By Ruth Ann Ruiz
The Post Newspaper Features Editor
Raise your hand if you have ever sat through a sermon covering the “Mark of the Beast” (also known as “666”) and walked out terrified not knowing if you would be able to buy yourself a loaf of bread or a gallon of milk.
Imagine a pastor who takes his flock down a gentle path through the predictions found in the book of Revelation. Imagine a pastor who uses visual aids with bright colors to create a sense of comfort in his parishioners.
It’s hard to believe anyone could teach about the “Mark of the Beast” and not insight fear. But Pastor Chris Bower at West Isle Presbyterian Church in Galveston led his flock through the treacherous subject and did not bring out fear. Nor was there any call to action for the worshipers to change the world.
He ended his message reminding the people that God has a plan, though Satan will use destruction and deceit, God is in charge. He closed the message by leading his congregation in singing, “A Mighty Fortress Is Our God.”
His success as a pastor starts with his listening skills. He doesn’t just pretend to listen, he really listens to the people he serves. He listens and responds with the same gentle voice one hears from his pulpit.
Pastor Chris, born in Jackson, Mississippi, was not raised Presbyterian. He was raised as a Baptist. But going off to college, he found that there was something missing in his religious upbringing. He began to search out options beyond his childhood experiences. Kind of like Goldilocks, Pastor Chris tried on different churches/denominations till he found one that fit him just right.
Basically, Pastor Chris is a self-described boy next door kind of person and always has been. His peers called him a geek and a nerd. He grew up going to church, sang in the choir and loved it. His first solo music performance left him so nervous he was shaking all the way through the song.
His greatest act of rebellion was seeking out a denomination outside of the Baptist faith.
He attended Delta State University, which he says at the time he attended was the smallest public college in all of Mississippi. His intent as a college student was to one day become a Christian recording artist. (side note: his college is still a small college close to the size of an urban high school)
After college, he moved to Nashville because after all that is where the great Christian recording artists are recording. But music wasn’t what the Lord had called him to do. He felt God’s voice speaking to him reminding him how God had used people throughout the Bible in great ways though they seemed to be weak.
“I never thought in a million years I’d be a public speaker. But God was saying ‘don’t worry about if you can do it, I’ll do it.’ So, I knew I was being called to preach” shared Pastor Chris.
The next day, he called the seminary in Jackson and thus began his journey to becoming an ordained minister. “The first year at seminary, I learned how much I didn’t know and how much I needed to learn,” shared Pastor Chris.
Most of his years as a minister, he has served planting new churches or revitalizing churches that were failing. God’s path for him has taken him across the pond to Ireland and down to Mexico. He has been a pastor in nine US states.
While he was a minister in Alaska, Texas came a calling. He was spotted at a conference in Houston and asked to consider the position at West Isle. In the peak of the pandemic, he delivered a sermon that assured the members he was the minister for their church.
By September 2020, he and his family were loading up their things and moving to live on an island off the coast of Texas.
Though he seems to be a gentle leader, he is a rugged individual willing to take on any task that is in front of him. With inflation taking a bite out of his family budget and out of his congregation’s budget, Pastor Chris began looking for additional employment. It just so happened that a member of his congregation was looking for a part-time worker.
Pastor Chris is now in the pest and critter control industry. He sits back and has a swagger to him as he talks about catching about 15 possums and 12-14 raccoons last fall. Maybe, just maybe, his most rebellious act will be that of becoming an expert in pest control on a semi-tropical island.
Though he is learning how to chase down the critters on the island, he does not plan to make it his full-time career. “I’m called to full-time ministry. I knew that working with Hal and DJ Newsom, they would understand my priorities,” said Pastor Chris.
He is working seven days a week, but he is good with where he is at and the opportunity that he has. “I really do believe God provided this opportunity,” said the man who gently leads his congregation through terrifying scripture passages.
