Reverend Charles (“Pastor Chuck”) Reed is an energetic, evangelical pastor who enthusiastically preaches God’s Word.  He loves people and stresses the importance of a personal relationship with God through His Son, Jesus the Christ. Pastor Chuck believes, through Scripture, that God has a purpose and plan for each of us if Jesus is allowed to be Lord of our life.  His sermons and teaching guide us in this journey and encourage us to grow spiritually.

 

Pastor Chuck and his wife Barbara came to Central Baptist from Greenville, Illinois, where he served as Senior Pastor of the First Baptist Church for four years.

 

Pastor Chuck was born and raised in Vermont. He attended Glen Cove Christian College in Glen Cove, Maine, and received his BA and a Master of Arts Degree in Counseling with a minor in Conflict Management and Mediation from Trinity College and Theological Seminary. Currently, he is in the final stage of completing his Doctorate of Religious Studies from Trinity.  Pastor Chuck is a member of the International Board of Christian Counselors, the American Association of Christian Counselors and is board-certified as both a Pastoral Counselor and a Christian Counselor.

In addition to pastorates in Maine, New York, and Illinois, Pastor Chuck has served as Executive Director and Vice President of Emmaus Teams Ministries, a ministry for inner-city Portland, Maine. Through the years, he has served as the Assistant Chaplain at Maine State Prison, on-call Chaplain of the Maine State Senate, and as president of two hospital chaplaincy programs.  He worked extensively with the Cecil B. Day Foundation and the Evangelistic Association of New England (now Vision New England) and has also worked with the late U.S. Senate Chaplain Dr. Richard Halverson, the National Prayer Breakfast, and the National Fellowship Foundation in Washington, D.C.  Pastor Chuck served on many boards and committees of the American Baptist Churches of Maine, and the Great Rivers Region of ABC in Illinois.  Presently, he is a Pastor Mentor in the Pastor-to- Pastor Program of ABCNJ.

 

Pastor Chuck and Barbara have been married thirty-six years and are blessed with four grown children and eight grandchildren.  They are deeply committed to renewal in the local church, facilitating an understanding of what it means to be the New Testament Church led by the Holy Spirit in the twenty-first century and, as the New Testament Church, grow through meeting people’s needs and making disciples.  Pastor Chuck

is actively involved in crisis intervention and marriage and family counseling.