In 1975, Mike Stephens started his ministry as a bivocational music director in a little country church. And ever since then, he’s told the churches he served that he could do whatever they needed.
“I sang gospel music for about 10 years and did bivocational music for about 20 years,” Stephens said. And in 1996, he felt the call to preach and took his first pastorate.
But he didn’t stop singing.
“Even after I began serving as a bivocational pastor, I always sang in the choir too,” Stephens said.
And for the past five years, he’s been doing that at Salem Macon Baptist Church, Notasulga, in Tuskegee Lee Baptist Association. Before that, he served at Catoma Baptist Church, Montgomery, and several other churches.
But that phase of ministry drew to a close Jan. 14. The congregation of Salem Macon Baptist threw him a retirement dinner to honor the occasion.
“I enjoyed all of it,” Stephens said of his 43 years in ministry. “God did amazing things.”
He and his wife, Nancy, will continue to live in Montgomery and he will continue to supply preach as needed.
Stephens has three daughters, six grandchildren and one great-grandchild. (Grace Thornton)
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