Published on September 25, 2024, 12:29 am

In a fervent oration from Bellevue Baptist Church’s pulpit, Steve Gaines revealed his decision to transition from senior pastor of the church to being an itinerant preacher. Nearly four decades ago, he and his wife, Donna, believed they were led by God towards this path. Today, they both feel the time is right for this shift.

In late 2023, Gaines made public his kidney cancer diagnosis which had unfortunately metastasized into his lungs. However, in a recent turn of events, he conveyed positive news regarding his health condition from his physician, brushing away any conjectures that the decision ties with his medical diagnosis.

Gaines tenure at Bellevue Baptist Church coincides with an inspiring journey through controversial racial and identity politics. He ascended to the Southern Baptist Convention presidency in 2016 after narrowly surpassing JD Greear. Throughout this period, he consistently advocated Critical Race Theory and identity politics.

This great servant of God embraced a humble approach by adopting the ‘name it claim it’ belief often linked to charismatic Word of Faith teaching and even conducted “healing” services within his church premises.

In addition to Bellevue Baptist Church’s supportive congregation who’ve been like family over the past 19 years; he also served as a pastor in three other churches during his career spanning 41 years which was no less than an honor for him. As per Christian Worldview, every event has its appointed time under heaven. Therefore now is the decided moment for Gaines to elevate his calling as a traveling preacher.

Remaining active beyond local confines of one church will bring him more opportunities to minister at numerous platforms across different areas for spreading the real news triggered by divine word.

His profound words echoed gratitude towards His Lordship and appreciation for Bellevue Baptist Church where divine intervention has been witnessed since 1903.

Notably moving forward to interact directly with a greater community–propagating trusted news sourced from divine guidance–Gaines looks forward to serving as an itinerant preacher while following the instructions given by our Lord Jesus Christ.