“Let the elders that rule well be counted worthy of double honour, especially they who labour in the word and doctrine.”
1 Timothy 5:17
It is my hope that each of our LCA families is blessed with a true man of God as their spiritual shepherd. Here at the ministry of Latham Bible Baptist Church and Latham Christian Academy, Rev. Dean Walter serves as senior pastor, and we are indeed blessed to have him. We honor him today on his birthday.
Pastor Walter was born in the small town of Byron, Michigan, where he grew up in a Christian home and attended a small Baptist church. At the age of 8, Pastor Walter accepted Christ as his personal Savior. He was baptized in a nearby river by his pastor a few years later.
Pastor Walter sensed God’s calling into the pastoral ministry while attending Camp CoBeAc as a teenager. At his home church, he was licensed to preach, began leading singing, and filled the pulpit of a nearby church. Pastor Walter took his formal training for the ministry at Bible colleges in Minnesota and Wisconsin, earning his undergraduate degree from Maranatha Baptist Bible College.
After his graduation, Pastor Walter married the lady we now know as Mrs. Walter, LCA’s high school science teacher. The young couple accepted a ministry as youth pastor in Atlanta, Georgia. Pastor Walter then attended seminary in Tennessee and worked as a youth pastor during his graduate training there.
After earning his seminary degree and being ordained to the Gospel ministry, Pastor Walter moved to Brantford, Ontario, with their one-month-old daughter to begin working as a youth pastor there. God directed in the Walters’ lives through 12 years of ministry in East Lansing, Michigan; 4 years in Kalamazoo, Michigan; and 11 years in Zephyrhills, Florida.
In the fall of 2007, God directed Pastor and Mrs. Walter to accept the call here at Latham Bible Baptist Church as our senior pastor, where they have served ever since.
Pastor Walter’s life verse comes from II Timothy 1:7, “For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.” Our church and Christian academy are blessed to be led by a man who has been called by God, prepared for service, and dedicated to the Lord.
If you happen to see Pastor Walter in his office or in a hallway around the school, please take a minute to wish him a very happy birthday today and to thank him for his leadership and service here.