I am Pastor McEntire.  I have been pastoring the Faith Baptist Church for 19 years.  This is my first and only pastorate.

I was saved on November 5, 1970 at the age of seven.  It was then that I realized that I was a sinner and that Jesus would save me.  I called on his name that evening as I knelt with my pastor Bro. Phillips.  I trusted the Lord Jesus and committed my life to him at that time.  I was raised in a home where we went to church and we were taught to acknowledge the Bible as God's word.  I have spent my entire life in Baptist churches.  Three of them to be exact.  I was saved at the North Side Baptist Church in Freeport, Texas and it was there I was baptized.  Then at the age of 13 my parents were instrumental in starting another Baptist church in Freeport, thus the Faith Baptist Church came into existence.

It was in this church that I was called to preach under the ministry of Bro. Eugene Blankenship.  I surrendered my life to preach the Word on July 3, 1977.  For several weeks the Lord had been dealing with my heart.  Once I understood what it was the Lord wanted from me I surrendered to the call.  I walked the aisle the next morning which was Sunday and surrendered myself publicly to preach the Word.  I had not even told my parents what I intended to do.  They were of course delighted.

A week or so later Bro. Blankenship asked me if I was ready to preach at a date which was several weeks away.  I had no idea I would be expected to preach so soon.  I agreed to do it.  How could I not agree?  On August 17, 1977, a Wednesday evening, I preached my first message.  My parents were out of town for a funeral.  It was about twenty minutes long and a very simple outline addressing the fact that our bodies are the temple of the Holy Ghost.  The three points were 1. Smoking  2. Drinking 3. Gluttony.  My messages have increased in length and hopefully in substance.  

My adolescent years were spent under the ministry of Bro. Thomas Beard.  Bro. Beard was a hard working, strong preacher.  His influence in my ministry is being felt to this day.  My last year and a half at Faith Baptist I taught the primary age boys.

I had decided during my senior year that when I graduated I would attend the Independent Baptist College to begin my ministerial training.  So, in August it was off to Dallas and enrollment in the college.  I completed one year of college.

Upon moving to Dallas and visiting several churches the Lord led me to the Pleasant Valley Baptist Church.  Bro. P. D. Taylor is the pastor.  After my first year of Bible college I concluded that if I was a member of Pleasant Valley then Pleasant Valley is where I should be receiving my training.  It was about a year after that when Bro. Taylor started a preacher training program.  I spent eight and a half years at Pleasant Valley.  Bro. Taylor invested his life in me and gave me the direction I needed to become a Baptist by conviction.  We had classes every week after the Wednesday evening service.  It was here that I gained most of my ministry experience.  I was actively involved in outreach and the implementation of discipleship ministry.  I worked with the youth for five and half years during which time I taught, and led a puppet and rest home ministry.  During this time my family and I spent virtually every Sunday afternoon with the young people.  The last year and a half I was at Pleasant Valley I taught the Junior boys.  I owe a great debt of gratitude to Bro. Taylor for the time and patience he invested in me as a young preacher.  Ministry wise he is my Father in the faith.

During my years at Pleasant Valley, Faith Baptist church went through several pastors.  They contacted me on three different occasions about returning to pastor the work there.  On all three occasions I refused the invitation not believing I was prepared to accept the responsibility.  In December of 1989 when I received word that their pastor had resigned the Lord immediately spoke to my heart and impressed upon me that he wanted me to return to Freeport and pastor the church there.  I sought counsel from my pastor Bro. Taylor and with his permission spoke to three other men in the church whom I had grown to respect over the years.  After consulting with these wise men I contacted the Faith Baptist Church and told them I was interested in preaching for them in view of a call to the pastorate.  They agreed to have me come.  I came to Freeport in the middle of January 1990 and preached for them on a Sunday.  Of course they all already knew me.  I had preached there several times over the years and had spent time with the people because my parents were still attending church there.  That Sunday night they voted and extended the call to the pastorate.  As we sat in the back I told my wife Michele that if they voted to call me I was going to accept the invitation.  So, we returned to Dallas the next day preparing our hearts to leave our beloved Pleasant Valley and assume a new role in the Lord's work.

I was ordained by the Pleasant Valley Baptist Church on February 10, 1990.  I arrived in Freeport to assume the pastorate on February 16, 1990.

I worked part-time for Dominos Pizza for 17 years.  This helped supplement my income over the years as the church has been unable to provide me with a full salary.  I have been driving a school bus for 5 years. 

I am forty-six  years old and have been married to Michele for twenty-27 years in May.  Yes, I was married at the age of nineteen.  Michele and I have six children.  Sara who is 26, married to John Gordon and lives in Mississippi.  Caleb, who is 24 and called to preach and presently working for Air Gas, is married to Heather and have made their home in Freeport.  Olivia who is 22 and preparing herself to be a godly wife and mother.  She works at a Luby's Cafeteria.  Daniel who is 19 and is presently employed by the City of Freeport.  He is quite the expert on the Titanic.  Kimberly who is 16 and helps her mother around the house, especially the kitchen, she too is preparing to be a wife and mother.  Then there is the baby, Lydia who is 12.  She loves horses and dogs.  Michele and I have five grandchildren:  James Kelzie, twins Thomas and Evelyn, and Luke Wayne.  All four are the children of Sara and John.  Alisa who is the daughter of Caleb and Heather.

We have homeschooled our children from the beginning.  Sara, Caleb, Olivia, and Daniel have all graduated.