Meet The Pastor
Rev. John Houlker is a native Rhode Islander, having grown up in Cranston and graduated from Cranston High School East in 1969. He received his BA degree from Springfield College in 1973, and MA degree from Gordon Conwell Seminary in 1975.He has served churches in RI and New Hampshire, and, prior to his move to WCBC, served as field staff for National Ministries of American Baptist Churches USA, concentrating in areas of discipleship and youth ministry. He has traveled extensively throughout the country, serving as a consultant, seminar/workshop leader, speaker, and conference organizer. Rev. John has been serving as Pastor of WCBC since June of 2006. John and his wife Patty have two grown children, and are presently making their home in Cranston.
Latest Blog Post
During worship on April 22, we focused on Jesus’ message concerning the Kingdom of God, and the difficulty he encountered due to the preconceived notions of his disciples as to just what the coming of the Kingdom would entail. With this in mind, I offer the following, taken from the back of a worship bulletin published by the Judson Press. While on staff for Education Ministries, I was from time to time called to write these devotions for the worship bulletins, so it was meaningful to me to find this one among the volumes of manila folders that help turn my office space into an OSHA violation
“Kingdom Talk” always provides an appropriate context from which we launch our hopes, dream, visions and ideas pertaining to church life. It takes us way beyond issues of infrastructure and organizational paradigms to the heart of what we are to be about “as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved” (Col.3:12). So here you go… you get the devotion with having to buy the bulletins!
As you go, proclaim the good news, ‘the kingdom of heaven as come near.’
-Matthew 10:7
It is vital to our understanding of the Kingdom to note that Jesus’ directives to his disciples not only involved telling the good news of the Kingdom; it also involved demonstrating through their lives and actions that God was truly at work among the people. Their preaching would acquire authority when accompanied by signs of love and hope. The Kingdom is about healing and new life, about cleaning and overcoming evil, and about sharing and trust. It is about “Immanuel” – God with us and in the hearts of all who believe and are committed to the Savior.
The Kingdom of Heaven can best be cultivated in the church, where we have the greatest opportunities to see Christ’s love in the lives of disciples of Jesus. We witness the power of God’s Hold Spirit in ministries of healing, teaching, evangelizing, feeding the hungry, visiting the sick and lonely, and defending the outcast and the disenfranchised. The Kingdom of Heaven takes root and flourishes as people daily seek to grow in faith, become more like the author of our salvation, and become the disciples Jesus challenges us to be.
In disciple-making churches, we find Christians seeking to deepen their relationship with Christ. As God’s Spirit motivates and challenges people to serve the Kingdom, the church blesses the calling of its members and provides the equipping ministries needed to train and support them in their ministries.
The Kingdom of Heaven has indeed come near! It is in your Sunday school class or Bible study, and it is wherever Christians live the gospel with integrity and zeal, bringing God’s presence to the world.
Yours for Living the Gospel with Integrity and Zeal,
Pastor John
5.2012
