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| G. DOUG RIPLEY - SENIOR PASTOR |
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31 Day Pastorial Prayer Guide
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Decatur Baptist Church is an exciting and growing purpose-driven church with a mission. This caring church family of believers has a burden for people, a vision for the future and a plan of action with clear, concise goals. All of this and more are the result of God's sovereign choice to bless DBC, their love and commitment to missions and the leadership of the church's senior pastor, Dr. G. Douglas Ripley. |
| Doug was raised in Greenville, TN. His Grandmother Shelton had a tremendous influence on his early years. She was a Methodist and enouraged him to attend church with her by asking him to "drive" her to church. His brother, Jerry, led him to the Lord on January 1, 1970 by reading to him a sermon from "Sword of the Lord" concerning hell. Bro. Doug said, "The sermon scared me into heaven."
Bro. Doug and Katy were married in 1972. They have two children. Their daughter Jessica Higdon lives in Decatur with her husband Dusty and their three daughters. Kyleigh (6), Keatyn (1) and new born Kinsley. They also have a grandson, Devin, the son of Jeremy, who went to be with the Lord August 2, 2004. |
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Before becoming the pastor at Decatur Baptist, Bro. Doug pastored the Open Door Baptist Church in Morristown, Tennessee. The church grew from 16 to over 500 in attendance during his 12 years as pastor.
When Bro. Doug came to Decatur Baptist Church in December 1985, attendance was averaging 225 on Sunday mornings. The present membership is 1,900 with over 1,000 in attendance. The church relocated in 1988 on a 25-acre campus where we are today. In the area of missions, we have increased from $30,000.00 to over $800,000.00 last year. The church supports 244 missionaries. This growth is attributed to a love for missions, Biblical discipleship, and lay ministry leadership. |
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