Kiwanian Brendan Thomas who is Student Pastor at First Baptist Church, Winnfield spoke to the Kiwanis Club, Tuesday, July 16. He is a local in that he grew up in Dodson and graduated from Dodson High School.

His mother’s family has been in Dodson since the Civil War according to his grandfather. He grew up in Old Union Baptist Church under Bro. Rayford Higgs who had a great influence on his life. Studying God’s Word was instilled in him from a young age by his grandfather. In middle school and high school he still went to church but was not growing in his faith. His whole family
joined First Baptist Church in 2017 and he became a part of the youth group along with his cousin Landon.

In 2018 he committed his life to the ministry but he got a Bachelor’s degree in Health and Physical Education because his father said he needed a fallback career. He began an internship program under Bro. Steven Smithson and Student Pastor Tyson McIntyre. He discovered ministry is not just sitting in an office but actually working. The first day he worked in the flower beds and another day they removed carpet in the upstairs of the church.

In 2020 he began leading the youth as Interim Student Pastor with only 7 youth as Covid was still affecting everything. When he was 22 years old he began as full time Student Pastor and they now have 40 in the youth ministry. He is also going to New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary getting a Masters in Divinity. His Bible verse is Proverbs 16:9 which says “We can make our plans, but the Lord determines our steps”. He can look back on his life and see where
God has been leading him.

In his job as Student Pastor he organizes and plans events, does paperwork necessary for youth trips, and oversees finances for youth ministry. He also helps with whatever needs doing around the church. He likes to be hands on. He loves preaching and preparing the sermon. His messages are prepared for sixth grade up to death as he put it. He wants everyone to be able to understand his message. Last year the youth group went through the book of Matthew. It took a little longer than he expected. He preaches expositional style breaking down the books. He also does pastoral care dealing with the students problems, providing a listening ear. His wife helps to counsel the girls.

He tries to be a pastor to everyone from the students to the elderly. This summer the students made 2 summer trips. Mission Arlington is a mission trip working in apartment complexes with mainly Spanish speaking people. The students share Christ and do service work, hopefully inspiring them to do the same at home in Winnfield. The second trip was to the Falls Creek Baptist Youth Camp, the largest in the nation. There were between 6000 and 7000 youth present. There are speakers and breakout sessions. There were 34 students who went this year with 5 rededications and 2 salvations.

The exciting news in Brendan and his wife’s life is that they are expecting a son on
December 12.