Timothy Sauls has been our pastor since the beginning of the church. Pastor Tim is a native North Carolinian, as you might be able to tell from his accent. Tim grew up in a mainline denominational church in rural North Carolina where he was influenced by a godly mother and a supportive father.
At the age of nine, Tim received Christ during a chapelservice at the Christian school he attended for 11 years. After graduating from high school he attended Liberty University (then called Liberty Baptist College). It was there that he met his wife, Valorie Sauls.
Pastor Tim credits much of his spiritual growth to his relationship with Valorie. Valorie is a California girl who attended Calvary of Costa Mesa during some of the early years under Pastor Chuck. Pastor Chuck married Pastor Tim and Valorie in 1983 and dedicated all three of their children, Jessica, Candace, and Rex. The youngest, Rex, was dedicated “in vitro”.
God used these events to expose Pastor Tim to the style and ministry of Pastor Chuck and Calvary Chapel. During college Tim began to minister as the special education Pastor of Thomas Road Baptist Church in Lynchburg. There he learned much about patience in ministry and what ministry is really all about. Tim “pastored” some 100 developmentally disabled adults for over two years.
Following college, came a move back to North Carolina where Tim became involved in the ministry of the local church as a Sunday School teacher. It was there that both Tim and Val became aware of God’s call on their life. Tim became a “licensed” minister of the denomination and began to provide pulpit supply in small churches and a prison ministry.
In 1991, Tim served as interim pastor of a small church in Fremont, NC for six months and God confirmed the power of the teaching of His Word in this small congregation. God then moved Tim and his family to Rocky Mount through his secular work.
After a few months God led the family to a young church that was very much the style of Calvary Chapels. There, Tim was loved and supported by the pastor and encouraged to utilize the gifts that God had given him. Val and Tim began to minister there in youth and children’s ministry. Once again God blessed in miraculous ways.
Tim was ordained in 1993. In 1995, Tim was led to begin the work that is currently Calvary Chapel of Red Oak. The calling of God was simple, “Teach My Word!” That calling and the style of ministry that most appealed to Tim led him to pursue affiliation with the Calvary Chapel Fellowships. It is that calling that has been the focus of this body of believers for over seven years and prayerfully will continue until the return of our Lord.