Scotty Hogan says that serving as pastor of Westmeade Baptist Church, Decatur, for the past 18 years has been “an amazing journey.”
“God has done wonderful things in me personally and for the church,” he said. Missions has been at the forefront. People have been saved. The spirit of revival has swept through, he said.
And Oct. 14 — the same Sunday that Westmeade Baptist celebrated its 50th anniversary — Hogan retired and passed the baton to the church’s minister to students, Justin McAlpin, who will serve as the church’s new pastor.
“Bro. Scotty Hogan has been a stalwart leader at his church and in our association,” said Ken Blackwood, associational mission strategist for Morgan Baptist Association. “He has earned the respect of his fellow pastors and his flock at Westmeade because of his faithful preaching of the word of God, his humble leading of the flock to take the gospel to their neighbors and to the nations and his wise leadership in our association.”
And as Hogan and his wife, Kathy, have led their church to focus on missions, “God has used their example as a ministry couple to challenge others to remain faithful in ministry,” Blackwood said.
To start the next season the Hogans will spend January and February serving as volunteers at the Garden Tomb in Jerusalem, a site that is considered by some to be the place where Jesus was crucified and buried. Through the years the Hogans have led more than a dozen trips to Israel, and they volunteered at the Garden Tomb for a month in 2014.
“We fell in love with Israel and the people there,” he said. “The Bible comes alive before your eyes.”
After they return, they will spend time with children and grandchildren and are “open to whatever the Lord has for us,” he said. (Grace Thornton)
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