Leadership

Pastor Keith South

Pastor South and his family were used of the Lord to plant First Baptist Church on Mother’s Day 1994. Donna, Pastor South’s wife of 45 years, went to glory in 2022; his boys are all married with families of their own.

Pastor South trusted Christ as his personal Savior at the age of 30. The Lord moved him out of a career in electrical engineering. He applied and was accepted as a missionary with Northwest Baptist Missions in 1991.

He completed his graduate studies in Bible from Maranatha Baptist Bible College in 1992.

After two years of deputation, the church was started on Mother’s Day 1994. Pastor South has been the pastor of the church since its founding.

Deacon Doug McCoy

Doug McCoy and his wife Terri both grew up in Illinois. Doug trusted Jesus Christ as his Savior in October, 1987; Terri did the same in June, 1989. Both grew in Christ in their respective local churches and were interested in the ministry of Bible-centered church planting in Utah—and the camp ministry of Camp UTIBACA. Doug’s employment in Illinois allowed him to minister to numerous people as he serviced several businesses and served faithfully at Calvary Baptist Church in Charleston, Illinois. In August of 1992 Terri moved to Utah to help at Camp UTIBACA and Faith Baptist Church in Spanish Fork, Utah. Terri relocated to Nephi, Utah in May of 1994 to help with the planting of First Baptist Church. After meeting in June 1994 and marrying in April 1995, Doug and Terri made their home in Nephi, Utah, and began serving together at First Baptist Church of Nephi. Doug became a deacon and began a jail ministry at Juab County Jail while working at a local manufacturing facility. Terri helped in the youth and women’s ministries at FBC and also became the treasurer. God provided numerous opportunities to share salvation through Christ alone with people at FBC, in the community, and at Camp UTIBACA. Three children were added to their family. The Lord used these children—Daniel, Anna, and Gracelynn—and their activities to build more relationships with which to encourage people to know the Jesus Christ of the Bible.

Deacon Chris DeMorell

Chris DeMorell grew up in northern New Jersey in a non-practicing Catholic household. He attended The Ohio State University after high school and was immediately involved in the fraternity party scene. It was between his sophomore and junior years that God began to work in his heart. Having very little Bible understanding he began reading a Gideon NT. One night he read the plan of salvation in the back and, being convicted of his sin and need to be right with God, placed his full faith and trust in Jesus Christ as his Savior. Not long afterwards, he got involved with a nearby Bible church. Upon graduating, he returned to his home state and joined a fundamental Baptist church where God placed upon his heart a desire to pursue full-time ministry training. He began his M.Div. at Bob Jones Seminary before transferring to Calvary Baptist Theological Seminary in Lansdale, PA. During this time he served as an assistant pastor for two years at a small church in Pennsylvania and also made several trips to Utah, which God used to place a burden on his heart for ministry to Mormons. He and his wife Rachel were married in 2010; they moved to Utah in 2011. He served as the assistant pastor of Santaquin Baptist Church, and then as the senior pastor.

Chris’ wife Rachel grew up in a Christian home in Pennsylvania and was saved at the age of four. She graduated from Pensacola Christian College in Florida in 2007. God opened up her first job at Teva Pharmaceuticals in Hatfield, PA. After moving to Utah, she worked for several companies before landing at NuSkin in Provo, UT. God has blessed Rachel there and she is now a manager of quality control. She is truly industrious like the Proverbs 31 woman and is grateful for the opportunity to be a witness to her Mormon co-workers. They were blessed with the joyful additions to their family of Benjamin Christopher in 2018 and Nathan Alexander in 2020.