ELIZABETHTOWN — The Rev. David Foster, pastor of Galatia Baptist Church near Roanoke Rapids, will be assuming the director of missions position for the Bladen Baptist Association in mid-May.
Foster, a Charlotte native, graduated from UNC-Charlotte in 1983 with a degree in developmental psychology. After obtaining his master’s degree from Southwest Baptist Theological Seminary in Texas in 1986, he spent 15 months as a clinical pastoral education minister at Children’s Medical Center in Dallas.
He then felt the Lord calling him to Richmond, Va., to serve a church there as minister of youth and education, a position he held from 1988 to 1993. In October of 1993, Foster made the move to Galatia Baptist Church and has served as the congregation’s pastor for the last 23 years.
At the invitation of Dublin First Baptist Church/Lake Church Pastor Cameron McGill, who served on the Bladen Baptist Association Search Team, Foster agreed to meet with the committee.
“I was not looking for a move and had not sent out resumes, but I agreed …,” he recalled. “As I was leaving the meeting that day — and I had told (McGill) I would call him in a couple of days — I called and said I didn’t need to wait. I felt like I’d left something behind when I drove away, and told him we could progress to the next step. I’ve definitely felt God’s hand in this.”
Foster brings with him to the position exactly what the team was looking for, according to McGill.
“We were looking for someone who is experienced serving in a rural setting, someone who had shown longevity in his church ministry, someone who had led his church to embrace a missions lifestyle,” McGill explained. “David’s church was a small church that was doing some very big things for the kingdom of God. David has a heart for pastors, for the local church, and for serving the Lord through ministry and missions.”
Elizabethtown Baptist Church Pastor Nathan Morton sees other characteristics as well.
“There are two sides to DOM, and that is to be a missions and organizational resource for churches and a mentor/counselor to pastors,” he explained. “David has a proven track record as a stable, mature pastor, a man of noticeable integrity. He has a passion for missions and has been very involved in planning and coordinating missions projects. He and (wife) Beth have raised two children into adulthood, and that also equips him in counseling pastors. Finally, he understands the associational dynamic as opposed to an individual church.”
During his time at Galatia, Foster has led his church in involvement with World Changers and on mission trips to Florida, Mississippi, Vermont, Alaska, Arizona, and Moscow. The congregation has worked with the developmental disorder homes of the Baptist Children’s Homes of NC, as well as the Operation Christmas Child organization and Appalachian Backpacking Mission.
“What I’ve seen is that the more we do missions together, the more we become energized, and more people get involved,” commented Foster. “I hope to see at the association level churches that feel like they can’t do much, get involved and empowered beyond what they can imagine. Growing strong together and doing missions larger than one church is exciting.”
Foster and his wife Beth have two daughters. The elder, Sarah McNure, lives in Shelby with her husband and the couple’s 9-month-old baby. The younger, Caitlin, is a junior at Gardner-Webb University.
Foster fills the position vacated last year by the Rev. Bruce Cannon and filled in the interim by the Rev. Charles Hester.
Chrysta Carroll can be reached by calling 910-862-4163.
