Welcome to Winston Community Baptist Church
We would like to take this opportunity to welcome our new
Associate Pastor Aaron Gantenbein and his wife Denise to our church family.
Aaron was born in Arlington, Texas in 1979 and moved with his
family to Washington in the summer of 1981. When he was eight years old he
accepted Christ in his family's home in Tacoma, WA. At the age of 13 he
rededicated his life to Christ at a youth camp when he realized that he
had not been living fully for Christ. At the age of 16 he felt that God
was beginning to lead him to a life in the ministry and was reaffirmed at
a youth camp where he sensed God's calling in his life to serve him
wherever he was needed.
In August of 1997 he
began attending Oklahoma Baptist University and graduated with a BA in
Cross-Cultural Ministry with a minor in anthropology. He spent the next
two years serving overseas with the International Mission Board in
Amsterdam in the various immigrant communities and refugee centers.
It was very much an eye-opening experience for him as God taught him a lot
about his strengths and weaknesses and where his future lied. He felt the
highlight of his mission work was forming relationships with people in the
area and working with the various volunteer teams that came to work with
them during those two years.
It was through this experience, or learning and
growing period, that Aaron realized he needed to gain more experience and
training in the ministry. So, upon returning in the fall of 2003 Aaron
enrolled at Golden Gate Baptist Theological Seminary's Northwest Campus.
After gaining much training, experience, and the benefit of gaining
numerous friends, he graduated in the spring of 2007 with his Master's of
Divinity degree.
During this time Aaron worked various jobs to
support himself through this process. What he enjoyed the most was serving
as a youth leader at Kitsap Lake Baptist Church in Bremerton, Washington
for three years. Not only did he get to have fun with the youth, but God
gave him the opportunity to teach them, one of his passions.
It was during this time as a youth leader that Aaron
met his wife Denise on the way to a youth leader's conference in
Vancouver, Washington in 2009. It was through a mutual friend, her
church's secretary who actually went to his church, they wound up in
the same car together traveling to the conference. They reunited a few
months later at another youth event, which he still wonders if it was
really a coincidence or not, and began dating.
Over the next few months they got to know each other
more and in the following summer Aaron proposed to Denise. Upon their
announcement the overwhelming response was, 'What took you so long?" They
were married on March 5th, 2011
at First Baptist Church and have been serving God together ever since.
In the summer of 2011 Pastor Steve Schenewerk
approached Aaron to interview for the position of Associate Pastor of
Community Baptist Church. Aaron felt that it was a great visit and they
felt a sense of a peace from God that this is where He wanted them. Aaron
excepted the position and started his new position right after
Thanksgiving the same year. Aaron and Denise are excited to be serving God
together here and are looking forward to what they will do through our
church.
When your body aches or when your
body does not work properly you call the doctor. The Bible teaches us that God
is The Great Physician of our lives. When we hurt- and all of us know what that
means- we need the relief only God can bring!
So, when was the last time you went
to church?
Dr. Steve Schenewerk, Pastor
(541) 679-9569