Our Pastor

Bible Baptist Church's Pastor

Ministry Beginning

Pastor Bates began his ministry at Bible Baptist Church on August 7, 2005. He and his wife, Stephanie, have three children: Charity, Megan, and Rachel.

His Salvation Testimony

Pastor Bates was saved at the an early age. He states, “I trusted Christ as my Savior at the age of four. I don't remember all the details, but I remember my kindergarten teacher, Mrs. Ann MacLegan, opening her Bible on her desk and sharing how I could know that heaven is my home.

“She explained that I was a sinner, which I knew all to well, and that I needed to place my trust in the Lord Jesus Christ. Thank God, I received Christ as my Savior in 1979, during ‘nap time’ in my K-4 classroom.” Soon after, he was baptized by his father, Dr. J. Michael Bates, at the Providence Baptist Church in Riverview, Florida.

Life Growing Up

He grew up in Tampa, FL, in a Baptist pastor’s home. He attended all his gradeschool and highschool years there in Riverview, Fla. Upon his graduation from high school in 1993, he enrolled at Pensacola Christian College that same Fall. Pastor Bates graduated from Pensacola Christian College in 1997 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Youth Ministries.

Mrs. Bates’ Life & Testimony

Mrs. Bates was raised in South Bend, Indiana. She also was saved at an early age and then scripturally baptized at the Community Baptist Church in South Bend, Indiana. Stephanie and Pastor met while they were both attending Pensacola Christian College, where she graduated with a Bachelor of Science in English Education in 1996. They were married on July 19, 1997 in South Bend, Indiana.

Our Pastor’s First Ministry

Our pastor’s first ministry was in Atlanta, Georgia. From 1997 to 2002 he served as the youth pastor for Bible Baptist Church. During those five years, Mrs. Bates taught high school English in the Christian School. In 2003, Pastor Bates felt the Lord wanted Him to pastor, but he also felt that the Lord wanted him to receive additional training prior to pastoring.

Further Ministry Training

Pastor believed strongly that the Lord was leading him to Emmanuel Baptist Theological Seminary (EBTS), a ministry of Emmanuel Baptist Church (EBC) in Newington, Ct, where his father was the pastor of the EBC and president of EBTS. In 2003 he received his Master of Biblical Studies degree from Emmanuel Baptist Theological Seminary in Newington, Connecticut. Pastor Bates graduated from E.B.T.S. in May of 2003, and waited on the Lord.

The Lord’s Leading

The Lord led us to call him to be our pastor here at Bible Baptist Church in Nashua in July of 2005. He accepted that call and started his ministry here at BBC in August of 2005.