Senior Pastor: Bill Blanchard
Our founding pastor, Dr. Bill Blanchard, has previously served for 35 uninterrupted years in the ministry. He originally came to Valdosta as a senior pastor, but took early retirement only to become a church planter at the age of 60! His desire is to build a new community of believers which will be a 21st century version of the New Testament church as outlined in his recently published book entitled Church Structure That Works, a book that combines biblical scholarship with the practical insights of a pastor with many years of experience.
Bill has been married to Lara since 1976, and they are the parents of three married children. His educational preparation includes the M.Div. and Ph.D. degrees from Southern Baptist Seminary in Louisville, Kentucky, with advanced graduate studies at Hebrew Union University.
Pastor Bill’s style of preaching is that of a passionate teacher, as he wants people to learn to love the Bible and to understand how God wants them to live. Whenever we meet together for corporate worship, he wants to encourage people to live lives that honor Christ, as well as be motivated to touch others for Him.
Bill has a multi-cultural upbringing. He was born in India and reared there for the first 14 years of his life. Upon returning to the United States with his parents, he completed his high school years in Chicago, Illinois, and then graduated from the University of Illinois in Champaign-Urbana, with a degree in Marketing. Bill has traveled worldwide, ministering in the Americas, Asia, Far East, Middle East, Africa, and Europe.