The West has always been on Chris Baker’s heart. And in April 2014, the Clarke Baptist Association director of missions (DOM) will leave his eight-year role at the association to move to Montana with his family to plant a new church.
Along with wife, Kim, and their two sons, Baker will move to Red Lodge, Montana, where he will work in conjunction with the Montana Baptist Convention and the North American Mission Board to plant Church of the Rockies with two other families.
Baker will be the administrator of Church of the Rockies and will coordinate the church’s small group home discipleship and missions teams. Church of the Rockies will be launched in August, he said.
“We hope to be a church planting center in Red Lodge and bring in other church planters … to send out to other places,” he noted.
Baker surrendered to the call of ministry when he was 17 and began serving churches shortly afterward, he said. He received a bachelor’s degree from Samford University in Birmingham and a master’s in religious education from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Fort Worth, Texas.
Baker has now been in ministry for 30 years and has served as pastor of churches in Texas and Missouri. He also previously served as pastor of Safford Baptist Church and Shoal Creek Baptist Church, Deatsville.
Baker said some of his ministry highlights as DOM have included helping Clarke Association churches in the midst of transition and serving as their interim pastor. This has enabled him to better get to know the people, he said.
Another rewarding aspect of his role has been leading the association in missions. “We had a partnership with Guatemala for six … years so we were constantly going to Guatemala and serving,” he said.
The Bakers welcome support for their new ministry venture in Montana and desire to build a strong prayer partner base. To join their prayer partner team, email isa527@gmx.com.
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