By EMILY REED / Special to the Reporter

ALABASTER – Alabaster’s Siluria Baptist Church recently named Gardner Fish as interim student pastor.

Fish, a 2013 graduate of Pelham High School has been working with the church for the last several  weeks, and looks forward to his time with the students.

“I have really enjoyed things so far,” Fish, 22, said. “We have a core group of about 10-15 students and we are focusing on investing in them, and then we plan to start focusing on outreach and growth in the coming months.”

Fish is currently in the undergraduate program of The New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary’s Birmingham extension.

After graduating in spring of 2018, Fish plans to pursue a Master’s of Divinity, and continue his work in the ministry.

“God has called me to preach and to share the Gospel, and I know he is preparing me for some sort of pastoral ministries,” Fish said. “I know that right now God has called me to youth ministry, and that is something I really enjoy so I am blessed to have the opportunity.”

Fish said one of the biggest challenges currently facing youth is a lack of Biblical knowledge.

“When you talk to older individuals they know about the Bible, but there is a lot of youth that have not heard the Gospel, or they do not know the Bible, so you really have to focus on going back to the basics,” Fish said. “Another challenge is our culture is so opposite these days to what the Bible teaches so things do not make sense sometimes for our youth. When you try and explain what the Bible teaches as opposed to what our culture is doing, it can be a big challenge.”

Siluria Baptist Church Pastor Michael Brooks said he has enjoyed having Fish join the church staff, and people in the church have grown to love and appreciate him.

“He commands respect with the youth, and he is very impressive and confident,” Brooks said. “We really want the ministry to grow, and are excited to see what he does in that area.”

After attending college for a couple of years in Massachusetts, and spending a short time in Minnesota, Fish said he is happy to be back in Alabama where he has roots.

“It is good to be home, and working in an area I am familiar with, and grew up near,” Fish said. “I live about 12 minutes from the church, so I can pop over whenever I need to, and I know a lot of the stuff that we can do around here. It has been a blessing for sure, and I am really glad to be back home.”

Fish said the youth meet every Wednesday at the church from 6:30 p.m. to 7 p.m., and anyone interested in attending the youth meetings that live in the surrounding area can be given a ride to the church.

For more information about Siluria Baptist Church, visit www.siluriabaptist.com or visit Siluria Baptist Church on Facebook, or by calling 663-7904.

The church is located at 10696 Highway 119 South in Alabaster.