, and it is my desire to build a culture of love and respect for those inside and outside the church. I want to glorify the Lord in all I do.”
Prior to coming to Blairsville in August, Powell loved and served the people of Fort Caroline Baptist Church in Jacksonville, Fla., for 28 years. In fact, in reflecting on his ministry in Jacksonville, he stated, “The church was growing again after the pandemic. We had unity in our church for reaching the lost. We were seeing people saved. The church was debt free and ready to move forward with a building campaign to refresh and expand the campus.”
Amid that positive and productive time in the life of the church, Powell admitted, “For some reason, I was beginning to feel that God was bringing my ministry at Fort Caroline to a close. The more I prayed the more I felt like God was preparing me for something new, and that He was preparing someone new to lead Fort Caroline.
“John Maxwell once said, ‘Never leave something. Go to something.’ It was during that season that the pastor search committee of First Baptist Church of Blairsville came calling.”
Dr. Al Haywood, the founder and CEO of Pathway Christian Counseling in Blairsville and member of the pastor search committee, explained, “Our committee had prayed and earnestly sought the Lord about finding God’s man to be our pastor and we felt from the beginning that Ricky Powell was the one He was leading us to call. He is one of the kindest, most loving individuals you will ever meet. He is a servant leader, and we believe he will be a phenomenal pastor.
God was obviously at work in joining the north Georgia church and Powell together, because not only did the committee feel that they had found God’s man for their church from the beginning of their search, but Powell avowed, “From the first conversation with the Pastor Search Committee, I felt like God has prepared me to join this historic fellowship. I believed that my skills as a pastor, and leader could be a great fit.
“God confirmed throughout the process that He was calling me to a new chapter of ministry. The ultimate confirmation came with the unanimous vote of the congregation. I am grateful for my time with Fort Caroline Baptist Church, but I am excited to be with FBC! Our attendance is higher than before the pandemic. People are getting saved and baptized. There is excitement about what God is doing through the church in these days.”
Dr. Haywood added his ‘Amen’ to his new pastor’s evaluation of the church’s recent growth, saying, “Our worship attendance has already surpassed what we were experiencing prior to the pandemic, but I think some of that is due to the way our staff handled the situation from the beginning. However, I believe our new pastor will lead us to new heights in Christ.”
The chairman of the search committee, Ken Hatley, was effusive in his comments about Pastor Powell and declared, “The whole experience of meeting, interviewing, and voting to call Ricky Powell was the most rewarding spiritual experience of my Christian life. It was obvious that God was knitting our hearts together and what could have been a burdensome responsibility became an incredible joy. God’s hand was in the process from the beginning. What we envisioned from the start is already proving to be an untold blessing to the church and the promise of a bright future for First Baptist Church.”
Although Powell was born in Mobile, Ala., he grew up in Valdosta, Ga. The new Blairsville pastor stated, “I trusted Christ as my Savior during Vacation Bible School when I was twelve years old and surrendered to ministry when I was seventeen.”
“My childhood pastor, Stanley Luke, who was serving Corinth Baptist Church in Lake Park, involved me in meaningful ministry when I was a teenager. He encouraged me to share my salvation testimony at youth events. He allowed me to serve in a weekly nursing home ministry. He invited me to make hospital visits with him. God used his mentorship to clarify my call into ministry as a teenager. I am amazed that God in grace would save me and then allow me to serve Him.
“Pastor Luke’s cousin, Donna, and I met as teenagers. She occasionally came from her home in Jacksonville to attend the Corinth Church. I liked Donna immediately, but it was not until I was around nineteen years old that she agreed to go on a date with me. We married in 1991 after she graduated from the University of North Florida. We were married at Gateway Baptist Church in Valdosta where I served as pastor at that time.”
Powell prepared himself well for God’s calling by earning a Bachelor of Arts in Religion from Luther Rice University and a Master's of Divinity with Specialization in Christian Apologetics from New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary.
The Powells have three grown children, Joshua, Casey, and Caleb; and Ricky expressed great delight in the contribution Donna has made to his ministry. He exclaimed, “Donna has been an amazing wife, a wonderful mother, and she has faithfully used her gifts of service and hospitality to bless and encourage our congregations. I would not be the man I am without her love and support.
Every pastor must have time for some kind of diversion, or he will likely “become weary in well doing.” Pastor Powell enjoys reading, freshwater fishing, yard work and cars. We can understand one’s interest in cars. E. B. White profoundly stated, “Everything in life is somewhere else, and you get there in a car.” Pastor Powell’s interest is more specific. He stated, “My first car was a 1969 Mustang, and I have wanted a Mustang GT ever since. It’s on my bucket list.”
The Blairsville pastor recognizes that the First Baptist Church has a long history of long-tenured pastors, an effective marker that speaks of the health of a church. He emphasized, “The church is also passionate about local, national, and global missions.”
He cited an experience he had while on a mission trip to west-central Brazil, explaining, “Pastor Eduardo Baldaci invited me to speak to some state government officials; and I shared a brief Gospel devotional. Afterwards, I received an invitation from the governor of the state of Mato Grosso to come to his office and speak to him and his staff. It was a joy to share the Gospel and pray with them.”
According to Powell’s testimony, he has an uncompromising allegiance to the “holy, inspired, inerrant and infallible Word of God” and longs to see our churches experience revival and rediscover a reverence for the Lord Jesus Christ.
Ricky Powell and his love for people and commitment to Christian harmony should fit the DNA of the Blairsville church well, because on the dust cover of the book, How Firm a Foundation: A History of the First Baptist Church, Blairsville, Georgia, the following words appear: “This is not your average church history book. This is a book about people – Christian men and women who, through dedication and commitment to God and each other, built the First Baptist Church of Blairsville. It is a story, not of a building, but of individual lives bound together within a community of God.”
