September 7, 2024
DOUGLASVILLE, Ga. – Steven Greene launched his ministry at Beulah Baptist Church in Douglasville with a flurry of excitement and enthusiasm. He began his pastorate on Easter Sunday morning with a powerful message on Luke 24: 36-49 where the third Gospel tells about the resurrected Christ making an appearance to His disciples. Both Greene and his message were heartily received by a large congregation of members and guests.
The pastor search team at Beulah had heard of Greene’s ministry at Central Baptist Church in Lawrenceville on the northeast side of Atlanta and were drawn to him because of his effective ministry to what had been a dying church in a changing community. Greene resigned Gateway Baptist Church in Lake City, Fla., after a successful student ministry there to accept the call to the Lawrenceville church in 2017.
Greene’s ministry in Florida had been marked by establishing a consistent campus presence in all the public schools in the area as well as a couple of the private schools, which resulted in reaching many lost students for Christ.
At the Central Baptist Church in Lawrenceville, Greene led a revitalization campaign that resulted in the spiritual health of the church improving drastically and the church attendance more than doubling prior to the onslaught of the COVID -19 debacle. Greene explained, “The two years following the beginning of the pandemic were good to the church, and we saw more salvation and baptism decisions across all generations as well as a growing ethnic diversity in the fellowship.”
At Beulah, Greene is asking the church to devote themselves to prayer for the next several months so that they might seek the Lord’s vision for the future. He commented, “I try very hard not to bring in ‘my program’ or what worked in the past, because every church is different, and God gives each church an especially designed blueprint for impacting their community for Christ. This is really a special time of self-discovery for me as a pastor and for the church as a body of believers.”
Greene continued, “When I talked to the search team I tried to discern if Beulah was a church that was ready to take risks for the sake of the Gospel, because I have seen the kind of impact a group of people can make for the Kingdom if they are willing to do anything and sacrifice everything for Christ. I wanted to know if Beulah was truly ready to go all in for the Gospel."
“During the time I was in dialogue with the search team I was watching one of their live-streamed services at Beulah. The chairman of the team stood before the church – prior to the team making a final decision – and said the team was really challenged by one of the candidates (referring to me) who wanted to know if the church was ready to take whatever risk was necessary to make an impact for Christ. He called the church to prayer over the matter, and as I watched the altar fill up, I got the answer I was looking for."
Greene has a heart for revival but fears the greatest hindrance to revival is Christians not taking seriously the mission God has given the church. He explained, “We are far too distracted by temporary matters and have lost sight of the eternal. We are often more concerned with building the kind of nation we want in this life than we are about building the Kingdom where we are eternal citizens.”
Greene added, “The church needs to stop trying to change things from the steps of the White House and start trying to change things from the steps of the altar in the church house.”
The new Beulah Pastor has experienced some significant spiritual renewals in the churches he has served and realizes that great spiritual conquests are generally accompanied by fierce spiritual warfare. He reported, “I was blessed to lead a youth ministry in Florida that shook their city for Christ through the schools and in their homes. More recently, I witnessed God breathe new life into a church that had nearly lost hope.”
From a personal interest standpoint, Greene’s sports allegiance is all over the map. His favorite basketball team is the San Antonio Spurs. His favorite football teams are the Tampa Bay Bucs and the Indianapolis Colts. He also enjoys playing basketball when possible.
However, he testified, “My biggest hobby is family time with my wife and kids. We love spending time outdoors in local parks as well as in the neighborhood for the purpose of building relationships and sharing Christ.”
Green and his wife, Suzette, have been married 14 years. They have four children: Adalyn (10), Samuel (8), Ezra (6) and Josiah (5), who are homeschooled by Suzette.
Greene has a B. A. in Pastoral Theology and Missions and a M. Min. from Trinity Baptist College in Jacksonville, Fla., and a M. Div. in Evangelism and Church Planting from Liberty University.
