Mt. Olive Baptist Church welcomes new pastor

Wayne Sullivan joined Mt. Olive Baptist Church as their new pastor in November of this year. Sullivan recalls that, at the age of 14, he was saved after attending a revival at a church out in the country in Jennings. The preacher preached about salvation, and Sullivan felt the Lord pull on his heart. Sullivan made a confession that same evening and gave his heart to the Lord. While Sullivan “did really well” from age 14 to age 21, he hit a rough patch in his life and stopped going to church altogether from when he was 21 until he was 34. He was reintroduced to Christ at the age of 34 after his wife, who was pregnant with their youngest daughter at the time, insisted they start going to church again; the couple both rededicated their lives to church and have been faithful ever since. Sullivan was called into the ministry in a very unusual way. After rededicating himself to Christ, he started to sing and got involved with a praise and worship group at his new church. He stayed within the group until 2001 and then attended church in Lake Park afterwards. He thought he was just going to attend church and be a good church member, but the Lord had other plans. After two years of being a part of the worship group at the church in Lake Park, he was called to become the leader of worship. Sullivan states that he learned a lot about spreading the word of God and that position really helped prepare him for the position he holds now. In 2009, the pastor at Lake Park took leave, and members of the church asked Sullivan to fill in on Wednesday night. “The Lord opened the door for me and I learned so much from it,” said Sullivan. When the pastor returned, he took back his position, but the Lord wasn't done with Sullivan yet! One evening, while he was having dinner at a restaurant, a man from Jennings approached Sullivan and asked if he would preach at his church. Sullivan agreed and eventually began to preach at a lot of other churches, including Mt. Olive Baptist. He preached there about three times before the members of the church asked if he would become their new pastor. “I said, 'well, let me pray about it,'” said Sullivan. He ended up taking the position back in November. “When you pray for open doors, you have to take it.” Sullivan notes that he had never done anything like that before, but the Lord has always given him people that were “interested in seeing me grow and look past my mistakes.” He hopes to continue pastoring at the church for a long time, as he learns something new everyday. His main goal for Mt. Olive Baptist is to make disciples out of the members. Sullivan encourages everyone at his church to read the word for themselves and grow spiritually. He wants his followers to focus on Jesus, not him. The most important priority to Sullivan is evangelism, as the church is called to spread the gospel and equip those who come to church to make others disciples. “The church is made up of imperfect people that are made perfect by Jesus, and we need to tell everyone that,” said Sullivan. Sullivan's favorite scripture is Galatians 2:20, which states and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me. “We are living the resurrected life, the life that Jesus said he wanted us to have,” said Sullivan. “That's the point we need to get as Christians.” Sullivan is very grateful to be a pastor at Mt. Olive Baptist Church. “The people are all very supportive,” said Sullivan. He hopes to continue bringing the word of God into others' lives with passion. “If I'm not passionate, there's no reason for me to do it,” said Sullivan. Sullivan currently resides in Jennings, Fl. and has been married to his wife, Sharon, for 25 years; together, they have four children. Welcome to Mt. Olive Baptist, Pastor Sullivan!