Pastor Bob GageWelcome Our New Senior Pastor, Pastor Bob Gage

First Baptist Church is proud to announce the calling and acceptance of Pastor Bob Gage to the Senior Pastor position at First Baptist Church.

Dr. Gage began his ministry in New England as a teenage evangelist about one year after he accepted Jesus as his personal Savior. Upon graduation from high school he went to Philadelphia Biblical University, graduating with a BS in Bible with a pastoral major. Further studies were taken at Tennessee Temple University, Eastern Baptist Seminary and Newport University, where he received his doctorate in religion (Rel.D). He also took special studies in psychology through the New School and other institutions. He also completed a pastoral counseling internship through the chaplains program at the Battle Creek MI VA Hospital.

Pre-pastoral ministries included serving as a Youth for Christ song leader, youth and music pastor at three different churches during college, and Gospel Leader for the Philadelphia College of Bible. As the city leader for the Youth Crusader Mission in Chattanooga, TN, he and his wife worked with inner-city kids on the verge of delinquency and developed over 30 Bible clubs, where many came to know Christ as their personal Savior.

Dr. Gage began his pastoral ministry at the Whitehall Baptist Church in Philadelphia in 1964, where he was ordained. This church was associated with the General Association of Regular Baptists. Other pastoral ministries have included First Baptist Church, Hackensack, NJ, Wealthy Street Baptist Church, Grand Rapids, MI, Haven Baptist Church, Winter Haven, FL, and the First Baptist Church in the City of New York.

For a number of years, Dr. Gage travelled as a evangelist/Bible teacher under Sword and Shield Ministries, ministering to local churches in 40 states. His major focus was to to promote revival and soul-winning. He preached in churches as small as 25 and several over 5000. After leaving the New York pastorate, he returned to this ministry to help as many churches as possible. Under this ministry he has conducted leadership conferences, evangelistic training workshops and pastoral counseling seminars for churches and missionary agencies.

Dr. Gage has been highly involved in Christian education. He founded Hackensack Christian School and served as its superintendent. There he taught high school Bible classes and acted as guidance counselor. The school grew to over 320 students. Recently, he was asked to serve as consultant to this school. He also served as administrator of the Haven Christian Academy helping develop it into a traditional school with over 240 students. There he developed a unique Bible curriculum and taught creative writing and English literature. He taught college level courses at the Fundamental Bible Institute, Grand Rapids School of the Bible and Music, and Spurgeon College.

Dr. Gage has been honored several time in Who's Who in Religion (1992) and Who's Who in America (2003). He was recently included in The Global Directory of Who's Who. He has also been honored by Community Leaders in America for involvement in Christian education and counseling. While in New York City, he served as Clergy Liaison for the NYPD 20th Precinct.

Radio ministries have included The Bible Truth Hour, The Bible Stands, and God's Word for Today. For nine years he was on live radio with The Wealthy Street Morning Church Service. He has appeared on several radio and talk shows. He is also the author of eight books: The Birthmarks of the Christian Life, Our Life in Christ, Cultivating Spiritual Fruit, The Pastor's Counseling Workbook, The Pre-Marriage Counseling Workbook, Discipleship Evangelism, Basic Discipleship, Why Me, Lord? His newspaper column, Personal Problem Clinic, was published for ten years in the Winter Haven News Chief. He has recently completed a manuscript to be published as Four Pastors for Seven Churches, a book to help churches seeking pastors and pastors seeking churches. He anticipates working on several other book projects in the near future including a history of the First Baptist Church in New York City, Diothrepes, the Church Killer, and several Bible commentaries.