greg hurd and the birth of lakechurch
In October of 1989, Jesus came into my life in the parking lot of International Gospel Center after hearing a passionate message by R.W. Schambauch. I had been occasionally attending a Baptist church in my home town of Mannford since marrying my wife, Karen, in 1985.
I started attending church regularly and grew in the Lord. Then I began sensing the call to the ministry. I was mentored by several men at this stage who poured the foundation of my life, Pastors Al Lindsey, James Beck, Jim Redfearn, J.C. Dugan and J.B. Shinn. These men taught me the Bible and sowed the seeds that have become the harvest I am walking in today.
In my search for God’s destiny, I was led in a different direction and enrolled at Rhema Bible Training Center in September of 1991. This change also led to a new place of worship and training in Sand Springs, Word of Life Fellowship.
While attending Bible school, I volunteered and did whatever I could to learn from my new mentor, Pastor David Emigh. Upon graduating Bible school in 1993, the door opened for me to fill the janitorial position at Word of Life. I filled this position for close to three years when I joined a mission’s trip in the Philippines. On that trip, God directed me to seek out an associate pastor position.
Fortunately, Word of Life had grown so that Pastor David felt it was time for a full-time associate pastor the church. I stepped into the position in July of 1996. I can truly say that Pastor David is my father in the faith and has trained me to be who I am today.
During my tenure at Word of Life, I participated in every facet of ministry from counseling to missions to pulpit ministry. My wife also trained at Word of Life and is a 1998 graduate of Rhema Bible Training Center.
Karen and I have been married for 21 years and have 4 children—Josh 16, our twin boys Jon and Josiah 12 and our baby, Jaeden 4. Having sons which include a teen, two pre-teens and a toddler give us a wealth of experience in family ministry. We can identify and help with the challenges that all families face.
We have a strong relational ministry that embraces the gifts within others. We also believe in facilitating the development of those gifts within the context of the local church
In 2006, I began to feel a stirring in my heart much like I did in 1995. This time I felt led to become a senior pastor. Karen and I have always had Mannford in our hearts. We left there in 1991 with the desire to eventually come back and pastor a work there. Throughout my 16 years at Word of Life Fellowship that dream has never left us.
While praying and searching this out, I applied to several churches in the Mannford area that were in need of a pastor. None opened. Then as I was praying about my apparent lack of success, the Lord spoke to me that I was to build a church from the ground up and lakechurch was born.
Karen and I feel that we are a part of something bigger than ourselves, that we are simply walking into something that God has already prepared. To say we are starting something really is a misnomer, because we are just a piece of the puzzle. We are simply obeying God and He is causing the increase.
We desire for lakechurch to be a place of hope in this community; a place where all will be accepted and loved.