Our Pastor

My name is Richard (Ricky) Downing and as of 07-28-24, I am the new pastor of Central Baptist Church, and I would like to share some information with you about myself and my family. I was born in Jacksonville Florida in 1980. I moved with my parents to Cross City, FL in 1993 and have lived here since then. I have been married to my beautiful wife Crystal for 21 years and we have several children. I say “several” because through the years we have taken in children within our family due to circumstances beyond their control and raised them as our own (a total of 9). Two of those are still in close proximity to us and the church and attend with us now.

I was raised in church, and after making professions of faith in my childhood, there was no biblical evidence of salvation in my life. At the age of 23, just before me and my wife were married, God through the drawing of The Holy Spirit brought me to salvation in Christ. I repented of my sin and put my full trust in him the moment he opened my spiritual eyes to see the truth of his gospel. Just like any other born again believer, I have not been delivered from the presence of sin, but praise God I have been delivered from the consequence of it. God changed my entire life on that day.

My goal is to live a life that is pleasing to God. I believe that we are to strive to live a life that is holy (1Peter 1:15-16) and acceptable to him, in accordance with his word. I believe the scriptures are God’s will in written form and it is sufficient for the solutions in every situation, no matter what. I believe God’s Holy scripture is without error. I believe born again believer’s show proof of salvation in their
works (Matt. 7:16). I also believe that God works within our lives in a process known as “Sanctification” in order to mold and make us into a vessel pleasing to him.

I preach from the King James version as my personal preference. As a pastor friend of mine says, “I am not old, I am just old fashioned.” I believe our God is omniscient, omnipotent, and omnipresent. Because of this, in spite of the fuss people make about small changes and additions made to scripture for the purpose of understanding, I serve a God big enough to preserve the message within his word. I believe what is there is what he meant to be there, otherwise it would be different. I believe God is sovereign and through his divine providence he works in the lives of people to accomplish his will.

My goal as pastor of Central Baptist Church of Cross City is to preach and teach the word of God as it is written. My goal as shepherd of this flock is to attend to the spiritual growth and development of everyone who attends here and to see a new and vibrant group of worshippers come to exist through a personal relationship with Christ. With that being said, I am an open person. If you have any questions or concerns feel free to reach out to me and I will do my best to provide an answer to you. Come to Central Baptist Church and see what God is doing!

Thank you and God Bless.