Learn more about Pastor Warren Kesselring
I’ll start with some basics. I am married to Athena and we have five children ranging from eight to eighteen (Simon, Oliver, Amelia, Emmett, & Fynn). I’m a web developer by trade but trained for vocational ministry before finding my current field.
In 2 Tim 3:14-15, Paul reminds Timothy of his spiritual heritage, that “from childhood you have been acquainted with the sacred writings, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus.” Like Timothy, I was raised in a godly family & taught the Scriptures from a young age. I was a conscientious kid and an AWANA superstar, but I was godless. I lived my life in my strength for my glory with little thought of my Creator.
All this changed at fourteen. Through the example of a friend, I realized I did not know God or his power in my life. I started to read the Bible and pray for the first time. As I came to know the Savior, I went from “having no hope and without God in the world” (Eph 2:12) to passionately celebrating God’s grace through his Son, Jesus.
This was also my original call to ministry. I had grown up in solidly Evangelical churches my whole life – and I had never heard this! It seemed to me that God was little more than a part of our worldview, the source of our existence and morality. Somebody had to tell the church about Jesus. Somebody had to preach the Word.
Graduating high school in 2000, I started a Bible degree at Missouri Baptist University. While in college, a friend brought me to Rockport Baptist Church, where I served as a youth leader and summer missionary for three years.
When I moved to Kentucky to study at the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, God led me to Immanuel Baptist Church, an urban replant used significantly to shape my understanding of ministry and church life. At Immanuel, I served as a deacon and small group leader and met my beautiful bride, Athena.
As our family quickly grew, my studies slowed. God opened opportunities in management and marketing, providing for us as I finished my M.Div. and started looking for a pastorate.
In 2014, God provided an opportunity to move home, taking a web developer position with a St. Charles company and ministering alongside a pastor friend. Needing respite at the end of that season, we returned home to Rockport in 2019 and have sought to serve our church family with the gifts God has given. In March 2023, I was added as a pastor at Rockport.
