Dan Bishop: “It is my honor to introduce America to First Baptist Church Indian Trail in the person of Pastor Mike Whitson, who…”

“It is my honor to introduce America to First Baptist Church Indian Trail in the person of Pastor Mike Whitson, who opened us in prayer. Pastor Whitson celebrated this past month his 40th anniversary in the pulpit at First Baptist. Indian Trail? You may ask, what is Indian Trail? It is a small town, I would say, immediately east of Charlotte, North Carolina, except that is not quite right. The mayor of Stallings, North Carolina, is in the gallery. Stallings is immediately east of Charlotte, and Indian Trail is immediately east of Stallings. It is a small town, and in its midst, the institution of First Baptist Church has over 7,000 members. In the course of the pastorate of Mike Whitson, more than 7,000 people have been baptized, and they have two satellite campuses. In 1992, they began the Metrolina Christian Academy, which now matriculates 1,477 students in one of the largest K-12 private schools in our State. There is ministry after ministry--to the county jail, a Russian language ministry. Where God undertakes to do His will, it can be in the most unexpected of places. It was related in the church's celebration of Mike's pastorate and his 40th anniversary that, in the early days, Mike would surprise everyone, certainly the men of the church, when he would bid them a farewell by saying: I love you. At first, they were taken aback, but after a time, they began saying to Pastor Whitson: I love you.…”