Pastor Ben Beasley of Atlanta still is adjusting to a new position at a new church in a new city.
Beasley became the pastor of Allenhurst Presbyterian Church in November.
“I graduated from seminary in May 2010 and did a summer internship at the First Presbyterian Church of St. Marys, Ga., and then was called here,” he said.
“I could not have come to a more loving and gracious congregation. We are a growing congregation and we want to continue to grow. Our congregation is hungry for the word, and Bible study is a big part of worship.
“We have a congregation of approximately 50 people and weekly morning service averages about 50 people. Our members are very faithful. The members are very involved and come to church every Sunday,” Beasley said.
The pastor said he wants to help people experience Christ so they can grow and take His message into the world. “We want to serve God so we can serve others. The church has an outreach to the Manna House and was recently involved with the Keep Liberty Beautiful program. We want to be a part of the community and serve the community,” he said.
The pastor said he envisions seeing his congregants grow spiritually as more families begin to attend church.
“I desire to see the church become more relevant to the community by following the great commandment — i.e., love God with all your heart and your neighbor as yourself — and the great commission — being a witness. We are to make disciples by being witnesses. If we love God with all our heart, it will be shown in all that we do,” Beasley said.   
“We have started new Sunday school classes. We already had a seniors’ class, but now have started nursery, elementary, youth and young-adult classes. We are getting families more involved and have plans to restart the youth ministry,” he said.
“I want to grow the youth ministry and our plan is to launch the youth ministry program during the upcoming vacation Bible school and build from the momentum.”
Other church ministries include the Presbyterian women’s group, choir and nursery care.
“The Presbyterian women’s group is very strong and will be leading the services on Mother’s Day. We are also getting a men’s group together and the kickoff for that will be Father’s Day. The men’s group will be a great way to get together for fellowship and find ways to do outreach in the community,” the pastor said.
Beasley credits Pastor Stephen Williams of First Presbyterian Church of Savannah with helping him in his ministry.
“His preaching and the outreach of the church — having the church involved in the community — made a big difference to me. It made me want to find ways to serve God and others,” Beasley said.
Rick Douylliez, pastor of St. Marys First Presbyterian Church for 15 years, and Randy Calvo, pastor and director of Alumni Relations for Columbia Theological Seminary, also served as mentors to Beasley. “(Douylliez’s) experience and being able to have an internship with him had a big impact on me. His continued friendship and knowledge is invaluable,” Beasley said.
“(Calvo) was my seminary mentor. He was a pastor for many years in Atlanta, and I would often talk to him about ministry. He graciously agreed to preach at my ordination.”
Beasley graduated from Columbia Theological Seminary in Decatur with a master’s of divinity. He earned an undergraduate degree in English from Georgia State University and also has a degree in photography from SCAD in Savannah.
“I am a visual person. When I preach, I try to visually illustrate the text. When I do children’s sermons, I almost always bring something to illustrate with,” he said.
Beasley also has done missionary work in Merida, Mexico.
“We visited various churches — Evangelical, Pentecostal, Catholic and Presbyterian — in the area to get an idea on how their worship was. We were trying to understand another context of worship. I really enjoyed that, and we got a chance to share the gospel with each other,” he said.
The Allenhurst Presbyterian Church family invites the public to Sunday school at 9:45 a.m., to worship services at 11 a.m. and to Bible study at 7 p.m. Wednesdays.
“Once a month, we have a supper during Bible study,” Beasley said. “The Wednesday night supper is a nice fellowship.”