Pastor-Ronnie and Linda Rudd
There is no greater job on earth, than being a pastor of a church. Sometimes it is hard, many times a nerve racking, often times lonely, but it is always rewarding. The Lord has given me a great opportunity to pastor a small church with a very enormous heart for service in Christ.
My wife, Linda, and I came to Berea seven years ago to visit with a dear old pastor friend of ours and hear him preach again. We were never able to leave. God had found a new home for us and little did we know what He had in store for us at Berea. I had been doing lay ministry for several years and after our pastor became ill, two years ago, he asked me to fill the pulpit for him. After his death in 2006, I was ordained by the church and became Berea’s new pastor, with some big foot steps to walk in.
I grew up knowing that there was more to God than I had ever been taught. Being raised in a family that was not “religious”, I struggled with the fear of a God who had created a place called “Hell.” In 1965, at the age of 12, that confusion and fear ended. On the last day of VBS at a local Missionary Baptist church, because one of my female classmates was concerned about my eternity, my whole life was changed forever in Christ.
After graduating from high school in 1971, I joined the military. While serving “Uncle Sam,” I attempted to place Christ on the back burner for a while. One thing that I found out very quickly though, Christ will not remain long in the back burner of a true Christian’s life. At the age of 19 I found myself deep in the jungles of Viet Nam and now know that it was the perfect place for me. When death becomes a face-to-face reality to a young Christian, he must evaluate his life from a new perspective. I had accepted Christ seven years earlier, but had spent the last few avoiding Him.
Since 1972, after almost losing my life in an unfamiliar and unfriendly land, my life has never been the same. I began a search and rescue mission for the truth of God’s Word that year. I couldn’t get enough of my Lord and His divine Word. For the first time in my life I got serious about serving Christ. Like Paul, I wanted to run the good race of faith, never looking back to the past, but only to my eternal future with Christ.
Linda and I have been married for thirty-three years and have devoted all those years to Christ Jesus and His church. We have two living sons—Jeffrey who is 27 and lives in Maumelle and David Paul who has been living with our Lord in heaven since 1995. Jeffrey has been married to his wife Sarah for almost four years. They both teach Sunday school classes at Berea, and Jeff serves on the deacon board.
I pray every day that my Lord keeps me humble and focused on His work. At Berea I have one mission and one only. That mission is to lead people into the most intimate, and exciting relationship they could possibly have with the Lord Jesus Christ. I try always to be sensitive to the Spirit of God as He leads me to lead and teach. Just as Paul, I take the office of pastor very serious. I understand the seriousness of the duty that the Lord has ordained on me, and I do it with “fear and trembling."
I thank God every day for the mercy and grace that He has been bestowed on His church. I pray that if you have not experienced this wonderful salvation that has been made possible through the blood of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, that you would not put it off one more day. I can tell you from experience, you life will never be the same. If you have any questions about the church, or if there is any way that we can serve you, please do not hesitate to contact us.
A.J. Munnerlyn – Chairman of the Deacons
Dee Dee Autry – Worship Leader
Shirley Munnerlyn - Church Clerk
Jeff Rudd – SS Teacher - Adult/Deacon
Sarah Rudd – SS Teacher - Children
Linda Rudd - SS Teacher - Youth