Pastor Emeritus - Gene H. Parisher
At the age of sixteen, Gene Parisher accepted Jesus Christ as his personal Savior. He married Laura Joan Ingalls on February 2, 1957. Just four months later, he received his call to preach the gospel. In the fall of 1957, he enrolled at Bob Jones University in Greenville, SC, to begin his studies for the ministry. He graduated in 1963 and immediately accepted his first pastorate in North Carolina.
After spending seven years pastoring in North Carolina, he answered the call from Bethel Baptist Church to serve as pastor. He and his family arrived in Hampton the first week of June 1970. The church, a small group of about thrity people, was meeting in rented facilities at the time. During the spring of 1971, they moved into their new church building and immediately began plans to expand for the sudden growth and the addition of a Christian school. Under his leadership, the church continued to grow with additions to the facilities in 1984 and 1997.
With sound biblical preaching and godly wisdom, Pastor Parisher led Bethel Baptist Church from a small group to a membership of over 500 souls and over forty-nine full- and part-time employees. Bethel now has land and buildings valued at more than four million dollars. The ministry includes a well developed music program, a Christian school ministry with an annual enrollment of over 200 students, a home educators' ministry, an outreach ministry to the Spanish speaking community, AWANA Clubs, Patch the Pirate Clubs, a Sunday School organized in small groups to reach every age level in the community, a missions program which supports over sixty missionary families and agencies, a youth program that ministers to approximately seventy teens each week, ladies' ministries, and outreach ministries to nursing homes, retirement homes, the Rescue Mission, and the military.
Pastor Parisher has served on various boards, including World Wide New Testament Baptist Missions, the Virginia Assembly of Independent Baptists, and the Old Dominion Association of Church Schools. He has traveled extensively over the years, preaching in revivals and on the mission field. He received an honorary Doctor of Divinity Degree from Ambassador Baptist College in 1995.
He and his wife have five grown children, twelve grandchildren, and three great-grandchildren. After thrity-five years as Senior Pastor of Bethel Baptist Church, Pastor Parisher retired on June 5, 2005. In appreciation of his many years of pastoral leadership, Bethel Baptist Church honored him with the title, Pastor Emeritus, on his retirement day. He and his wife reside in Smithfield, Virginia, a small community not far from Hampton and their beloved church.
Pastor Parisher is now available to preach revivals, to speak for special days and mission conferences, and to assist churches with other special needs. You may contact him through the church office at 757-826-7710 or at his home.
Click here to hear Pastor Parisher's last challenge to the church.
