Meet our Ministerial and Administrative Team

Chris Baker, Pastor

Chris has served as pastor at FBC since March 2018.  Prior to coming to Centralia, he served as a youth pastor for 13 years at churches in Tennessee and Iowa. 

Chris firmly believes the purpose humanity is to bring glory to God.  Through the Holy Spirit's leading he seeks to lead us to become a church of fully devoted disciples who strive to make disciples in Centralia, Mid-Missouri, and across the globe.

Chris has been married to Monika since June 2007. He grew up in the East Tennessee foothills and loves hiking, basketball, and University of Tennessee sports.

Jacki Stelzer is a life-long Centralia resident.  She and her husband, Russell, raised three children in the Centralia school system.  Playing with her grandchildren is Jacki’s favorite past time.  Loving the Lord above all things, she accepted Jesus as her Savior and was baptized in November 1983.  She began her FBC career in June 2004, and is currently the Church Secretary/Financial Secretary.

Danelle Mathews, Worship Director

Danelle has been a lifelong resident of Centralia. She and her husband Daniel have three children, Callie, Will, and Jack. She has been serving our church by sharing her musical gifts and talents throughout her life. 
For the past seven years she has been leading our church in worship. Danelle also teaches music and
orchestra for the Centralia School District. When she is not using her gifts in the church, she loves
spending time with her family, especially when it involves either swimming or playing golf.

Chuck Burton, Senior Adult Ministry Director

Hello, my name is Chuck Burton and I am the Director of Senior Adult Ministry here at First Baptist Church Centralia. I would like to take a few moments to tell you about my ministry and myself.

The Senior Adult Ministry is known as "the JOY Group" which stands for "Just Older Youth."  We are a group of senior adults, age 55 and up. We meet once a month on the fourth Friday for our JOY meeting.  At this meeting, we enjoy a carry-in dinner and some great fellowship.  After dinner, we are inspired and entertained by talented Christian artists with singing and witnessing.  We finish the fellowship out with our guest speaker who brings a message from the Word of God.  We always have a great time of fun, food and fellowship while praising our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

If you are age 55 or above, I urge you to come and experience the fun and fellowship at our JOY meetings.  Membership at First Baptist is not required and we welcome newcomers with open arms. Our motto is "bring a dish, bring a friend."  We go on several outings during the year such as the Spring Jubilee in Branson, day trip to places like Heartland Dairy/Ministry located near Bethel, Missouri, and other outings as we are able.

Our main focus is to praise and worship our Lord Jesus Christ.  We also strive to use our knowledge and experience, gained from years in the family of God, to encourage and guide younger believers.

As I said, my name is Chuck Burton. I am 65 years old.  I have been married to my wife, Rita, for 39 years; we have four grown children, eleven grandchildren and three great grandchildren.  We have been members at First Baptist Church since 2007.  Before becoming members at FBC, we belonged to Cairo Baptist Church where I accepted Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior and was baptized.

I am now in my second year as leader of the Joy Group and I feel more and more blessed each day. I am excited to welcome new brothers and sisters in Christ to our membership and look forward to serving Him with you.

In His love

Chuck

Church Custodian John Luttrell

John is a lifelong Centralia resident, who grew up on a farm about 15 miles North of town. He has graciously served as our church custodian in some capacity for the past 26 years. After he graduated from high school he worked at Chance Company for a few years and then began his custodial career.

The first ten years he served here at First Baptist Church, he assisted the full-time custodian, but has been our full-time custodian for over 16 years. His hard-working spirit and pleasant demeanor are a great asset to our church.