Pastor Stephen W. Curry came to Oakside as pastor in March of 2005. He previously had been assistant pastor at People's Baptist Church in Greenville, NC and senior pastor at Grace Baptist Church in Gaston, NC for 15 years.

He was born and reared in Monticello, IL and graduated from High School in 1985. He went to Christian School for most of his life and was saved September 12, 1978 in an old fashioned revival meeting. he spent his summers working at Baptist Camp Assurance in Georgetown, IL and it was there that God called him to full time ministry as a junior in High School.

He is a 1991 graduate of Pensacola Christian College. He and his wife, Stephanie, met while students there and were married in August 1988. They have three sons; Timothy, Nathan, and David.

He loved hunting, fishing, and athletics but most of his time is spent pursuing ministry needs and investing his life in others. his heart's desire is to continue the legacy of Biblical truth, Scriptural standards, and warm hearted preaching that Oakside Baptist Church has been known for over the years here in LaGrange.

There has been a resurgence in attendance and excitement since the Lord set him here. There is a spirit of expectancy in every service as to what the Lord will do. Pastor Curry's focus is to "keep the main thing, the main thing" and Oakside is consistently endeavoring to do just that.

Brother Jim Lyons joined our staff in August 2004. He has lived in LaGrange most of his life and was saved at Oakside in July 1997. He served the church as a sunday school teacher and chairman of the deacons before his graduation from Louisiana Baptist College in 2002. He is now our assistant Pastor and oversees our Sunday School and outreach/visitation programs. He also teaches the Gleaner's Radio Bible Class every Sunday morning on WOAK Radio. He and his wife Tracy were married in May 1985 and have three children: Katie, Matt, and Abby.

Rick Varnum is the General Manager of WOAK Radio, owned and operated by Oakside Ministries.

Rick came to Oakside Baptist Church in 1990 with his wife Marcie and his little girl, Holly, as an Assistant Pastor and as Youth Pastor and Director of Youth Ministries. At that time he also taught several High School classes at Oakside Christian School, coached volleyball, and, worked as an engineer to WOAK Radio and the TV Ministry at Oakside. In 1995, Rick took the position of General Manager, while continuing to teach at OCS. Now, he devotes his efforts to the ministry work of radio, concentrating on taking the Gospel of Jesus Christ to a lost world.

Rick accepted Christ as his personal Savior in the sixth grade while living in Colorado Springs, Colorado while attending Rustic Hills Baptist Church with Pastor Dan Burnett. Eventually, Rick attended Cornerstone Christian Academy where he was called to preach in 1978 and was graduated in 1980. He found his wife at Pensacola Christian College and there was graduated in 1984, when he then took a position at Palm Springs Drive Baptist Church in Altamonte Springs, Florida and taught High School at Altamonte Christian School until 1990.

He currently has nine children (all girls) and his oldest, Holly, is now a freshman at West Coast Baptist College in California, with Dr. Paul Chappell.

David Reed grew up in Byron, Michigan, with a love for the outdoors, electronics, and cars. He always felt the call of God on his life, so after finishing high school in 2002, he made his way to Pensacola Christian College where he majored in Evangelism. He spent one summer working and ministering at the Bill Rice Ranch, went on missions trips to New York City, worked in several Bible Clubs, and co-pastored Bible Baptist Church in Spanish Fort, AL, before graduating in 2006. After graduation, he came on staff at Oakside Baptist Church as the Operations Manager for WOAK, and youth pastor of the church. On January 6, 2007, he married the love of his life, and college sweetheart, Noelle, who serves with him in the youth department.

Dan Woltmann, and his wife Melissa, grew up in church and Christian schools. Saved at a young ages, they both saw the Lord work in their lives to bring them together and take them into ministry. Graduates of Pensacola Christian College, Dan in Evangelism and Melissa in Education, their service has taken them to many different areas in ministry: camps, youth work, children's ministry, revival ministry, Bible teaching and ministry counseling. Dan has been saved for over 35 years and has been preaching for over 24 years. Melissa has been saved since 1974 and has served in some aspect of assisting or teaching children for over 20 years. They have one son, Nathan, whom they homeschool.

Hold Fast Ministries is restructured from a ministry of helps to churches, formerly known as HELPS Church Ministries that was founded by Evangelist Dan Woltmann in 2002. Hold Fast Ministry comes from a burden for pastors and ministries that are facing difficult days. Hold Fast Ministry sees that the difficulties that churches are facing today come from a fight against the lies of Satan. More and more people are believing a lie and do not believe in absolute truth. Please contact the church, if you would like to schedule Evangelist Dan Woltmann.

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