Local Pastor celebrating 30 years serving Immanuel Baptist Church

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ARCANUM — The Deacons and members of Immanuel Baptist Church (IBC) invite the community to help them celebrate 30 years of ministry with Pastor Greg Greve!

“He has served faithfully and diligently throughout his tenure of ministry pouring into so many lives, near and far. Whether preaching or teaching, working with local youth or sharing his testimony under the anointed power of God, he has somehow touched many others by his ministry in Arcanum,” said a church representative.

A significant milestone in a number of ways, Greg was just 27 years old when he assumed the pastorate on Jan. 6, 1987, which means Greg has spent over half his life pastoring the congregation of IBC. The church was 35 years old in 1986, which means Greg has been the pastor for 45 percent of its existence.

The celebration will take place on Sunday, May 28 beginning with the Morning Worship Service at 10:30 a.m. at 500 West South Street, Arcanum, Ohio. Organizers are pleased to announce that the guest speaker for this service will be the Rev. Dave Warren. Pastor Warren was a former Greek and New Testament professor at Cedarville University and is a retired state representative of the Ohio Regular Baptist Churches serving 20 years in that capacity. A Celebration Meal will be served to all in attendance in the social hall following the morning service. An afternoon Recognition Service will start at approximately 1:15 p.m. with lots of music and sharing of memories.

Greg and his wife, Terri first came to Arcanum in the fall of 1986 to meet the deacons and congregation of IBC. In December of 1986, the couple and their two young sons moved to Arcanum and Pastor Greg started his ministry at IBC on the first Sunday in January of 1987. A recent graduate of Dallas Theological Seminary in Texas, Greg had been serving as an Associate Pastor in West Dallas, Texas for the Southern Baptist Mission at Treat Memorial Baptist Church at the time of his call to Arcanum.

Greg grew up in Greensburg, Indiana and loved to play basketball. After high school, he went to Cedarville College (now Cedarville University) to play basketball and major in business. Pastor Greg stated that during his freshman year in the fall of 1977 he began to really and truly understand what Jesus Christ had done for him. He had started his college education as a business major but found his classes disinteresting. Meanwhile, he relished all the Bible classes and studying scripture. At this time he wasn’t really sure what he wanted to do with his life, but he did learn to know Jesus Christ as his personal Savior and accepted him into his life. During his sophomore year at Cedarville, he began to consider changing his major and was invited to preach a sermon at his home church in Indiana in the summer of 1979; it seemed to be well-received by the congregation and he started his junior year at Cedarville by switching to pre-seminary Bible as his major. Upon graduation from Cedarville in 1980, Greg states that the Lord “granted me the opportunity to further my education and receive at ThM degree from Dallas Theological Seminary in 1986.”

While at Cedarville, Greg met his wife Terri (Potter) who had grown up in Kettering, Ohio and was a pre-nursing major and played on the volleyball team. They were married on May 28, 1983 and headed for Dallas.

Greg states that “Arcanum has been a great community to raise a family and serve the Lord in. Terri and I have formed many friendships over the years both inside and outside the church, and by God’s grace we count it an honor and privilege to have ministered alongside the saints at IBC.”

Today, their family has grown to six children and six grandchildren with another grandchild on the way later this year. Their oldest son, Josh and his wife, Jodie and family (Micah, Malachi, and Melodie) are serving as missionaries in Papua New Guinea. Son, Gabe and his wife, Traci live in Fairborn with their son Hamilton and he works for SOCHE at WPAFB. Son, Nathan and his wife, Jenn live in Chattanooga, Tennessee with their children, Caiden and Audrina, and he is a physical education teacher and coach at Grace Baptist Academy. Jordan and his wife Stephanie and son Bryson reside in Piqua, Ohio and he is a General Manager for AVI Food Systems in Troy. Terri and Greg also have two adopted children, Caitlyn and Christopher.

The Deacons at Immanuel Baptist Church at the time of Greg’s calling to minister there were Al Kuhbander, Will Raby and Nick Brown. One of Greg’s answers to a question from that interview team was one of the reasons he was chosen to become their pastor, the deacons asked him about the importance of longevity at a church, and Greg stated that, “He wanted to be at a church where his grandchildren could come to visit.” That statement has now come to fruition and the church has been blessed for many years to have the service of Pastor Greg.

The community is invited to join IBC at 500 West South Street in Arcanum to congratulate Greg and his family for their many years of service. Please join them on Sunday, May 28 at 10:30 a.m. and plan to stay for lunch to reminisce and share God’s blessings during the afternoon Recognition Service. For more information, please check out their website: http://www.ibcarcanum.org/, Facebook page, or call Associate Pastor Dan Kuhbander at 937-692-8188.

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