About the Pastor

On February 1, 1997, Pastor Richard Sanders began his ministry at the Larkin Avenue Baptist Church. Previous pastorates were in Indiana, Wisconsin, and Missouri. He has an undergraduate degree in Elementary Education from Belmont University in Nashville, and a Master's Degree from Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville. He was ordained in 1979.

He brought his wife, Debbie, along with three sons, Jon, Josh, and Joe to Elgin. Debbie currently works in the areas of home care. His two younger sons - Josh and Joe - are students (a high school senior and freshman) at an area Christian school. They are very involved in the sports program at that school. Their oldest son, Jon, left for service in the US Navy on July 9, 2009.

Pastor Sanders is a bivocational pastor, meaning that his primary means of supporting himself and his family comes from other than the church. He works for the Elgin Police Department. .

He is enjoying his ministry now more than ever. He is pastoring a congregation of over forty members who function as one united body, something that is very rare. He is seeing God do things in his pastorate that cannot be explained apart from God, which has been his prayer for years. He enjoys teaching and preaching, and tends to get a little too involved in details. He loves meeting new people.

He currently serves as Seminary Extension Director for Fox Valley Baptist Association (www.fvba.org).

You can find him on Facebook and communicate with him at pastor@labcelgin.org