Wyatt Park Baptist Church will start the Christmas season with a new senior pastor.

Dr. Joshua Stowe will step into the position Dec. 1. The 33-year-old will come with his family from Monahans, Texas, where he served as pastor of the city's First Baptist Church. He is one of about 100 applicants Wyatt Park's pastor search committee considered, although the committee learned about him not through an application, but by word of mouth, said committee co-chairman Dan Boulware.

"We were told about these three outstanding, young Baptist ministers in Texas, and we approached Josh," Mr. Boulware added. "Then he applied, and we checked him out extensively. We received no negative feedback on this young man, none at all."

Although Wyatt Park's congregation had indicated that age shouldn't be a deciding factor in choosing a new pastor, the search committee's choice in some ways mirrors the one that brought its previous senior pastor, Dr. Jimmy Albright, who stepped down from the position in September. He was 37 when he came to the church - also from Texas - and served there almost 30 years.

"If you can get a young guy, I think it's great," Mr. Boulware said. "They're energetic, and you can have them for a while."

But the traits that really drew committee members to Dr. Stowe, he added, were the great deal of spiritual insight they saw in him, as well as his intellect, his ability to relate well to people and his administrative skills. Dr. Stowe first came to Wyatt Park and gave a sermon Oct. 18 to a sanctuary packed with 900 people, who Mr. Boulware said overwhelmingly

approved.

Some in attendance that day were relatives of Dr. Stowe, as his mother grew up in Savannah, Mo. He grew up in Oklahoma and went to school there and in Texas, where he earned his Master of Divinity from Logsdon Seminary at Hardin-Simmons University in Abilene and his Doctor of Ministry from Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary in Austin.

Dr. Stowe has been married to his wife, Jill, for 12 years and has two children, 11-year-old Caleb and 7-year-old Elizabeth.

"We feel fortunate to be able to attract a young pastor of Josh's quality," Mr. Boulware said. "I think it bodes well not only for our church, but for the entire Christian community in St. Joe."

Erin Wisdom can be reached at ewisdom@npgco.com.