Life Verse
23 Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters,
Colossians 3:23 (NIV)
Bio
Jim feels blessed to serve as the Lead Pastor of Bay West Church in Palm Bay, Florida. He first came to First Baptist Church of Melbourne in 2007 as their Minister to Young Adults, but God had other plans. Dr. Larry Bazer asked Jim to launch the Bay West Campus of First Baptist Church of Melbourne in 2009. Later, Jim was honored to continue as Lead Pastor when Bay West launched as an autonomous congregation in 2017.
With a Bachelor of Science in Marketing and Business Administration from Troy State University (1993) and a Master of Divinity in Biblical Languages from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary (2006), Jim strives to use his education to support others in their faith and community efforts.
Married to Katye since 1997, Jim is a thankful husband and father to three wonderful children—Ann Marie, Susanna, and Braden. Ordained in 1996 by Pine Level Baptist Church in Louisville, Alabama, he started his ministry path at Union Baptist Church in Kentucky, working to blend worship styles and support a growing youth group, always relying on the guidance of dedicated volunteers and God’s grace.
Through these roles like Associate Pastor at Sagamore Hill Baptist Church and Communications Pastor at The Church on Rush Creek, Jim served on different church staffs overseeing areas of worship, students, media, storytelling, preaching, young adults, young marrieds, learning from talented teams along the way. As Campus Pastor of the Bay West Campus at First Baptist Church of Melbourne, he was privileged to pioneer the “LOVE the Bay” effort, partnering with the Palm Bay community & local government to seek the peace and prosperity of Palm Bay, based in and inspired by a message Jim once heard preached on Jeremiah 29:5-7, a mission that helped shape Bay West Church.
Outside the church through the years, Jim has been honored to serve on the the Youth Committee of the Northern Kentucky Baptist Association., H.A.R.K. Ministries board (Helping At Risk Kids through Flag Football), led the Church Planting Team of the Brevard Baptist Association, as well as contributubg to WCIF radio ministry by producing the “A Better World” radio show and also writing for Spotlight Magazine.
Theologically conservative, and Biblically based is where Jim is, but he loves to express his faith in creativity and innovation. Jim hopes to continue serving, learning, and walking alongside others in faith and community.
Family is....
a UNIQUE BLESSING. Jim is very lucky to be married for almost 30 years to an amazing woman. An accomplished musician vocally and instrumentally, Katye serves on the worship team at Bay West Church. In addition, Katye currently serves as a local elected official as the School Board representative for district 5. She is currently in her second term. She also serves on the board of The Children’s Hunger Project, volunteers with Junior Achievement and Take Stock In Children.
Ann Marie and Susanna are talented musicians in their own right, vocally and instrumentally. Both girls chose to attend university on scholarship in music. Braden is a talented jazz saxophonist, playing with the jazz band in his high school and locally with other jazz groups and big bands.
If you are looking for the perfect family, keep looking because we are not them. We love. We struggle. We argue. We agree. We fight. We forgive. We test each other’s patience. We bear one another’s burdens. We are made up of artists and musicians, introverts and extroverts, the organized and the free spirits. We are all on our individual journeys of faith at different levels and places, much like a church unto ourselves, but we are always FAMILY.
Ministry is...
ALWAYS ABOUT PEOPLE. For Jim and Katye, the most important thing is to glorify God by helping people from where they are to Jesus. It’s sometimes messy, never easy, and always rewarding. Only a small part of ministry is done on a stage and the impact is always shown in the lives of individuals.
It begins with your life, your personal relationship with Jesus, then moves to how you govern and lead your family, and then to how you effect the lives of others, individual and en masse. “If you aren’t growing to look more like Jesus, you are doing it wrong” is something that Jim says often, stressing the importance of a life lived to honor Christ and everything that we do — vocationally, socially, politically, communally — grown in that soil, fertilized by a commitment to God and His Word, guided by the Holy Spirit.
Jim & Katye believe in discipling young men and women, one on one, whether that is helping a new believer grow toward maturity, a long time believer during a “growth spurt” or mentoring a local student through organizations like Take Stock in Children or Junior Achievement. Whether its a student, a church planter or a local politician, Jim and Katye relish the opportunity use their influence to help people and move people closer to Jesus.
Jim’s vision for a church isn’t an organization of events and programs, but a group of people, each one a disciple maker that can and does share their faith, who personally takes on the responsibility to invest in others individually, each doing their part at some level to achieve the Great Commission. This ideal is something Jim models and expects of his leaders and the members of his congregation, no matter the size. He also realizes that everyone is on a spectrum of growth and that commitment to God, while having some similarities, is expressed in unique ways with every believer.
Theological Beliefs
Jim is a lifelong Southern Baptist and has served exclusively on staff in Souther Baptist church. He agrees with the essentials of the Baptist Faith and Message of 2000. God’s truth is always stable and constant, but personal theology should be forever growing and expanding with the goal of being in perfect alignment with God’s truth. For specific topics, see below. Questions for clarification are encouraged and appreciated.
I believe that God created man to be male and female, and that marriage is the union of one man and one woman in a covenant relationship with God. Gender and sexuality are tied to biological gender. Therefore, according to Scripture, sexuality expressed in conflict with Scripture, like anything else, is sin. I recognize that people may have desires to go against God’s creation, but that is not an excuse to disregard God’s wisdom or a pass to be held responsible for it. Grace and forgiveness is always available with repentance and forgiveness and as long as someone is not dead, God is not done with them.
God calls us to steward what He has given us and to use that for His glory, giving thanks to Him and that includes our gender. There will always be temptations on this Earth to go against God’s will because of sin in the world. Because of sin in us, we will contend with desires to go against God and those, while similar, will be unique and different expressions, but we must choose to follow God’s plan above our own, regardless of the presence of temptation to do otherwise. There is no desire that should be put over obedience in following God. We should love all people, as God defines love, and be sympathetic for people in their temptations, but we must encourage them toward love and good deeds, not to sin.
Genesis 1:27,2:24;Exodus 20:3; Proverbs 3:5-6; Matthew 6:33,19:4-6; Romans 1:18-29,12:2; Galatians 5:16; 2 Timothy 2:22; Hebrews 10:24-25
I believe that the Bible calls us to work within the governmental structures as much as possible and be good citizens, working for the best good for our community, city, state and country. I believe that God calls us to do that, while being obedient to Him. I believe that Christians should pray for their leaders, work to help them as much as they can, vote, pay taxes, obey laws and if called by God, run for or serve in local government.
No government is perfect and no set of laws will bring righteousness, so at times, conscientious objection might be necessary, as we’ve seen modeled in Scripture in cases such as Daniel. In those times, we are to continue to meld an obedient Godly life as we do so.
Romans 13:1-7, 1 Peter 2:13-17,Titus 3:1-2, Daniel 6, Romans 8
Examples of Teaching and Content
A Better World is a daily radio program and mini-podcast talking about different everyday subjects through the Biblical lens of a Christ follower, exploring how life would be if we employed God’s wisdom moment by moment and how that would impact our world.
A Better World
Wisdom Lunch
The WISDOM LUNCH is a live stream lunch on Youtube and Facebook that strives to show how easy it is for anyone to find wisdom and value in God’s word. No prep, no notes, just read and see what God has in store.
From preaching Sundays at Bay West to shorts and everything in between, @baywestchurchpodcasts Is a place to find solid Biblical teaching that is accessible and relevant for every Christ follower.
Bay West Church Podcasts
Want a copy of Jim's resume?
For a printable version of Jim’s resume, you can click here.