Staff

Dr. Earl Jessup

Dr. Earl Jessup
General Director

Dr. Earl Jessup has been in the ministry for 40 years having started in the ministry as a church planter in Canada.  Dr. Jessup started two churches while serving with BIMI in Canada from 1972 to 1987.  In December 1987, he became the pastor of Kirkfield Park Baptist Church in Winnipeg, Manitoba, where he began the Canadian Church Planting Ministry. CCPM helped in reproducing seven churches in five years under his leadership.

Dr. Jessup basically transplanted his church in other communities, which had no fundamental church. He would do this by holding a week of meetings in the community with the church providing the music, nursery workers, ushers, preaching, and financing.  The meetings were highly advertised and people from the new communities would attend the services.  The new work would be started from a nucleus of people that attended these meetings.

His ministry grew to the place where he could no longer effectively pastor the church and start churches. He chose to resign and expand his ministry in church planting.  In August of 1993, Dr. Jessup founded Baptist Church Planting Ministry and is currently the General Director.  This United States office is based in Apple Valley, Minnesota and is a ministry out of First Baptist Church in Rosemount.  BCPM is a ministry to help local churches reproduce local churches.

Since August 1993, over one hundred thirty churches have been reproduced.  He is now helping other churches do what he did. Many pastors want to plant churches but don’t have the time, finances, or experience to do so.  Dr. Jessup believes planting churches is the fulfillment of the Great Commission.  By following the “Jerusalem Methodology” more churches can start on less money.  The average attendance in the first service of these new churches has been 30 to 40.  The average expense is $5,000 for the start up costs. This depends on the size of the community that is being reached.  These new churches gave over $2,000,000 to missions annually, mostly using Faith Promise giving and these churches have created six times more missions dollars than it has taken to operate BCPM during the same period.  BCPM is now expanding into foreign countries and helping churches take the responsibility of reproducing churches in their countries.

Baptist Church Planting Ministry has helped churches in several other countries.  Churches have been reproduced not only in the United States, and Canada, but also in Australia, France, Scotland, Guatemala, Trinidad and Kenya.  Dr. Jessup believes that the cultural differences between Americans and other countries hinders the successful planting of churches and that fundamental Baptist churches in every country of the world have a much greater opportunity to reproduce successful churches than when churches are planted using pioneer methods.  He has helped men in Scotland and Guatemala develop ministries with the same philosophy as BCPM.  He wants to continue to develop the philosophy of local churches reproducing churches in countries around the world.

In June 2009, Dr. Jessup taught twenty-five sessions on church planting which was taped and a college credit course was developed for Bible colleges, institutes and churches.  The course called “First Century Church Planting” is now available on DVD with a teacher’s manual and student manuals.  Dr. Jessup gives a biblical philosophy of church planting based on the Jerusalem methodology of church planting.  It is available online through BCPM.org.

Dr. Jessup graduated from Piedmont Bible College in 1972 with a ThB. and from Northland Baptist Bible College in 1993 with an MMin. He was honored with a D.D. from FaithWay Baptist College in 1992 for his work in church planting in Canada.

Dr. Jessup is from Beckley, West Virginia and was saved at the age of seven at Mt. Tabor Baptist Church.  He surrendered to the call to preach at 14. His wife, Beth, is from Sumter, South Carolina and was also saved at seven. The Jessups have five children, of whom four are married, and twelve grandchildren.  Dr. Jessup and his wife returned to Canada to live in 2001.  They live in Barrie, Ontario and are members of Heritage Baptist Church where Dr. LeRoy Pennell is the pastor.  Heritage Baptist Church is the home church for Baptist Church Planting Ministry Canada.

Jeremy Rowland

Jeremy Rowland
Assistant Director

Jeremy Rowland was saved at age 18 at Liberty Baptist Church in Sarasota, FL.  The following week he was baptized with the lady who is now his wife, Teresa, and they both immediately began serving in various ministries. They both attended and graduated from Pensacola Christian College in 1996. Jeremy then received a Master of Bible Exposition and Master of Divinity degrees from Pensacola Theological Seminary.

While attending college and seminary, Jeremy served as Associate Pastor at Pine Forest Estates Baptist Church in Pensacola for five years. Some of his responsibilities included soul winning and outreach, children’s director, young couples’ Sunday school teacher, bus director and college intern director.

He then traveled two years for the Bill Rice Ranch as a staff evangelist where he gained experience in traveling and preaching in local churches. It was during this time that God began to burden Jeremy in the area of church planting. With the help of BCPM, he then started a church in North Port, FL where he led the church over seven years to be solid and self supporting before calling in a new pastor in January of 2010. Jeremy’s burden for church planting broadened over the years which, after much prayer and clear leading of the Lord, led him to join the staff of BCPM. Jeremy has been blessed with a lovely wife, Teresa, and three sons:  Caleb, Kyle, and Ryan. The Rowland family travel together in a fifth-wheel trailer and enjoy serving the Lord together.

Loren Steven

Loren Steven
Field Representative

Loren Steven received Christ in 1950 at a youth rally. While attending Pillsbury Baptist College in Owatonna, Minnesota, he was called into the ministry. While pastoring in northern Minnesota he was ordained to the gospel ministry by the Calvary Baptist Church in Pengilly, MN. Brother Steven and his wife have four married daughters. He also attended classes at Central Baptist Theological Seminary while pastoring in the Twin Cities area.

Dr. and Mrs. Steven served the Lord for seventeen years in pastorates in Minnesota. Pastoral experience was gained both in rural and metropolitan areas. Brother Steven also served as the principal of a Christian school for several years while in the pastorate. He also restarted a church that had closed and planted one other church. For four years he served the Lord in itinerate evangelism throughout the upper Midwest.

