Thornville Baptist Church
About Pastor Leuck
When missionaries came home for furlough, they would often live in our house with our family for the year. This helped to instill in me the importance of missions for the local church.
Dad always wanted me to go into missions, so after high school graduation, I went off to Chicago to attend Moody Bible Institute. While at Moody, a requirement for students was service to local churches in some area of Christian endeavor. I was assigned as a Youth Pastor in a small church in South Chicago. The more I ministered and preached, the more people began to say, “Have you ever thought of going into the pastorate- you seem to have gifts in that area?” This is exactly the Biblical pattern set down for those who “desire the office of a bishop” [I Timothy 3- the church is to recognize one’s gifts] In time, I switched my major from Missions to Pastoral Studies.
After graduating from Moody, I went home to marry my high school friend, and the two of us went to John Brown University to continue our studies. My wife received her degree in Elementary Education and I received my degree in Theology with a second major in English. Upon graduation from JBU, my wife and I moved to the Philadelphia area where I did my graduate work at Westminster Theological Seminary.
While in Arkansas I pastored a church in Fayetteville and have been in the pastorate ever since. We came to Michigan from Pennsylvania in 1981 and have been at Thornville Baptist Church as pastor and wife for 23 years now.
Dad always wanted me to go into missions, so after high school graduation, I went off to Chicago to attend Moody Bible Institute. While at Moody, a requirement for students was service to local churches in some area of Christian endeavor. I was assigned as a Youth Pastor in a small church in South Chicago. The more I ministered and preached, the more people began to say, “Have you ever thought of going into the pastorate- you seem to have gifts in that area?” This is exactly the Biblical pattern set down for those who “desire the office of a bishop” [I Timothy 3- the church is to recognize one’s gifts] In time, I switched my major from Missions to Pastoral Studies.
After graduating from Moody, I went home to marry my high school friend, and the two of us went to John Brown University to continue our studies. My wife received her degree in Elementary Education and I received my degree in Theology with a second major in English. Upon graduation from JBU, my wife and I moved to the Philadelphia area where I did my graduate work at Westminster Theological Seminary.
While in Arkansas I pastored a church in Fayetteville and have been in the pastorate ever since. We came to Michigan from Pennsylvania in 1981 and have been at Thornville Baptist Church as pastor and wife for 23 years now.
About Pastor Leuck
I was raised in a Christian home and came to know the Lord as Savior at the young age of 9 through the Sunday School program of our church. But my high school years were less than exemplary until the Lord convicted me of sin and I began to live for Christ. My parents were very much “into” missions, and were instrumental in establishing a mission program at our church.