For decades, Mountain View Baptist Church, Phil Campbell, has had a ministry to first-time pastors.
Time after time, the church has given young men a start in ministry and then sent them on as the Lord called them to new fields of service.
Thirty years after Mountain View Baptist took him on as a 26-year-old with no pastoral experience, however, Sammy Taylor is still in his first pastorate.
But it’s not because he hasn’t gotten the hang of it yet.
Taylor’s tenure at the Franklin Baptist Association church is the story of a pastor who loves his people and a congregation that loves its pastor.
“If there ever was a God-called man, Bro. Sammy is that man,” said Frances Welborn, whose father chaired the pulpit committee that brought Taylor to Mountain View in 1978. “He is a wonderful pastor who loves his people. If we’re in trouble, he’s in trouble; he is right there with you.”
And 30 years have flown by, according to Taylor, whose late father, Billy, served as a pastor in nearby Rockwood for 33 years.
“I was managing a TG&Y store when God called me into ministry,” he said.
“These people have been willing to trust me and follow my leadership, and I have tried to never betray that trust.”
With the average tenure of Southern Baptist pastors at just more than two years, a 30-year pastorate speaks volumes about both a pastor and the church, said Larry Dover, director of missions for Franklin Association.
“Sammy Taylor has been one of the most consistent pastors in our association as far as evangelism, discipleship and missions,” Dover said.
“Over the years, he has been involved in the community in many ways — as a member of the water board, announcer at local football games, a chaplain to Alabama state troopers.”
Evangelistic in nature
Dover noted that Mountain View is known as a congregation that reaches out in ministry and evangelism.
“Over the years, it has been a very fruitful ministry because of his commitment and [the church’s] commitment,” Dover added.
“A lot of pastors, when they face a problem, find it easier to just leave and go somewhere else,” he said. But “Sammy has just faithfully stayed and the Lord has blessed.”
Young preachers often ask how he has managed to stay at one church so long, Taylor said.
“I tell them to make sure you are where God wants you to be, stay until God moves you and determine to resolve conflict in a positive way that glorifies the Lord,” he said.
“I tell them, ‘Never resign on Monday morning; by Tuesday, it doesn’t really matter anymore.’”
Taylor, who earned a master of divinity degree from New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary in 1990, said following a seminary professor’s advice to “talk to God and tell the people” has helped pave the way toward church harmony.
“I have always tried to be open and share with the people when I felt God was leading us to a certain decision,” he said, adding that God has taken Mountain View from a budget of $17,000 when he came to about $275,000 today and a membership of about 150 to close to 550.
Taylor described Phil Campbell as a small town of about 1,000 people and noted there are 22 churches within a five-mile radius of his own.
“We’re trying to be a church that reaches out to all people, and the Lord has really blessed us,” he said.
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