Pastor Joel Samuels was at the funeral of a church member’s father recently, and what she said to Samuels stuck with him. “She said, ‘You baptized me, you married me, you have baptized two of my children, you’ve buried my mother and now you’re here to bury my father. In the biggest most significant moments of my life, you’ve been there,’” he said.
“We just kind of looked at each other with tears in our eyes. It’s humbling to get to be with people like that.”
On June 13, First Baptist Church, Guntersville, will honor Samuels with a special service for his 25th anniversary at the church. The service will start at 10 a.m. and feature guest speakers, testimonies and special music.
Samuels said when he and his family came to First, Guntersville, in 1996, they didn’t have a thought one way or another on how long they might stay there — they were just open to whatever God wanted for their future.
But over the years, it became clear to them that God wanted them to stay in Guntersville long term.
“Being a pastor of a group of people this long is very special — getting to be there with them for those milestones of life and faith,” he said. “I’m thankful to get to be a part of that.”
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