Men's Breakfast, December 13, 2014

The Men’s Breakfast Group met Saturday, December 13th with Jeff McDonald, pastor of the First Baptist Church of Freeport.  Jeff was raised in a small town in Arkansas and went to a small Christian school.  He drifted away from the church after high school.  However, he returned to the church when the woman he was dating refused to continue unless he returned to the church.  They subsequently got married and formed a Christian music group.  This group toured all over the world.  When they had a daughter, they found that touring with an infant was not practical.  Jeff therefore took a youth pastor’s position in East Texas.  A friend persuaded him to come to Clute where he became youth pastor at Temple Baptist Church.  He eventually became pastor of First Baptist Church of Freeport.  This is a fulltime paid position.  Jeff and his wife have one daughter who has now turned sixteen. 

The first Baptist Church has a new facility on SH 332 in Freeport next to the New River Levee.  They have managed to sell the old building on Fourth Street.  A couple of the breakfast group members mentioned how the old building had excellent acoustics and that it was ideal for large groups; for example, major funerals. 

The First Baptist Church has an attendance of about 100 on Sunday mornings.  Anglos are the dominant ethnicity with a large Hispanic minority.  There are also a few black members.  The congregation is fairly old but there is a significant group of young adults with children.  These are attracted by the youth program.  There are a few middle aged people who should be taking over the leadership of the church.

The men had an interesting discussion and a good breakfast.  The next meeting will be Saturday, January 10th, with Robert Perryman, President of First State Bank of Clute.