First Baptist Church welcomes new pastor

Tariq Malik

FOUNTAIN VALLEY -- The pulpit at the First Baptist Church of

Huntington Beach and Fountain Valley won’t be empty Sunday.

After a 20-month nationwide search for a new senior pastor, Vic

Gordon, 49, has been chosen for the position.

“I’m really very excited, and I think we’ve all been looking forward

to this for a long time,” said Brenda Madsen, who was part of the

selection committee. “We felt like he was the one that best met the

criteria we were looking for in a pastor.”

Church officials said they were looking for an evangelistic pastor who

was a good preacher and could serve the needs of the church and its

individuals. The church has been rooted in the community for the last 37

years and serves a congregation of about 580.

“I initially said no several times when [the committee] approached me

with the move,” Gordon said. “But after visiting the church, I believe

that it is uniquely prepared and has a lot of potential that has yet to

be realized.”

Although Gordon is a native of Iowa and most recently served as the

senior pastor of a First Baptist Church in Wichita, Kan., for 12 years,

the move to Fountain Valley doesn’t mark the first time he’s settled into

Southern California.

The senior pastor received his theological training at the Fuller

Seminary in Pasadena and served a congregation in Ontario before moving

to Illinois to teach at the Northern Baptist Church and Wheaton College.

“Our calling is to be used to build God’s church, wherever that may

take us,” Gordon said of himself and his family. “To best perform that

calling, we’ve come here, and I think this is a good place for us to be.”

Gordon’s wife, Sue, and two youngest children -- Jonathan, 15, and

Joy, 12 -- made the move to Fountain Valley with him. His two other

sons, Nathan and Joshua, attend college in Kansas.

FYI

The First Baptist Church is at 17415 Magnolia Ave. Sunday services are

set at 9 a.m. and 10:35 a.m.

Information: (714) 847-3573.