Presence of Love

Pastor Profile

Todd Ewing splits his time between two jobs: pastor and banker.

Ewing is the pastor at Mountain Springs Fellowship Church in Rogers. He joined the church and began preaching in July 2012, and in the fall, staff members asked him to be a pastor on a more full-time basis, he said. He also works as a financial services representative at Arvest Bank in Bentonville. He has been with Arvest since October 2012.

The church is affiliated with Cooperative Baptist Fellowship, Ewing said, noting some of the church's members "feel like we're refuges from the Southern Baptist Convention." The mission of the church is "to share the Gospel and provide a place of fellowship for Christians that maybe have been rejected by mainstream Christianity and kind-of embrace a different ethos for the people who feel like outsiders but still want to worship," Ewing said.

Ewing has been involved in ministry since he was 18. He moved to Northwest Arkansas from Iowa, and he stayed with his aunt while working at a grocery store. During his time at the store, a woman on the check line talked to him about faith and attending Immanuel Baptist Church.

"I was saved there," he said of the church.

Ewing began to delve into theology and felt a call to the ministry, he said. He became part of the Southern Baptist Convention. He attended Williams Baptist College in Walnut Ridge -- formerly known as Southern Baptist College -- and then went to Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Fort Worth, Texas. He served as department chairman of history at Williams Baptist College and was part of the department for 15 years. He said his departure from Williams was unexpected, and he decided to move to the Northwest Arkansas area because he has family in this region. He was put in touch with Gary O'Neal, head deacon at Mountain Springs, and began preaching at the church. Ewing noted a friend of his worked at Arvest Bank and recommended he try also finding a job at the bank.

Ewing said managing his time between his two vocations can be tough sometimes. He said he sometimes feels he is not giving a full-time focus to the church, noting his job at Arvest demands a lot of time. The church is small with 18 to 20 members attending on a regular basis, and they only meet for one service Sunday morning.

Mark Clinard, who also works at Arvest Bank, was Ewing's roommate at Williams Baptist College. He said in an email Ewing has a very passionate personality. He added Ewing's passions carry over to different spectra of his life.

"Todd not only pastors while holding down a full-time job, but he has made time available for students who are studying here from Asia, who have no family here to connect with," he said.

"Todd is probably harder on himself than any other person when it comes to pastoring, but he is one of the most effective that I have ever seen, simply because of his passion for people and for study," he said.

LEAVING THE SOUTHERN BAPTIST CONVENTION

Ewing said he felt he had to leave the Southern Baptist Convention because of the direction he thought it was taking. Now as part of the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship, he said this group involves many churches that are Baptist in nature but "have left the convention because of its commitment to political agendas that we believe to be inconsistent with the Gospel."

"Now, that's not to say that all Southern Baptists are bad people -- quite the contrary -- but the leadership of the organization seems to be devoted to politics and dogmatism," Ewing said.

The Rev. H.D. McCarty, retired pastor of University Baptist Church in Fayetteville, responded to Ewing's comments. He was pastor at the church for 39 years, retired in 2004 and now runs a ministry called Ventures for Christ. He said every sincere Christian leader is struggling for purity, while, at the same time, fighting his own flaws and deceptions.

"Any organization, regardless of its doctoral for purity, will be contaminated by the sins of men with its errors, mistakes, imbalances and outright disobedience to the essential desires of the Savior. Most of us find ourselves in a structure from childhood that our parents chose for us -- or we have no structure at all. But the true Christ seekers will be rewarded with his blessings and revelations, regardless of what label they wear," McCarty said.

Christian denominations -- whether Catholic, Presbyterian, Methodist, Baptist or Mormon -- "are all just scaffolding used by the believers to build their own vision of the kingdom."

"When we all stand before Christ, our scaffoldings will be torn down, and the reality of what we have really done for him will be revealed, regardless of the label we put on it on Earth," he said. "No matter what a denomination believes, the truth of what they really are is how much cross will Christ find in their living."

McCarty added it is a testimony to the love, grace and patience of God that he tolerates the "bungling partialities of ignorance and arrogance who claim to be his followers. Some do better than others, but the Lord loves us all."

"In the 64 years I have been a follower of Christ, I have seen that the major issue is not what others do, think, believe or lead, but what you yourself do as you face the Lord alone and are obedient to his voice," he said.

McCarty said he did not grow up a Southern Baptist and did not become one until his mid-20s, but "I still consider myself a Christ follower before I promote myself as a Baptist."

"When we move from denomination or from church to church, let's simply hope it's for the right reasons, that the Lord has led you and your motive is to find more of him for yourself while you please and honor his will."

CONNECTING WITH THE CONGREGATION

Ewing visits with members of the congregation for about half an hour before services begin on Sundays.

"It's a good mix of ideas and thoughts," he said.

He also has fellowship time with members outside of church, attending concerts and movies with many of them.

"It's an opportunity to meet with people and connect with them," he said.

Ewing said his favorite part about being in the ministry is "the ability to touch lives."

"One of my biggest frustrations with mainstream Christianity is the fact that we have forsaken the idea of ministry for dogma," he said. "I love being able to connect with people and show them the love of Christ and call them to a better life without judgment."

O'Neal, head deacon of the church, has known Ewing since he started at the church and described him as a well-educated young man, who "has a way of identifying quite well with the people." Ewing has a younger outlook and is very progressive, he said.

Ewing's friend Clinard said Ewing "loves giving to others and imparting what he has learned, without coming across as conceded or brash." Clinard has attended services at the church from time to time and said Mountain Springs Fellowship is a great church of people who love the Lord and want to serve him.

"You can experience the presence of love there. I believe that some of this has to be reflective of the pastor," Clinard said.

NAN Religion on 02/22/2014

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