Elders
We believe God has given two offices to the Church –– the office of Elder (otherwise called Pastor or Overseer) and the office of Deacon. Elders are called by our exalted Savior (Eph. 4:11) to lead, feed, watch over and protect the flock. True pastors know the sheep belong to the ultimate Shepherd and Overseer (I Peter 2:25) and have no desire to lord their authority over His flock. At the same time, they realize they have been vested with biblical authority and that some day they will give an account for the exercise of their spiritual stewardship. Realizing this humbles and sobers them. In the midst of their humility and sobriety they feel overwhelmed with the privilege of preaching the glorious gospel of Jesus Christ and caring for the souls of His sheep. We are presently blessed with five elders.
Pastor Ted Christman
Ted was born to godly parents living in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Deceived about the state of his soul, he attended Bob Jones University to study for the ministry. After obtaining his B.A., he went onto acquire an M.Div. at Grand Rapids Theological Seminary. Through coming to embrace the reformed faith, in God's kindness he actually savingly embraced the Savior.
In 1973, shortly after seminary, he and his wife Dianne moved to Owensboro where he became the founding pastor of Heritage. He is now is his 37th year of shepherding the flock. Ted has contributed a chapter to Dear Timothy – Letters to a Young Pastor, authored Forbid Them Not, Rethinking the Baptism and Church Membership of Children and Young People and published A Daily Bible Reading Schedule, widely used throughout the U.S. and around the world. He enjoys theology, apologetics, nature, jogging and just hanging out with his wife. He and Dianne cherish spending time with their godly son, daughter, son-in-law and grandaughter.
Pastor Keith Maddy
Keith was born into a Roman Catholic family. He graduated from Ohio University with a B.A. in Psychology. During those university days, he was radically converted from a life of overt wickedness and transformed into a passionate follower of the Lord Jesus Christ. Upon moving to Owensboro, he became a manager at Texas Gas Corporation. For several years he served HBC as a gifted Sunday School teacher.
In 1986, he was ordained as the second pastor of Heritage. In 1998, he left his secular employment to become a full-time pastor. Because of his intense passion to get the gospel to all the nations, he is naturally viewed as the pastor for missions. He is fluent in Spanish and travels frequently to the Dominican Republic, Columbia, South America, Cuba, Haiti and Mexico encouraging and instructing nationalist pastors. He and his wife Joy have two daughters and a son whom they adopted from Korea. Keith enjoys cooking, bike riding and lively fellowship with the brethren.
Pastor Joe Wilson
Joe has been blessed to be a member of Heritage since 1985. He was born and raised in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, where he grew up in a Christian home, his father being a Baptist pastor. Joe was converted at the age of eighteen and shortly thereafter began preaching the gospel. He has pastored churches in North Carolina and Ohio and is now privileged to have been one of the pastors of Heritage since January of 2005.
Joe has been happily married to his godly wife Karen since 1973. They are blessed with three grown children, including two married sons, Stephen and Jonathan, both of whom are Christians. Deborah, their firstborn, who has Down Syndrome, also loves the Lord and still lives at home to the delight of her parents.
In his spare time Joe enjoys his grandchildren, beating his wife Karen in Scrabble and occasionally golfing, where he rarely achieves victory over anyone.
Pastor Sam Waldron
Sam has been married to his dear wife Charlene since 1975. They have four children whom they love very much. Sam was a pastor of the Reformed Baptist Church of Grand Rapids from 1977-2001 and taught at Trinity Ministerial Academy from 1981 to 1989. He has authored a number of books including The Modern Exposition of the 1689 Baptist Confession, The End Times Made Simple, To Be Continued? and MacArthur’s Millennial Manifesto: A Friendly Response. He has gladly served as one of the pastors of Heritage Baptist Church since 2005. Sam enjoys reading, weight-lifting, walking, and spending time with his wife, children, and grandchildren.
Pastor Richard Barcellos
Richard was born in Fresno, CA where he was raised on a farm with three brothers. He graduated from California State University, Fresno, in 1983 with a B.S. in Agricultural Business and was saved by God’s marvelous grace in 1984. Two years later he enrolled at The Master’s Seminary and graduated in 1989 with a Masters of Divinity (M.Div.) in Systematic Theology. One year after graduating from seminary, he planted a church where he served as pastor for over 15 years. Richard has also earned a Master’s of Theology (Th.M.) in Theological Interpretation and a Ph.D. in Historical Theology from Whitefield Theological Seminary, Florida. He has published one book, co-authored another with Sam Waldron, and contributed articles to various magazines, including R.C. Sproul’s Tabletalk. Richard has been happily married to Nanette (“Nan”) since 1986. They have five children. Richard enjoys eating (especially garlic-spiced foods), reading, exercising, and hanging with the saints of God.
Jonathan Christman - Pastoral Assistant
Jonathan serves as Pastoral Assistant of Heritage Baptist Church. He graduated from Cedarville University in 2002, where he obtained his Bachelor of Arts. In the spring of 2003, he moved to Washington D.C. to serve as a pastoral intern at The Capitol Hill Baptist Church. After completing this internship, Jonathan moved to Minneapolis, Minnesota to continue his pastoral training. He was accepted into the pastoral apprenticeship program at The Bethlehem Institute, where he completed his requirements for the M.Div. track. He continued his graduate schooling at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary where he finished his M.Div. Jonathan is passionate about India, enjoys traveling overseas, preaching, teaching and equipping pastors in various third-world contexts. As an arm of HBC, Jonathan is ministering to Indian families on a weekly basis who have immigrated to Louisville, Ky. He enjoys reading, blogging at The India I Know, French-pressed coffee, Disc golf and just mixing it up with people in general. It just so happens that he is not wasting his tweets either.