First Baptist Church of Gowensville has called Bruce M. Schmidt of Tabor City, N.C., as its new pastor. His first Sunday in the pulpit will be Sept. 21.
Pastor Schmidt and his wife Martha were church planters for the International Mission Board missionaries in East Africa for 15 years. He has also served churches in Tennessee, Georgia and Texas.
A graduate of Old Dominion University and Mid-America Baptist Theological Seminary, Pastor Schmidt served as a medic in the 82nd Airborne Division, U. S. Army.
The Schmidts have three children and four grandchildren.

-article submitted
by Ellen Henderson