DOUG RUTT

Pastor Teacher

     Had you asked me about where I would serve in ministry when I graduated from Columbia International University in 1986, I would have said “I will never serve in the church. I will never teach adults, and I will never be a pastor.” God obviously had other plans! I am glad He did.

    I was raised in Lancaster, PA and placed faith in Jesus to be my Savior at the early age of ten. Although I knew Jesus had saved me for heaven, I struggled greatly with trying to live as a Christ follower. I just wasn’t very good at it – at least not for very long! Then in High School I heard a man say that “The Christian life isn’t difficult – it is impossible.” That had certainly been my experience, but God graciously opened my eyes to Galatians 2:20:  "I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me." 

    The reality that Jesus had wrapped Himself in my humanity and that He was living in me completely changed my understanding of the Christian life. I was no longer left to my best efforts of pleasing God, but was learning to live by faith and acknowledge my utter inadequacy but His complete adequacy so that my role was to present my body to be an instrument in and through which He lived His life. Some people call this truth the Exchanged Life; it certainly changed mine.

    I attended Ravencrest Bible School in Estes Park, CO and then went to CIU for additional Bible and ministry training. While at CIU, I not only received excellent training in Bible Teaching, but God also opened my eyes and heart to world missions.

    After CIU, Jackie and I were married and immediately moved to Jacksonville, where I spent 3 years teaching Bible to middle school students at Grace Christian Academy. We began attending CFC in 1987, joined the staff team as Youth Pastor in 1989 and the elders invited me to serve as Pastor-Teacher in 1998.

 Since coming to CFC God has blessed Jackie and me with six children and in 2015 we joyfully entered into the new world of being grandparents! The Chapel has been an awesome place to raise our family. Away from CFC I enjoy fishing, tennis and almost anything competitive with family and friends.