First Baptist Church
Staff & Leaders

Mike Graybeal

I was raised in Castleford, and after getting a BS degree in pre-veterinary science at the University of Idaho, I returned to operate a dairy farm for 23 years. God had gotten hold of me in that final year at the U of I, which led me to be more interested in ministry with youth and church than dairy farming. The Sunday that I came to church to announce I was giving up the dairy and may be going wherever God would lead, our pastor resigned, and I was asked to fill in because I had 3 years of lay ministry training and a license from the Area to preach. I’ve been pastoring full-time this fall for 17 years. I believe that a pastor’s job is to lead a church through the Holy Spirit’s use of the Bible. I compare my job to leading an adventure group across a raging river- they will need adequate supplies (teaching and equipping), but also the desire to get in the boat and cross (vision and leading). Some things we have kept doing, such as the AWANA kids program for 20 years, but many other things have changed- more contemporary worship and simpler church government. I believe we are here to carry out Jesus’ mission of saving that which was lost; so I’m never content to keep the same people in the same place. If you are interested in adventure with God and are not active with a church, I invite you to explore with us. My wife, Cheryl, and I have 2 grown daughters, one married with 2 granddaughters, plus my 88 year old father, which makes us typical of much of this church- multigenerational, married, and single.