Meet First Baptist’s Pastor Terry L. Richardson

Pastor Terry L. Richardson, head minister of First Baptist Church, attributes the house of worship’s growth to a number of things. Since he took over the ministry in February of 1997, the church has grown from 75 members to more than 400.

 “I attribute it to God of course,” he says. “But I would say that it was the right timing and the season for this ministry, and being in the right place that God wanted me to be.”

Located at 103 Valley Street, the South Orange church and its ministry have had some challenges. Over the years, there have been programs that weren’t as cohesive as they could have been and a number of pastors have led the congregation. As Richardson puts it, "First Baptist had a ‘revolving pulpit.’"

So to get the congregation and church board on one accord, one of the first things Richardson did was a church assessment. “I wanted to create a mission statement and come up with some pillars that the church could stand on to say this is our foundation and our identity,” he says. “I did a church-wide campaign and involved every member of the church.”

Church members participated in separate group meetings and then one general meeting to distill and assess the data. It was important to Richardson that it was the congregation who identified the areas that needed development. “We ended up realizing that effort needed to be put into inclusiveness, Christ-centeredness and outreach to the community,” he explains. “So we want to be a church in and for the community.”

Richardson explains that there were several ministries that were already in place when he assumed leadership and a few that he introduced. Among those that he created were the youth ministry, a prison ministry, men’s and women’s fellowships, and an additional choir. First Baptist’s other ministries included Sunday School, Wednesday night Bible study, marriage classes, missionary outreach, health, hospitality, and more.

The Call to Ministry

Richardson, who is currently studying to obtain a Doctorate in Urban Ministry at New Brunswick Theological Seminary, was a student at Temple University in Pennsylvania when he received his call to minister.  “Something changed in my life during my junior year,” he says. “At the time, I was obtaining a degree in Business Administration. I was designed to live a life as a Christian. I had no aspirations to go into ministry whatsoever. But this is where I was led.”

Prior to coming to First Baptist, he served as a volunteer Chaplain at Newark’s University of Medicine and Dentistry. Subsequently, he was an Associate Minister, Sunday School teacher and Youth Advisor at Bethel Baptist Church in Westfield. In 1989, he was ordained and served as Interim Pastor at Newark’s Faith Christian Center Church.

Born in Illinois, Richardson’s family moved to the Washington, D.C. area and later to Forestville, MD, where he grew up. It was at Temple where he met his wife, who is from Newark. Upon graduating, the two returned to the Newark area where he began local evangelism work. “I have a compassion for the marginalized and downtrodden,” he says. “Not to say that everyone in urban areas fit that category but it was important to me to help bring God into their lives.”

The Congregation & Church Facility

One of Pastor Richardson’s proudest aspects of the church is its ability to attract members from outside the South Orange area. “In addition to South Orange,” he says, “our members come from Maplewood, Montclair, Brooklyn, and Pennsylvania. It’s as diverse as it’s ever been.”

In addition to continuing to diversify its membership, one of the primary goals for First Baptist is to expand their worship and administrative spaces. The church, he explains, needs additional classroom and meeting space. And because the membership has grown over the past 10 years, they are unable to seat all the members in one service.

 “With our current seating, we can get about 150 people into the sanctuary,” says Richardson. “That’s why we added a second service.  We may have to add a third if we don’t do the expansion.”

The congregation is in the midst of a campaign to raise monies to rebuild church. Although a previous application submitted to the Township was denied, the Pastor went back to the drawing board, toned down the scale of the proposed building, and will soon file a new application. Pastor Richardson is hoping to expand the current building with the hope of preserving some of the building’s more than 100-year-old structure.

“We want to be able to have a facility that will allow for us to better provide service,” he says. “The goal is to be at an elevated level of leadership for ourselves, so that we can help make leaders in the church who feel they are called to serve.”

Richardson, the church’s three assistant pastors, and congregation will continue to develop First Baptist’s ministry. Throughout his tenure, the church has donated $10,000 toward the Tsunami victims in Asia and Africa; $2,000 to Haitian relief; and $10,000 toward the construction of several schools built in Swaziland, Africa. For more information about First Baptist, log on to their web site at www.fbcso.org or visit. 

Schedule of services: Sunday – 8:00am and 11:00am; Sunday school – 9:40am; Wednesday Prayer – 7:00pm.