On a recent July day just outside Memphis, Tenn., Steve Gaines reverently sat down behind the pastor’s desk at Bellevue Baptist Church and inhaled the fact that he was stepping into history.
This desk — first R.G. Lee’s, then Ramsey Pollard’s, then Adrian Rogers’ and now Gaines’ — “If this desk could talk,” Gaines thought as he sat taking it all in.
Pastor of Gardendale’s First Baptist Church for the past 14 years, the 47-year-old Gaines was called as pastor of Bellevue Baptist July 10.
He will begin his duties as pastor of the 29,000-member congregation in Cordova, Tenn., Aug. 1. He will preach his first sermon there Sept. 11. He completes his duties at Gardendale July 31.
Gaines, who has led the Gardendale congregation from a membership of 4,000 to 8,500 since he came in September 1991, preached his first sermon at Bellevue in August 1996. “I’ve preached there once a year since then,” he said, noting that Bellevue has an average attendance of 9,000.
And while he and his wife, Donna, “have thought about the ‘what ifs,’ our heart was always here (Gardendale),” Gaines said. “This was the hardest thing we’ve ever done,” he said. “We fought it but God kept laying it on our hearts.”
Gaines said he removed his name from consideration twice during the process, but when he and Donna found individual defining moments of a call to Bellevue, he allowed the nomination to move forward.
“I don’t believe I’m worthy or capable to lead a church the size I’m in,” he said. “But I feel as if I’m carrying a baton and I want to do my best to continue the race.”
Gaines said he realizes he will have some adjustments to make, but he plans to stay the same person and maintain his normal pattern of “praying, preaching and loving the people.”
And even though he and Donna are natives of west Tennessee, Gaines said he still has a lot to learn. “We will be like missionaries for a while, learning the people and the culture,” he said. “It will take several years to earn the role as pastor … but my plan is to do the basics — get to know the people, build relationships, preach and lead.”
Rogers, who retired as Bellevue’s pastor after 32 years, expressed full support of Gaines. According to the Commercial Appeal newspaper in Memphis, Tenn., Rogers said jokingly, “I knew before the committee ever went to work who the right man was. I don’t know what took them so long.”
As Gaines says goodbye to his Gardendale congregation, he plans to preach on what to do during an interim. Using Acts 1 — which describes Jesus’ ascension into heaven, leaving the disciples to carry on — Gaines will encourage the church to follow the disciples’ example. “They stayed united, they prayed and they continued church business, they stayed with the stuff,” he said.
“This church did not grow because of Steve Gaines. The Lord has had His hand on the church,” he said, noting the congregation has grown consistently for the past 40 to 50 years.
During Gaines’ years as pastor, the average attendance grew from 1,500 to 3,300, and more than 3,500 people were baptized. The budget grew from $2 million in 1991 to $9 million in 2005, Gaines said. “Whoever comes here is going to be a blessed man,” he said. “This is a classy, godly, loving church. I don’t know of a better church anywhere.”
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