Staff « Central Baptist Church, Owasso

Dr. Scott A. Carlson

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Which famous person would play you in a movie?
Red Skelton

What is your most embarrassing moment?
If I knew better I wouldn’t answer this question but since I don’t… Several years ago I went to a conference with my wife that was 95% women in attendance. About 10,000 ladies were there. I had gone to the restroom and believed that it was the men’s room. At least I was fairly confident of that fact when I entered. A few minutes later three giggling women came in. I thought I was in big trouble. Scared out of my mind I froze. After a few moments they realized they were in the wrong bathroom and ran out screaming.

What are your pet peeves?
I would say having to breathe in other people’s cigarette smoke and people who follow too closely on the highway.

What is your favorite movie and why?
This will come as no surprise. Heidi………….not. Is there a better movie than Rocky? I would have to include Rocky II, III, IV, not V, but most definitely VI. I am waiting for Rocky VII. He shows that you can’t count out an underdog.

What would you like to ask God when you get to heaven?
Can we go for a walk?

If you could time travel, where would you go and why?
I don’t know if I would really like to see the crucifixion of my Lord but I would love to have watched Jesus interact with his disciples. Especially between Peter, James and John. I would have also liked to walk with Joshua. Very interesting General.

What is your favorite food/restaurant?
Anything Barbeque

What are your hobbies/interests?
Tennis, Snow Skiing, Movies, Attending and watching College football and basketball and most things outside. I will try most things at least once.

Who first introduced you to Jesus Christ?
Mark Case & Scott Garner

Who most influenced your walk with Christ and why?
Scott Garner, James Reeves, Gene Sanders, (former youth pastors when I was a teenager) Howard Geis (former Music Minister while I was a teenager) and Alfred Fedelleck. The first four men were there to each play a role in calling me to Christ and showing me how to follow Christ. Alfred taught me to pray and the importance of prayer by his passionate pursuit of God through prayer. He was a constant encourager.

Please tell us about your family.
I married my best friend 26 years ago. Sarah is the love of my life and my soul mate. God has blessed us with three children that we love with all of our hearts: Alaina (24), Nathan (22), & Rachel (21). Each of them are uniquely different. God has proven to us that He can make three opposites.

Please tell us about your call to Central.
God has always made it clear in each ministry move that I have made. Coming to Central is no exception. To make a very long story short, God used the health of my grandmother to put me in a position to even be open to leave the church I pastored in Northern Missouri and one thing led to another and poof…Here I am. We have been at Central since June 1, 2006.

Please tell us about your upbringing.
Here is the skinny. I grew up on a farm west of Enid, OK from 1962-1969. My brother and I moved to Hobart, Oklahoma with our parents on Thanksgiving of 1969. My parents divorced in the early 70’s. I lived with my mom until I graduated high school in 1980. I have tremendous respect for single parent families and the love that the church must show them if we desire to reach them.

If you couldn’t do what you are doing now, what would you do?
Something that interacts with children.

What do you love the most about your job?
I get to work every day with God’s people.

Please share your salvation experience in how you came to Christ.
My parents divorced when I was in fifth grade. I was surrounded by alcoholism, depression, family conflict, and abuse throughout my childhood and early teenage years. I struggled greatly with trust and with believing that God really did love me. I didn’t trust religion because I thought, “Why would God allow all the heartache to take place while I was a kid.”

Through some friends I was encouraged to give God a chance through a personal relationship with His son Jesus Christ. It was hard at first to open my heart, but because of the loneliness inside and the growing awareness that there had to be more, I opened my heart by asking Jesus Christ to forgive me of my sins and to enter my life as my personal Lord and Savior. It was on June 1st, 1979 that I asked the God of the universe to forgive me and make me His son. I have never regretted that decision.

God turned my world upside down. I’m far from perfect and have “blown it” often, but God has never left me. He has been my constant friend and Lord, through the good and bad times. If you’re searching for something more and tired of carrying the load of life by yourself, I encourage you to give Jesus Christ a try. Ask Him to be your Savior and forgive your sins. Ask Him to reserve a place in heaven. Ask Him to help you live your life for Him. Just ask Him.

Please share your call to the ministry.
It is really difficult for me to separate my salvation experience and ministry call. When I gave my heart to the Lord I gave all of me to Him. It was almost as if a few years earlier God had whispered in my ear, “One day you are going to know me and you will serve me as well.” I didn’t struggle with my call. Day by day the Lord showed me that he wanted me preaching His gospel and being a pastor was the role he set aside for me. I do not consider my calling to be any more or less important than any other call on God’s child. Each of us is to be obedient with the talents and calling He has given us.

Kevin Laufer

Family & Senior Adult Pastor
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What are your pet peeves?
Questions (I am a man)

What is your favorite movie and why?
It’s A Wonderful Life. I relate to George Bailey.

Who is your favorite author?
Tony Campolo and the guy who writes the Far Side

What super power would you like to have and why?
I want to fly…. Duh!

What are the must-have items in your refrigerator/pantry?
Cold water or diet drinks. Pantry: Gluten free snacks

If you could time travel, where would you go and why?
The old west. I want to carry a six-shooter!

What did you want to be when you were 6 years old?
The Lone Ranger or John Wayne

What is your favorite food/restaurant?
Mexican … Baja Jacks is awesome

What are your hobbies/interests?
Shooting guns!

Who first introduced you to Jesus Christ?
My parents and extended family

Who most influenced your walk with Christ and why?
My dad and my youth pastor Mike Duncan. Both were men I wanted to be because they were real and put up no pretenses.

Please tell us about your family.
I’m married to Kendra. My children are Hanna, Molly, and Kara, and my dog is Honey Bun.

