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Pastors of Tulare First Baptist Church
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Church Historian, Steve Presant.

	Rev. Ambrose W. Webb 1887-1890		Rev. J. H. Storms 1890-1893
	Rev. J. M. Patterson 1893-1894		Rev. C. M. Robinson 1894-1895
	Rev. M. G. Bradley  1895-1897		Rev. Jesse M. Green    1897-1900
	Rev. S. S. Fisk  1901-1905		Rev. F. A Houston    1906-1911
	Rev. J. G. Russell 1912		Rev. F. C. Lovett 1913-1917
	Rev. F. I Drexler  1917-1920		Rev. O. D. McClung    1920-1925
	Rev. C. Aaron King   1925-1927		Rev. J. Franklin Day   1928
	Rev. Guy W. Jones  1929-1931		Rev. Charles Woessner  1931-1934
	Rev. R. D. Licklider     1934-1941		Rev. Dorland Dryer 1941-1943
Rev. William Jackson, 1943-1951     William Jackson Sr. was born on November 3, 1888, in the County of Carroll in Kentucky. He was the youngest of thirteen children, of which six were boys, and seven were girls. These have all passed on except one brother now living in Newport, Kentucky. The entire family with my parents were devoted Christians and all belonged to the Jordan Baptist Church, once nationally known among Baptists, for the remarkable cure of Elizabeth Jacobson, a cousin. Early in life Bill Jackson felt the call of the ministry but fought the call for some time. After entering the business world and becoming assistant manager and decorator of a department store in Cincinnati, Ohio, he felt the call of God again and this time he accepted it. While in the Baptist Theological Seminary it was his privilege to study under the great teachers and scholars Drs. Mullend, Robertson and Sampey. Brother Jackson says (and we quote), "God has been kind to me in the ministry. I have served as pastor in five states and my present one in Tulare, California has surely been a most pleasant and happy one. My hobbies have been finding the greatest joy in trying to play the game "Follow the leader" with Jesus the leader. The height of my joy is to help someone. The diversion from this work has been my keen interest with and for my young people. My other outside pleasures have been to own a good gun and hunt big game in the wildest regions. It has been my pleasure to kill deer, elk, and a bear. However, I would not exchange my 37 years in the Ministry for a million". He next pastured at Livermore First Baptist, retiring from that position 2 ½ years later. Rev. Jackson moved to the San Jose in the final years of his life and passed away there in 1961.
Doctor C. G. Emmanuel, 1951-1952
Rev. Otis L. Preddy, 1952-1964 Rev. Preddy was born in Kentucky but reared in California, attending public schools in San Jose and Merced, California, where he was graduated from high school. The next school of his choice was the Bible Institute of Los Angeles. After graduation from the Bible Institute, he and Mrs. Preddy were married, and they both re-enrolled at Des Moines University for one year. Following Des Moines, they went to Wheaton College where she attended for two years and he graduated in 1933 with the Bachelor of Science degree. Eastern Baptist in Philadelphia was the seminary from which he was graduated in 1939 with Bachelor of Theology degree. He was ordained to the gospel ministry in 1939 in the First Baptist Church of Pleasantville, New Jersey. He pastured two churches in New Jersey: First Baptist of Pleasantville for nine years and First Baptist of Jersey City for four years. There were also been two pastorates in California: Fairmont Baptist of San Diego for six years and Tulare First Baptist for almost ten years. During these pastorates he was also been a teacher in the Atlantic City (New Jersey) Bible Institute, the San Diego School of the Bible, and the Linda Vista Baptist College, as well as holding various offices in the Baptist denomination and taking part in community life. The Preddys had three children and grandchildren, his son Don and family lived in San Diego and Lois and her husband live in Ventura and are active members of the First Baptist Church of Ventura. Reverend Preddy retired to the San Diego area for health reasons after pastoring in Tulare and passed away there in 1982.
