Steve Foss singing with the First Baptist Church Sun Lakes choir
Steve Foss
Norm Noble
In August 2022 the pastor of Sun Lakes Baptist Church retired, and thus began the search for his replacement. During an eight-month interim, Pastor Bob Dodridge filled the pulpit. The five-person Pastor Search Committee looked nationwide for God’s man. Then a tiny advertisement they placed on the Southern Baptist Convention website in the Positions Available section caught the eye of a retired pastor’s wife. It said, in part, “We seek a Senior Pastor for the First Baptist Church of Sun Lakes, Arizona. Ours is a senior congregation with an average age of 81. If you wish to be considered, please submit your resume to the Pastor Search Committee.”
She told her husband he should apply. He was resistant. Coming out of retirement was not his plan. They were living comfortably in Anderson, S.C. But she persisted. Moving to Arizona was attractive to her. It would bring them close to their two daughters who lived in the state (Scottsdale and Yuma). Was this part of God’s plan, he mused? So, he contacted the chairman, and thus began a conversation back and forth, resulting in their visit to Sun Lakes and selection by the congregation for Steve Foss to become their new Senior Pastor.
Steve Foss was an Air Force brat, born in Augsburg, Germany, where his father was stationed. Five years later, the family moved to South Carolina. Following high school, he attended Winthrop University, majoring in psychology, and then attended Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, earning a master’s degree in music. His bent was leading Christian music in a church. And, sure enough, for 15 years, he provided leadership in worship to churches in transition where he led their choirs and orchestras and preached. It was called Magnify Him Ministries, through which he did interim preaching at churches in New Mexico, Arizona, and South and North Carolina.
The members of First Baptist Church Sun Lakes invite you to come and hear his unique preaching style.