Mount Olive Primitive Baptist Church in G'ville celebrates 2nd anniversary of its pastor
Parishioners at Mount Olive Primitive Baptist Church celebrated and thanked Christopher Whitehead for being the pastor of the church for two years.
Whitehead is the husband to Dawandrea Whitehead and a father to nine children — six sons and three daughters.
He lived in Sopchoppy, which is 45 minutes southwest of Tallahassee, before being installed as the pastor for Mount Olive in March of 2022.
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“I thank God for him and his family for making it another year,” said Larry Reshard, a deacon at the church. “They gave so much love to the church.”
Janie Williams, a lifelong member of the church, welcomed parishioners to the celebration.
“We feel so glad you all came here today to celebrate,” Williams said. “We welcomed them [The Whiteheads] and they have been a blessing to this church. Thank you for giving our pastor a wonderful second anniversary.”
Whitehead briefly shared his journey of becoming a pastor and how the guest speaker, Pastor Keith Smith of Emanuel Baptist Church, was one of the pastors who welcomed him to Gainesville.
“I came to Gainesville three years ago and someone told me that there was a pastor that I had to connect with,” Whitehead said. “It’s not always easy coming to a new city, but when you’re connected with the right folks, they pray for you. He [Smith] does not preach to satisfy your flesh. He preaches to satisfy the Lord.”
Whitehead read scripture from Revelation 21:4 and urged parishioners to stay on God’s path no matter how hard the journey gets.
“We’re living in strange and wicked times,” Whitehead said. “God says he’s going to do great things for us no matter how hard life gets. Everything may not go right, but he promises that if you stay on his side, things will get better.”
Smith read scripture from Romans 1:14-17 and preached about staying obligated to God and not man.
“If you’re obligated to man, you’re in trouble,” Smith said. “People are so fickle. They might agree with you today, then within 24 hours they will disagree with you.”
Choose God in this life and stand tall, Smith said.
“You are an obligation to the Lord because he chose you,” Smith said. “Don’t worry about other people’s opinions. Times will get hard, and you have to remember the grace of God brought you here. If it brought you here, it will keep you here.”
Smith also gave words of encouragement to Whitehead during the sermon.
“God gave you the ability to lead Mount Olive and preach his word,” Smith said. “Never take for granted that God placed you here. As long as God is satisfied with what you’re doing, he will keep you from falling.”
This article originally appeared on The Gainesville Sun: Gainesville church celebrates 2nd anniversary of its pastor
