We believe that God’s Word speaks clearly regarding issues of church polity and it is our desire to organize our leadership according to the Bible’s teaching rather than tradition or pragmatism. Scripture defines two offices of church leadership—elder and deacon.
According to the pattern of a godly husband and father, the elders are to render a type of leadership marked by humble respect, self-sacrificing love, and spiritual nurture (1 Tim. 3:4, 5; with Eph. 5:25ff). According to the pattern of a faithful shepherd, they are commissioned by Christ to protect, lead, feed, and care for the flock of God with an attitude of humble willingness and unpretentious zeal.
Though deacons do not possess the same authority as elders, they work closely with them and are primarily responsible to meet the physical needs of the church’s ministry.
For more explanation of our leadership structure as derived from God’s Word, please click on the links below:
Currently we have five deacons and the following men serve as elders:
DAN MILLER
Dan has served as the Senior Pastor since 1989. He graduated from Pillsbury Baptist Bible College with a B.S. degree in 1984. His graduate degrees include a M.A. in History from Minnesota State University, Mankato; and the M.Div. and Th.M. from Central Baptist Theological Seminary. He has recently completed D.Min. studies at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School. Dan is married to Beth, and the Lord has blessed them with three sons and a daughter.
PAUL PERDUE
Born and raised just outside of Denver, Paul remains a loyal Broncos fan. He received a B.A. degree from Maranatha Baptist Bible College and his graduate degrees include a M.A. from Maranatha and the M.Div. from Central Baptist Theological Seminary. Paul became a member of Eden Baptist in 2000, an elder in 2004, and joined the staff as a Pastoral Assistant in June 2006 after completing the pastoral internship program at Capitol Hill Baptist Church in Washington, D.C. He has served as an assistant pastor since January of 2009. Paul is married to his wife, Joleen. They have one daughter.
JON PRATT
Jon served as associate pastor at Eden Baptist 2000-2008 and is now a full-time professor at Central Baptist Theological Seminary. He received the B.A. degree from Pillsbury Baptist Bible College and his graduate degrees include the M.Div. and Th.M. from Central Baptist Theological Seminary and a Ph.D. in New Testament from Dallas Theological Seminary. He and his wife, Elaine, have three daughters and a son. Jon loves baseball and has been an avid Twins fan all of his life.
ROCKY RANCH
Rocky grew up on the Western slope of Colorado and has lived in Minnesota ever since college. He became a member of Eden Baptist Church in 1984 and began to serve as a deacon about six months before Pastor Miller came in 1989. Rocky graduated from Pillsbury Baptist Bible college with a B.A. in Bible, minoring in pastoral ministry, history and electronics. In 1986 Rocky started his own business, Prowire Inc., and has worked as a low-voltage contractor ever since. Along with his wife, Joanne, Rocky has led the 4th-6th grade ministry at Eden for many years. Rocky and Joanne have three grown children.
JERRY BIRKHOLZ
Jerry was born in Illinois and has served in pastoral ministry for 30 years in Virginia, Pennsylvania, and Minnesota. He became an elder in the spring of 2009. He received a B.A. degree from Pillsbury Baptist Bible College and the M.Div. degree from Calvary Baptist Theological Seminary in Landsdale, Pennsylvania. He is married to Beth and has three married sons and a daughter at home.