Brad Powell, Senior Pastor
I’m not the typical pastor. Truth is, for most of my life, I haven’t related to many of them. To this day, I’m not in love with the title, which is why I prefer and ask to be called Brad. However, though I will never fit into the “pastor box” I do know that I’m called by God to be one. In fact, I’ve been serving as a pastor for over 27 years.
The first six years were in four different churches and locations, from Rhode Island to Florida and from 18 to 500 people. For the last twenty-one years, I’ve been the Senior Pastor here at NorthRidge Church in Plymouth, Michigan, previously known as Temple Baptist of Detroit. As such, I’ve had the privilege of being part of an amazing transition… from an old dying church looking backwards to a great heritage and a very indefinite future, to a church that is making a profound impact in thousands of lives today.
Why has God given me this privilege? There are several reasons that I can identify. First, I match the profile of the kind of people God says He uses. 1 Corinthians 1:27, “God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong.” I’m a perfect match. Second, though flawed in many ways, God knows that I’m in ministry for one reason… I love Him and want others to know the redemption, love, fulfillment, and hope that I’ve experienced in knowing Him. Third, in a generation where the church is in such desperate need for change without compromise, He wanted to provide an example of change that could provide hope. He’s done it in NorthRidge and me.
THE LATEST FROM MY BLOG…
- “Wow!”
- POWER
I hated it. Though I know God is in control and was able to accomplish good through it, from my perspective, it ruined everything. “It”, in this circumstance, is the fact that we lost all of the power to the building at our largest campus this past weekend. Two minutes before our first Sunday service [...] - Boredom
Boredom is a huge…potentially dangerous problem for all of us…in every area of our lives. Yes, even in our spiritual lives. I had opportunity to write on “boredom” in my regular column, “Leading Change”, in Outreach Magazine. It was in response to a question relating to church becoming boring. However, I really do think that [...]