Please tell us about your call to Central.
I was at a church for 10 years and I spent a year struggling with coming to Central. After we came to Central in April of 2003 I knew that God blessed us by putting us in the family known as Central Baptist Church. I have said and make no apologies by saying that Central is for me and my family the most like extended family we have experienced in over 20 years.

Please tell us about your upbringing.
Kenneth and Carol Laufer adopted me when I was 2 months old. I have always accepted that the Laufer’s were my family and I was so thankful that God put me with them. I was raised in a Christian home and my earliest childhood memories revolved around the church. I was also blessed to have an extended family that taught me the ways of the Lord.

If you couldn’t do what you are doing now, what would you do?
Ninja

What do you love the most about your job?
The kids and adults I work with….including the best staff I have ever been around! Seriously….

Please share your salvation experience in how you came to Christ.
I was raised in the church and truly believed that I was a Christian because my folks were believers. I was a good church going boy and I basically did nothing wrong in my years growing up. Yet, as a small child I had a reoccurring nightmare were I would die and I would be standing before the gates of heaven. An angel would open the books and would say to me, “Sorry, your name is not in God’s book. You must go to hell.” At that time I would wake up scared to death that I was going to die. The dream lasted into my early teen years until I was 15 years old. At that time I was at camp and I went to my youth pastor and told him that I was lost. He said to me that he thought I was a Christian and just go sleep on it. I didn’t sleep at all. I knew I did not have a personal relationship with Jesus. The next morning I woke him up by yelling at him that I was going to HELL! On the balcony of our church cabin, I gave my life, my everything to Jesus to live out the cause of Christ forever.

Please share your call to the ministry.
When I was a teenager I felt that God had something for me. When I was 17 years old I knew inside of my heart that I was going to work with teenagers and point them to Christ. I have been doing this for over 20 years. My greatest joy is seeing teens grow into faithful followers of Christ. There is nothing else in the world I want to do with my life than be a Youth Pastor.

Matt Flindt

Minister of Education/Business Admin.
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Ryland Russell

Worship & Media Arts Pastor.
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Debra Stephens

Director of Childhood Ministries
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Which famous person would play you in a movie?
Joan Cusack

What is your strongest quality?
Seeing humor in every situation

What is your biggest weakness?
Seeing humor in every situation

What would you like to ask God when you get to heaven?
I won’t have to, I’ll have all the answers! (ok, WHY did you make the mosquito?)

What are the must-have items in your refrigerator/pantry?
Butter, I own all the Paula Deen cookbooks.

What did you want to be when you were 6 years old?
An artist

What is your favorite food/restaurant?
Ted’s/mexican

What are your hobbies/interests?
trompe L’oeil painting, gardening, crocheting, bleaching everything

What were your favorite activities as a child?
Reading, building lego houses, anything artsy, hosting the “Debra Show” in my room with my imaginary guests: Bobby Sherman and David Cassidy.

Do you play a musical instrument?
If so, what? I can play the piano but seriously need to practice. I always wanted to play the xylophone (the big one, not the Fisher Price one)!
Who first introduced you to Jesus Christ?
Many people, can’t name one specifically

Who most influenced your walk with Christ and why?
Many people. God orchestrated a diverse symphony of people to reach me.

Please tell us about your family.
Married to Clay Stephens since 1983, 4 children, Kenton 87, Sydney 89, Natalie 94 and Garrett 99.

Please tell us about your call to Central.
My call to Central and call to ministry happened simultaneously. My background: I had served in many capacities at Central over a period of 14 years; Sunday School Teacher, VBS leader, Sunday School Director, VBS Director, Women’s Ministry leadership, Women’s Bible Study Teacher, Kitchen help, set constructor, general flunkie. We had been looking for a Children’s Director for 18 months when God started nudging me that He was calling me to do this. I fought it (yes, I’d seen that job, and didn’t want it!) for several months. February 22, 2005 I gave up on arguing with God and submitted my resume, and on April 25, 2005 I was voted in. I would not trade a minute of it since! I genuinely love my job and the families I work with, and find it a privilege to be able to do this everyday.

Please tell us about your upbringing.
I grew up in the Tulsa area and we settled in Owasso in 1971 (3rd grade). So far I haven’t escaped.

If you couldn’t do what you are doing now, what would you do?
Run my own multi-million dollar greeting card empire like Mary Englebreit, have my own show on the Food Network and pal around with Paula Deen, own a landscaping nursery, or open a Christian tattoo parlor (I’m kidding, don’t send e-mails quoting Leviticus 19:28) but I think I’d be a pretty mean tattoo artist!

What do you love the most about your job?
Seeing people surrender to Christ and getting the honor and privilege to watch or be a small part of it. I love to go on mission trips and host VBS’s on location, and you can’t get any better than kid’s camp! Oh yeah, and I get to play with lots of toys and nobody questions it.

Please share your salvation experience in how you came to Christ.
I accepted Christ as my Savior when I was in third grade at an after school meeting of the “Good News Club” that met in Fleeta Sunday’s garage in Owasso. We were not attending church at the time. I went to church off and on throughout my school years with friends (ironically I went to Central several times). I always knew that I should be in church, but since my family didn’t go, I didn’t go very often. It was after I was married and had two children that God really started working on my heart that I should have my kids in church. Through many friendships and divine appointments, the kids and I started attending Central. Going through an “Experiencing God” class really solidified my understanding of God and my relationship with him.

I was baptized when I was 28 (I knew I was saved, but had never been baptized). I’m now happy to say that 14 years after that, Clay made the same decision and we both now serve at Central.