New Pastor at Grace Baptist Church (Owatonna, Minnesota)

Grace Baptist Church in Owatonna, Minnesota, has been without a senior pastor for the last eighteen months. On June 29, the congregation extended a call to Pastor Andrew Burggraff, who has been the pastor of Bible Baptist Church in Spring Hill, Florida, for the past four years. Those of us on the Pulpit Committee and the deacon board at Grace unanimously recommended Pastor Burggraff to the congregation. On the decision to extend the call to Pastor Burggraff, the congregation responded with a 98% vote of approval. Andrew, his wife Allyson, and their three children will probably be moving to Owatonna during the month of August. We look forward to Pastor Burggraff's ministry at Grace during the coming years.

Twenty years ago, Andrew's father (David Burggraff) pastored Grace Baptist for several years. Nancy and I count Dave and Lucy Burggraff as dear friends personally, as well as in the ministry. Dr. Dave Burggraff currently serves as a vice president at Clearwater Christian College in Florida. The president of Clearwater is Dr. Dick Stratton, whom we knew as a teenager at Hampton Park Baptist Church in Greenville, South Carolina, when we first got married. Dick's folks were faithful employees at Bob Jones University for many years.

Please pray for Grace Baptist Church here in Owatonna, as well as the good folks at Bible Baptist Church in Florida. We have gained a good man at their expense, so to speak. Obviously, those folks will need a new pastor in the near future. We are trusting that God will send just the right man to meet the needs of Bible Baptist Church.