March 2026 | 5
One Body, One Spirit: A Story Only God Could Write Recently, Brad Dews, pastor of Orrville Baptist Church (OBC), shared the remarkable story of how God has woven together two congregations into one unified church family. With his permission, I am sharing his testimony in his own words and heart. Pastor Brad writes: By Rick Williams, Central Region catalyst Pastor Brad Dews and Pastor Gary Dehart
Pastor Gary and I often say: ‘God has brought a remarkable unity to us, and we are now striving to bring that same unity of spirit to our peo- ple. We admit we are not there yet. We have two differ - ent cultures, two different races, and two different back - grounds. Our worship styles differ. Our preaching styles differ. Our personalities differ. We have so many differ - ences, but we firmly believe our worship of God tran - scends all the differences between us. God has made us one church for His glory.’” Their testimony beautifully reflects the words of the Epis - tle to the Ephesians 4:4–6: “There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to one hope when you were called; one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.” As I listened to Pastor Brad recount this journey, I was reminded once again: this is not a story of human plan- ning. It is a story of God’s sovereignty. Only He could weave together relationships, seasons of loss, revival, and unity into one testimony of his grace. It is a story only God could write.
“We met more than fifteen years ago when my wife and I purchased carpet from a man named Gary Dehart. Little did I know that years later, God would place Gary and me side by side, serving as pastors in the same church. During those early years, the Lord kept allowing our paths to cross. God was at work in Gary’s life, turning him away from the world and drawing him back to him- self. In time, Gary sensed a call to ministry. When he was licensed to preach, I was invited to participate in that special service. In 2021, Gary was serving as associate pastor of Smith- ville Independent Missionary Baptist Church (IMBC). Af - ter they sold their building, Gary asked if he could use our building to have a Bible study. He began teaching an online Bible study at OBC with some of his congregation in attendance. Later, when IMBC’s lead pastor passed away, Pastor Gary became lead pastor. In October 2023, IMBC began meeting at OBC each Sunday at 1:00 p.m. A life-changing event happened on March 23, 2024, when God called my wife, Linda, unexpectedly home following an injury in our home. In that single moment, the Lord revealed a faith in me that He had sovereignly planned to use. Revival stirred in my own heart and spread through the church. People were coming to Christ, and people were joining the church. We baptized more and added more to our membership than at any time in the past. In August of 2024, Pastor Gary asked me about using a sermon series OBC does every summer, entitled “Be- cause You Asked,” where we answer (questions about) biblical and cultural issues. I told him he could not use it, but he could join us for the series (and I would let him preach the hard questions, and I would preach the easy ones). The series went so well that the two congrega - tions never separated. Then, in March of 2025, after much prayer and waiting on the Lord, IMBC members joined Orrville Baptist Church as one church.
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