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New pastor brings excitement
Carl Ford has been attending Shiloh Baptist Church for 30 years. For most of that time, he thought of church the way many people probably do, as another community obligation, as something you attend but maybe don't think about much.
These days, Ford is a little different. When he talks about church, he grins the whole time.
“It's not like it used to be ... even the kids are excited to be at church now,” Ford said.
Ford is standing in a room full of people laughing and grinning just like him in the basement of Shiloh Baptist. It's supposed to be a Bible study, but it feels more like the green room of a game show where everybody is going to win a prize.
So, who or what turns a Bible study class giddy? His name is Dr. Robert Cheeks, and he is Shiloh Baptist's new pastor.
“Wow, wow. The relationship we build in here goes beyond these walls. McLean will never be the same,” says an emotional Cheeks after the class.
Cheeks has been the pastor-elect at Shiloh since November, but he was officially installed at a ceremony last weekend.
Shiloh has been searching for a pastor to replace the retired Rev. Carson Wise for two years before finding Cheeks, which might explain some of their excitement.
But not all of it.
“I have never quoted a pastor, but I quote you all the time,” said Rhonda Sutton, a younger member of the congregation. “He wakes you up,” said another parishioner.
“I never got the scripture before like I do with Rev. Cheeks,” Ford said.
Cheeks, 35, says he doesn't do anything different than any other Baptist preacher, but modesty goes with the uniform. In his sermons, Cheeks uses a narrative style, which he describes as starting with the characters in the Bible and working his way to the message the passages are communicating. He may also have a secret weapon in winning a crowd over: Long before he took up the ministry, Cheeks was a stand-up comedian.
“I usually start with some humor,” he admitted.
“I try to be down to earth, I don't want people to be uncomfortable around me because I'm the pastor,” Cheeks said.
Cheeks came to Shiloh from a long stint as an assistant pastor at a large church in Arlington. Some members of the Arlington congregation have joined Shiloh Baptist because of Cheeks, even though this is his first job as a full pastor.
“I hope it's my last job, too,” said Cheeks. “I want to work here the rest of my life.”
email the reporter at mtayloe@timespapers.com
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