Dr. Steven has had previous experience at the Bible-college level having served as both a board member and a Bible professor.

The Stevens’ local church experience also includes having led the fourth through sixth grade junior church, taught one of the adult Sunday school classes, and served as a deacon for a number of years among the many areas of service.

Since January of 2000 he has served as the Field Representative of Baptist Church Planting Ministry.  He has taught church planting in numerous Bible institutes and Bible colleges across America. Brother Steven has served as a keynote Bible teacher at numerous faith promise mission conferences. He represents the ministry at Bible conferences, Bible college mission conferences, camp meetings, and pastors’ fellowships

Dr. Jessup has asked Brother Steven to oversee the design, printing, shipping, and delivery of the John/Romans literature for all new church starts if the reproducing pastor so desires.

The Stevens actively keep in touch with the supporting churches of Baptist Church Planting Ministry. They also regularly contact churches the ministry has helped birth, to see if there is other way to be of a help or encouragement.

Bev enjoys encouraging pastor’s wives, especially in rural areas and enjoys scrapbooking and cooking as well as reading. Although these are things she enjoys, she certainly would put at the top of her list the opportunity she has to spoil their nine grandchildren.

Dr. Steven enjoys wood crafts and reading. He recently completed work to receive the Th.D from Salt Lake Baptist College.

Clarence Moore

Clarence Moore
Project Coordinator

Clarence Moore was born and raised in the Northwestern Ontario town of Dryden. At twelve years he accepted Christ as his personal Saviour while attending Camp of the Woods in Dinorwic, Ontario. His family then began attending Emmanuel Baptist Church in Dryden, and he and his brothers were enrolled in Emmanuel Baptist Christian Academy. It was while attending EBCA that Clarence met his wife Leslie. After graduation Clarence entered the work force and obtained licenses in both electrical and carpentry.

Clarence & Leslie were married September 8, 1990, and began serving the Lord together at Emmanuel Baptist Church. Clarence was active in visitation, special music, teaching Sunday School, and also taught in the Christian School. Leslie ran the church music and nursery ministries. They lived in Dryden for nine years and then moved to Brantford, Ontario. It was while living in Brantford that the Lord called them to Bible College.

They moved to Lattimore, N.C. in 2001, and Clarence began attending Ambassador Baptist College. He graduated with a Bachelors Degree in Biblical Studies with majors in Bible and music. While attending Bible college they were members of Emmanuel Baptist Church in King’s Mountain, N.C. pastored by Dr. Charles Surrett. Clarence and Leslie served in the youth ministry and Leslie played piano for choir. Their whole family participated in special music. Clarence’s burden for missions has also taken him to the countries of the Philippines and Spain where he helped lead church work groups in various building projects.

The Lord burdened their hearts concerning the need for Independent Fundamental Churches in Canada and were excited when the door opened to join Baptist Church Planting Ministry. The Moore family began deputation in February of 2008. Clarence will be serving as Canadian Church Plant Coordinator and will also broaden the ministry to include church property advising and development. They are members of Heritage Baptist Church where Dr. LeRoy Pennell is pastor. They are currently serving there in the 50 Plus group.

The Moores have seven children; Emily, Adrianna, Mack, Micah, Caelan, Delaney, and Ethan. The oldest are all home schooled and those old enough to participate in the ministry do so. The whole family enjoys serving the Lord together.

Julia Graves

Julia Graves
Administrative Assistant
USA Office

Julia was raised in a Christian family in Northern Michigan. She was saved at the age of seven after a junior church service. Julia and her twin sister, Andrea, graduated from Ellsworth High School in 1987. She went on to attend Hyles-Anderson College, graduating with an elementary education teaching degree in 1991. After graduation, she married Charlie  Graves, and soon they went into a teaching ministry together. After teaching junior high for a year at Eastwood Baptist Church in Murray, Kentucky, Julia, her husband and their daughter moved to Minnesota in 1994. Over the last fifteen years in Rosemount, they have added five more children to their family.

Besides being a full-time mom, Julia works part-time at Homewood Suites Hilton by the Mall of America as an auditor for the past nine years, as well as fulfilling the secretarial needs for the United States branch of BCPM since August 2004.

She currently heads up the beginner church department at First Baptist Church and has been doing so for twelve years. She is a youth director’s wife and enjoys being a ladies’ conference speaker. The “Comfort Food” ministry (providing meals for those in need) is also a project Julia appreciates coordinating, as well as playing her flute in the church orchestra.

Julia loves to play Canasta and spends time reading when she is able. Her greatest desire is for her and her husband to see their children grow up to serve the Lord.

Leslie Moore

Leslie Moore Administrative Assistant, Canadian Office

Leslie was born in Toronto, Ontario and was raised in Pickle Lake as well as Dryden, Ontario. She was led to the Lord by her mother at the age of eight. Her parents were led to the Lord by Dr. Jessup in the first church he started in Pickle Lake, Ontario.

She married Clarence Moore on September 8, 1990, and they began serving the Lord together at Emmanuel Baptist Church in Dryden, Ontario. Leslie ran the church music and nursery ministries. She also worked as a secretary for an electrical company before the Lord blessed them with their first child. They lived in Dryden for nine years and then moved to Brantford, Ontario. It was while living in Brantford that the Lord called them to Bible college.

They moved to Lattimore, N.C. in 2001, and Clarence began attending Ambassador Baptist College. While attending Bible college they were members of Emmanuel Baptist Church in King’s Mountain, N.C. pastored by Dr. Charles Surrett. Leslie served in the youth ministry along with her husband and played piano for choir. They returned to Canada in February 2008 to work with Baptist Church Planting Ministry.

The Moore’s have seven children and Leslie home schools the oldest five. They enjoy the flexibility this gives them to travel in the ministry.