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Spreading the gospel; For the Rooks family, bringing the message is a family endeavor
Spreading the gospel has become something of a family affair for Pastor Paul Rooks and his wife, Shelley, of Grace Tabernacle Baptist Church.
The couple's three children are all actively involved in spreading the message of the Lord, from grown daughter Brittani Garber, an associate pastor and youth director's wife in Wyoming, to their teenage son, Chase Rooks, 19, who currently attends Crown College of the Bible in Powell, Tenn., and is studying to be a missionary, to their youngest, Courtney Rooks, a Fort Scott High School sophomore, who works in a special youth program at Grace called Patch the Pirate.
Rooks said his children have remained proactive in their faith for a number of reasons.
"First off, it's about a faithfulness to God's word and having our kids in church from the time that they could be in church," Rooks said.
He added that trusting nursery workers to teach his children and the Sunday School teachers to instruct them also helped build a strong foundation of faith for his children. He also said that reaffirming what they learned in church at home added to their religious convictions.
"We tried to not force them, but teach them and then they embraced it themselves," Rooks said. "Now they are doing what the Lord wants them to do in their lives, which is very encouraging to us as their parents."
Rooks has shared his philosophy of the importance of a good religious foundation in the home with his congregation, specifically in Patch the Pirate, which encourages youth to continue learning about the Bible, even after they go home from regular church services.
In the program, youngsters are given sashes and may earn merit badges of sorts to put on them as they complete various "homework" assignments.
"We encourage them to read their Bible at home so if they do those and bring them back in and show that they did that over the week, they can get patches for that," Rooks said. "The kids really love it and it is a wonderful opportunity to see children grow with that."
Rooks said the church tries to have presentations at least two or three times a year through the Patch the Pirate program to let people see and hear what the kids are learning about.
"We like the parents to come in and be a part of it at that time and it's been a really neat ministry to see," Rooks said.
"I think we live in a day and age in which the truth of God's word must be proclaimed," Rooks said. "There are a lot of choices that people can make, but I think the most important choice is understanding the truth of God's word and choosing Jesus Christ as our personal savior, because without that, our lives are empty and we don't understand the truth and what God has given to us. I think those are things that are very important."
Rooks, who came to Grace 18 years ago as a youth director, celebrated his 15th anniversary as pastor of the church in August. But Rooks, who was living near Chicago at the time, said moving to Fort Scott was a decision that took a little time and a lot of prayer.
Rooks said he grew up in Georgia and from there went to school at Baptist Bible College in Springfield, where he met Shelley. From there the two moved to Texas for a couple of years and then moved to Illinois.
"While I was there, the associate here at the time called me and asked me if I would come down," Rooks said. "I told him I wasn't really interested in moving again."
Rooks, who had moved his family twice already, was reluctant about another relocation, even at the urging of an old friend.
"He said 'I'm not asking you to move, I'm just asking you to come check us out,'" Rooks said. "We came down and we really liked it, but we were settled where we were and we were very satisfied. He asked us to at least pray about it. I said I could do that so we started praying about it and the more we prayed about it, the more the Lord impressed upon us that this is where he would have us be."
Rooks said they decided to move here and three years later, the previous pastor, Art Collins, retired and approached him to see if he was interested in the pastor's position.
"I knew the Lord had been calling me and moving me toward that in my life and so we did and the rest is history," Rooks said.
He said there have been a few changes in the past 15 years at the church.
"In the church itself, we've made some physical changes, redone the auditorium and upgraded with new carpet in the pews a few years ago," Rooks said. "We have added a bus barn and we still have an active bus ministry that brings people to church."
He said the bus ministry transports about 35 people a week to church on Wednesday nights and Sunday mornings, when attendance runs about 225 people.
Rooks said supporting missionary work is an important facet of the ministry at Grace Baptist.
"We are very heavily into supporting missionaries," Rooks said. "We have a missions conference every year and we try to have at least three missionaries come and be with us for the week. It's kind of like a revival service Wednesday through Sunday."
Rooks said that at one time, the church had more than 100 missionaries or mission projects that it was supporting.
"We also have some churches that we help support, that were started here in the United States," Rooks said. "We have a family right now in Texas that we are supporting that is out of our church."
He said former Fort Scott resident Jeremy Wynn grew up here, but left and went into the ministry and is pastoring at Pinecrest Baptist Church in Kilgore, Texas.
"I think one of the things that has been beneficial to us as a church is a good staff," Rooks said. "And we have a very good staff."
Rooks said he is very grateful to work with Brian Rhoades, his associate pastor and his wife Brandy, who shares secretarial duties with Shelley. He added that Music Director Allen Pruitt has also helped make the church a success.
"He works with our music and just does a phenomenal job," Rooks said. "I'm just very thankful to be part of a wonderful church and to be able to have the privilege of pastoring such a wonderful church and thankful for a wonderful community to be able to live in and minister to. God's been very good to us."