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Meet Our Pastor & Deacons

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Pastor Scott Harper

I grew up in New Life. It is where I found the Lord in salvation at eight years old and where I was ordained, first as a deacon and later as a pastor in 1997.

 

I grew up with the old-fashioned way of shouting, praying and preaching and I am excited to say that this is still New Life.

 

I have been blessed to be pastor here since 2002. New Life is more than just a church to me, they are my Christian family and it has been my honor to be their pastor for all these years.

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Away from the church, if there is such a thing, I enjoy playing music, reading, and woodworking. My wife, Debbie since 1992, and I enjoy travelling to new places and flatwater kayaking. We have kayaked in Michigan. Indiana and Florida in the Keys and the Gulf of Mexico.

 

We have two grown children, Laiken and Isaac, and we enjoy and love all the children at church as our own.

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Richard Harper, Deacon

New Life is more than just a church to me. My salvation experience took place there at a tender age of 6, almost 7 and I joined the church shortly thereafter. I was ordained there as a deacon in 1992. I have literally grown up in the church and have been honored to have held several offices in the church. I have seen many changes over the years, but I am glad to say that some things have not changed. I believe New Life still loves the Lord the way we always have, and we still want to share that love with all we meet. I believe we still desire to help those that come through our doors develop a deeper relationship with God by preaching, teaching, and living the Word of God in everything that we do. New Life is more than just a body of baptized believers, it is a family.

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 Any bio of me would be incomplete if it did not mention how big a part music plays in my life. I can play a few instruments, and have written several songs, but song-leader is how most see me. Leading the congregation in singing songs and hymns is greatly rewarding, especially when everyone gets in “tune” and the Spirit starts flowing from breast to breast. I think it is a little glimpse of Heaven when all of God’s children get home.

           

I married my high school sweetheart, Shannon, in 1992, and God blessed us with three children, Bethany, Ray, and Kenny. Outside of church, I enjoy camping, working with my hands in any number of endeavors such as woodworking, metalworking, and woodcarving. I also enjoy working on old cars and tractors and, of course, playing music.

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Matt Diebolt, Deacon

Matt has a testimony of salvation that dates back to 2003 when he was saved at home in his bedroom. Matt has been a member of New Life since 2004 and was ordained as a deacon in 2018. Matt said that, "When I joined the church I didn't just gain a church home, but I gained an entire family. That is one of the most special things about the church. We are all family and love each other as such". Matt and his wife Brittany were married at the church by Pastor Scott in 2005 and have been blessed with two children, Nolan (2009) and Haley (2014). 

 

Matt loves coming together to worship with his church and serving the Lord. Beyond Church and related functions Matt loves sports, traveling, and just about anything outdoors such as running, biking, and kayaking to name a few. He loves a good laugh, hanging out with family and friends, board games, video games, technology, and radio controlled hobbies. Matt says, "I've never struggled with finding hobbies; it's actually quite the opposite… There are so many different things that I enjoy, I sometimes get overwhelmed with having to pick between one over another."

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We Live, We Love,
We Serve - Church History

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New life began with humble origins as a mission on the west end of Dawson street outside of Columbus, Indiana. Friendship Missionary Baptist Church extended the missionary arm to Elder Garnett Edwards in 1961 to start a mission after a very spirited-filled tent revival held by Elder Curtis Janes on this same street earlier in the summer.

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New Life’s first building was a shotgun style house with the walls removed, small in stature but mighty in love. The building was heated by an old coal stove and from firsthand accounts sometimes the building would just be getting warm halfway through the service. The same spirit and love that is felt today was present at that very first little church on the end of Dawson street. Within a year on August 28, 1964 New Life was organized as a church by the grace of God and continued on the journey that a loving people had set her on.

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One year later, they purchased the first lots where the building is sitting at now and proceeded to build the original block church themselves, and a few months later began worshipping in what we call the old building-- our current fellowship hall. Many souls over the following years were saved and many found a better walk with the Lord. Most of those old Saints have gone home now but their stories live on in the children who now have grandchildren attending the same church.