Rev. Robert Libby, 1964-1967     I was born November 6, 1937 in Los Angles and grew up in the Glendale area. Started college studies at U.C.L.A.: Major in engineering. Finished undergraduate education at Biola University: B. A. in religious and philosophical studies in June 1960, and valedictorian of my graduating class. Continued studies at Fuller Theological Seminary in Pasadena: Received Master of Divinity degree June 1963. Immediately after seminary I began my work at Tulare as Youth Minister. Soon after my arrival, Pastor Preddy developed a disabling heart problem and I filled in for him for a few months. After It became evident that Rev. Preddy could not return to his duties, the congregation called me as Sr. Pastor and I served through October 1967. After leaving Tulare I chose a different direction for my life. I returned to school at CSU Fresno and was awarded a Master of Social Work degree in June 1969. After the proper internship I passed the State Examination to become a Licensed Clinical Social Worker. For three years I worked with troubled children and their families at the Valley Children's Hospital Child Guidance Clinic. In 1973 I began work at the Fresno County Department of Mental Health. After continuing with clinical work at the county for a few months, I moved on to supervision and later, administration of mental health treatment programs. My last position was that of System Director for Fresno County's 24-Hour Care mental health treatment programs. My wife is Patricia Beth Libby. Pat and I have been happily retired in Fresno since early 1991. Between us, we have four children, six grandchildren and several step grandchildren. We enjoy traveling, sailing, gardening, reading, the nearby Sierra, friends and family. Our most exotic traveling has been in China. We have just returned from the South Pacific after visiting Australia, New Zealand, and Fiji.
Rev. Richard O. Brock, 1967-1975   Richard Brock was raised in Dinuba and accepted Christ and a call to ministry at the First Baptist Church there. He graduated from Lavern University with a BA and from American Baptist Seminary of the West in Covina, CA with his MA. He did his D.Min. studies at Fuller Theological Seminary in Pasadena. Richard served three American Baptist Churches. His first Church was at First Baptist Church in New Plymouth, Idaho where he was pastor for three years and then served a little more than nine years at Tulare First Baptist Church as Pastor. He then served Seventeen years as Pastor at Church of the Foothills in San Jose, CA. He left Church of the Foothills to go on the staff of American Baptist Churches of the West (ABCW) where he served as an Area Minister and Church Consultant. He retired from full time service in June of 2001. Since his retirement he works part time as a consultant with ABCW working in the areas of recruitment of pastors, working with search committees and heading up the interim ministry core.
Rev. Ray Dugger, 1976
Rev. J. Vern Thompson, 1976-1987   John Vernon was born January 3, 1922 in Louisville, Kentucky. His family moved to Missiouri, and later settled in Los Angeles where he grew up. In 1947 Vern married Joan and while living in Orange County, had two children, Robert and Jan. It was while living in Anaheim that they felt God was calling them into the ministry. He joined the staff at Anaheim First Baptist for the next five years and from there they were called to the Menlo Park First Baptist Church as Associate for the next 4 years. In 1962 Vern was called to the Sunnyvale First Baptist Church as associate so that when Pastor Fred Halliwell left, Vern became the Senior Pastor there. It was in 1976 that God called Pastor Vern to come to Tulare and serve the next eleven years as Senior Pastor. It was a glorious and good time in serving the Lord, and another learning process that has had a lasting influence on his life. It was also Vern's special privelage to work with the Building Committee at that time on plans for the construction of the present worship center. After retirement in 1987 Pastor Vern and Joan served our Lord through Interim Minsitry for the next ten years. Today Vern is still active as a Pastor in our seniors ministry. His son Robert is in his 21st year as Pastor of the Lake Street Church (American Baptist) in Evanston, Illionois, daughter Jan and her husband Jay are both veterinarians in Massachusetts. Pastor Vern says "What a blessed privilege to be in ministry for the Lord Jesus Christ. Again how truly thankful the Thompsons have been to have had the opportunity to be a part of the greatest enterprise in the world."
Doctor Robert Medcalf, 1989-present  God has led me on an incredible spiritual journey. I was blessed with parents who had me in the Church Nursery from the start of my life. I asked Jesus to come into my life and be my personal Savior when I was nine. At age 16 God began to impress on my heart His call to serve Him in pastoral ministry. My high school sweetheart, Judy, became my partner in ministry even then as we sang together and spoke at Church, Youth For Christ and the Mission where her father was Superintendent. My formal training and equipping for ministry came at Baylor University, B.A. and Fuller Theological Seminary M. Div. & D. Min. I have been privileged to pastor growing churches in Indianapolis, IN., Menlo Park, CA and now in Tulare, where I was called to serve in 1989. I have had specialized ministries serving as Chaplain to Indianapolis Fire Department, Atherton Police Department & currently the Tulare Police Department. My hobbies are sports (participating and as a fan) and music (singing and playing the ukulele). The new joy in my life is being a grandparent to the two greatest grandchildren in the world (no bias, of course). Our three adult children and daughter-in-law are all actively serving the Lord. I feel so blessed to be able to shepherd the flock God has given me and to share with them the rich treasures from God's Word that can make such a positive difference in our daily lives. I would welcome the opportunity to share with you what God is doing here at Tulare First Baptist with the prayer that He might enrich and strengthen you through our ministry.