David O. Dykes

Dr. David O. Dykes (born January 16, 1953) is Pastor Emeritus and the former Senior Pastor of Green Acres Baptist Church in Tyler, Texas.[1] He is also the author of several Christian books. Under his leadership Green Acres became "one of the leading churches in America," according to president of the SBC Executive Committee Morris Chapman.[3]

David O. Dykes
Born (1953-01-16) January 16, 1953
NationalityAmerican
EducationSamford University[1]
OccupationClergyman
SpouseCynthia "Cindy" Dykes[2]
ChildrenTwo daughters[1]
ReligionSouthern Baptist
OrdainedSouthern Baptist Theological Seminary[1]
Congregations served
Green Acres Baptist Church of Tyler, Texas
TitlePastor Emeritus
Websitewww.gabc.org

He has opened the Texas Legislature with prayer[4][5] and opened the US House with prayer in 2008.[6][7]

Dykes was honored by the Southern Baptist Convention Executive Committee with its highest honor, the M.E. Dodd Award, for a lifetime of work.[3]

Early life and education

Dr. Dykes was reared in South Alabama,[1] where he began preaching at age 17.[1] He received a B.A. from Samford University in Birmingham, Alabama in 1975.[1] Rev. Dykes received his Master of Divinity degree from the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Kentucky.[1] He also earned his Doctor of Ministry degree with emphasis on evangelism and church growth from the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary.[1] He received post-doctoral training at Cambridge University in Cambridge, England.[1]

Ministry

Dykes has been preaching since 1970.[1] He pastored churches in Alabama before coming to Green Acres Baptist Church in 1991.[8] Green Acres has roughly 14,000 members.[3] Roughly 6,000 people worship there each Sunday, and about 8,000 people worship there on major Christian holidays.[8] Since he took over as pastor, 2,000 people were baptized at the church.[3]

Green Acres was designated a Global Priority Church by the International Missions Board because of Dr. Dykes's emphasis on missions.[8] The North American Mission Board also designated Green Acres as a Key Church due to Dykes's work partnering with other churches for missions at home and overseas.[8] In the last fourteen years, Green Acres has sent over 1,000 volunteer missionaries[3] to various locations worldwide and has been the church among Southern Baptists with the most given to the Cooperative Program for the last 14 years.[1] He has personally led mission teams to 10 countries,[3] including trips to Ukraine, Mexico, Belize, Brazil, and Argentina. He trains church leaders in the US and around the world each year on biblical principles of leadership.[1] Dykes has led over twenty educational tours to the Holy Land Israel.[1]

He is an enthusiastic supporter of the Cooperative Program.[8] Green Acres is regularly the top contributor to the Cooperative Program. In 2007, they raised $1,445,909, almost a half-million dollars more than the second-place total.[3] The cooperative program has received $10 million since 2000, more than half of the total $18.4 million raised for missions.[3]

In 2009, he hosted the Hope For 100 "If You Were Mine" conference with the goal of encouraging people to adopt and foster care.[9] He is also a supporter of Acquire the Fire's Relentless Pursuit.[10]

In February 2021 Dykes announced his pending retirement from the pulpit, to take place at the end of August, in order to allow a smooth transition to whoever will be the new pastor,[11] something which he mentioned didn't happen when he became pastor.[12] Dr. Michael Gossett became Senior Pastor August 29, 2021.

Politics

Dr. Dykes participated in Pulpit Freedom Sunday, voicing support for Mitt Romney.[13] Dr. Dykes and Congressman Gohmert invited Joel Rosenberg to discuss his book, Damascus Count Down, about the endtimes and the possibility of a foreign-policy mistake by a president leading to war.[14] He takes public political positions that upset some people[13] because of his ties to elected officials in his church, mostly Congressman Louie Gohmert.

He endorsed Tom Leppert for Senate.[15]

Writings

Dr. Dykes has published articles in Moody Monthly, Church Administration and Guideposts.[1] He is the author of eleven books.[1]

Books

  • Handling Life's Disappointments (1993)
  • Do Angels Really Exist?: Separating Fact from Fantasy (1996)
  • Ten Requirements for American's Survival (2004)
  • Character Out of Chaos: Daring to Be a Daniel in Today's World (2005)
  • Angels Really Do Exist (2005)
  • Finding Peace in Your Pain (2008)
  • No, That's Not in the Bible (2009)
  • Revelation: God's Final Word (2010)
  • Jesus Storyteller: Timeless Truths from His Parables (2011)
  • Hope When You Need It Most (2012)

References

  1. "Our Pastor". Gabc.org. Retrieved 2013-06-29.
  2. "GABC Pastor David O. Dykes". Gabc.org. Retrieved 2016-06-24.
  3. "Tyler pastor Dykes receives top cooperation award". Baptiststandard.com. Archived from the original on 2013-06-29. Retrieved 2013-06-29.
  4. "Matt Schaefer | Texas State Representative, District 6". Mattfortexas.org. Archived from the original on 2014-01-11. Retrieved 2013-06-29.
  5. "House Invocation - Rev. David Dykes - May 24, 2013". YouTube. 2013-05-24. Retrieved 2013-06-29.
  6. "Tyler Pastor David Dykes opens Congress in Prayer". YouTube. 2008-09-10. Retrieved 2013-06-29.
  7. "Pastor Dykes gives opening prayer at House of Representatives - KLTV.com-Tyler, Longview, Jacksonville, Texas | ETX News". KLTV.com. 11 September 2008. Retrieved 2013-06-29.
  8. "Pastor: God blesses churches committed to CP Missions - (BP)". Bpnews.net. 2005-04-01. Archived from the original on 2014-01-10. Retrieved 2013-06-29.
  9. "Case Study: Green Acres Bible Church". Hope For 100. 2009-01-03. Archived from the original on 2016-03-04. Retrieved 2013-06-29.
  10. "Endorsements for Teen Mania and Acquire The Fire". Acquirethefire.com. Retrieved 2013-06-29.
  11. "Pastor David's Retirement".
  12. Archived at Ghostarchive and the Wayback Machine: Pastor David's Retirement. YouTube.
  13. "Pastors using the pulpit to preach politics | KETK | East Texas News, Weather and Sports | Tyler, Longview, Jacksonville". Ketknbc.com. Retrieved 2013-06-29.
  14. Sanders, Shaley. "Best-selling author visits ETX for talks on Middle East - KTRE.com | Lufkin and Nacogdoches, Texas". KTRE.com. Archived from the original on 2016-03-04. Retrieved 2013-06-29.
  15. "Christian evangelical leaders endorse Leppert for Senate | Trail Blazers Blog". Trailblazersblog.dallasnews.com. 2012-04-25. Archived from the original on 2016-03-03. Retrieved 2013-06-29.
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