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In 2000, New Life saw the need to expand again and added the current sanctuary we have now and the spirit that was in the one room house in the beginning is in this building as well. Countless Souls have been touched in some fashion or another and a new generation is growing up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord continuing the heritage and legacy passed to us by the simple men and women who felt a need for a church on the end of Dawson street.

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New life has had thirteen pastors over her 55 plus years. The first being Elder Garnett Edwards to the current Pastor Elder Scott Harper. Some of the past pastors are Elder Alvin Caffee, Elder Mike Froedge, Elder Don Watts, Elder Larry Wilson, Elder Danny Wayne Sexton, Elder John Asbury, Elder Danny Coomer, Elder Joe Whitehead and Elder Danny Edwards (Garnett Edwards son). Some have served multiple times some for just a short while but all lead by the Spirit of God to be the pastor that New Life needed at the time.

Our Beliefs

We as a church believe the 18 articles of faith as laid out in the original Pendleton’s church manual as printed in 1867 and as written in the 1833 New Hampshire Confession of Faith. We also hold to the Church Covenant as written in the same manual. We use and follow the 1611 King James Version of the bible we believe it to be the inspired and represented Word of God.

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These are wordy documents and you may just want to know in simple terms what does New Life believe as a church, so let me as Pastor try to lay some of our core beliefs in simple terms. This is not everything we as a church believe but is at the core of who we are.

 

  • We believe God is Sovereign. That God made the universe and all that is in it and it is His plan and divine will that His creation (Men and Women) be saved. That He, with his Son and His Spirit, hold three distinct offices and together make up the Trinity of God.

  • We believe that the plan of salvation began before the Garden of Eden and that God anticipating the fall of mankind into sin prepared a plan to redeem us from our sinful nature.

  • We believe, because of the Sin of Adam, that all of us will need to be redeemed (saved) by God or we will ultimately be lost to Hell. We believe that we are all predetermined to be lost but no one is predetermined to be saved. That the choice for Salvation lies in the heart of each and every person. Each person must choose to seek God in order to be saved and that all Mankind are open to this opportunity.

  • We believe only two places exist after you leave this world, Heaven, the home of the redeemed, and Hell for those who have denied God.

  • We believe the calling to preach the Gospel is a divine calling and is necessary for the salvation of Mankind. That word of God is not open to any private or personal interpretation and that the True gospel is the combination of a man called by God, Preaching the inspired word of God and infused with the Holy Spirit to become the Gospel of Christ unto salvation.

  • We believe that we cannot be redeemed by any action on our part other than complete surrender to our Creator and Redeemer. That we will be saved by the Grace of a loving God, not by any decision or work on our part. We believe that salvation is a personal experience and only achieved, not when you accept Christ, but when God accepts you after being drawn to Him by His spirit and convicted by His word.

  • We believe that once saved, we can never fall from Grace. That our action did not save us, and our actions cannot cause us to lose the gift of God. That our Salvation is kept by God by His Promise to never leave nor forsake us.

  • We believe that Baptism by immersion is the first act of obedience after Salvation and is required by the scriptures to be part of our church.

  • Finally, we believe there will be a resurrection and final judgement of all peoples. That this will happen at the end of time and that God alone knows when this will be. That at this time there will be a general resurrection of all and after this the Judgement where each person will receive their final reward. This reward will be determined solely on whether the soul sought out God and was accepted of Him or denied him at their opportunity of salvation.

Church Government

Our Church is not associated with any Baptist convention, association or organization. We believe in Government of the church by our local body, where each member has a voice and a vote as determined by our bylaws. That all offices are elected by the local church for the glory and edification of the Body of Christ.

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We believe our Pastor serves at the discretion of the local body. Our Pastor is chosen by the us, the local church, after prayerful consideration. That our Pastor is the Shepard of our congregation and guides us in all matters spiritual as directed by God. Our Pastor is, ultimately, a servant of the Church and He is responsible to God for our spiritual welfare and growth as determined by the Scriptures.

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