Faith Bible Church at 118 W. Ninth St., Williamstown, recently called Steve DeLay to serve as its new senior pastor.
To officially welcome DeLay to the church and to introduce him to the community, the church will be having a "Meet the New Pastor Sunday" on Aug. 9.
The special day will begin with Sunday school at 9 a.m., followed by morning worship at 10:15 a.m. with a sermon by the new pastor. Special music will be provided by The Proclaimers, a southern gospel group from the Parkersburg area.
A covered dish luncheon will follow the morning worship service. An afternoon service will begin at about 1 p.m. with the Proclaimers to give a gospel concert, followed by a short challenge from DeLay. Everyone is welcome to attend this special day.
"We are excited to be at Faith Bible Church and look forward to how God is going to bless," DeLay said. "We have wonderful people, great facilities and amazing opportunities to minister for the Lord here at Faith Bible."
DeLay, who was born and raised in Fayette County, W.Va., formerly pastored the Middlebourne Baptist Church in Tyler County, W.Va., for 10 years. He graduated from Midland Trail High School and from the West Virginia University Institute of Technology with a bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering.
After working for several years as an engineer in Connecticut and West Virginia, he said God called him into the ministry. He then went on to earn his master of divinity degree from Temple Baptist Seminary in Chattanooga, Tenn., and was ordained at Highland Park Baptist Church, also in Chattanooga.
He and his wife, the former Amy Nutter from Doddridge County, W.Va., were married in 1986. They have two sons: Ryan, age 6; and Jason, age 4.
Faith Bible Church also has a full-time associate pastor, Tim Lyzenga, who has been at the church for about a year and a half.
"Tim is doing a great job ministering to our youth and has a real heart for the Lord," DeLay said. "We are very blessed to have him as our youth pastor."
Lyzenga, who is from Bangor, Mich., is a graduate of Northland Baptist Bible College in Dunbar, Wis. He and his wife, the former Carol Heikkinen of Reno, have one son, Gerrit, who is 4 months old.
"We preach and teach the Bible as God's authoritative Word in a practical way, to impact lives for Jesus Christ," DeLay said.
"Come out and worship with us and let God bless you and your family at Faith Bible Church - "The Family Place To Be," he said.
