Estep to preach final sermon as Columbia First Baptist pastor on Sunday

Thirty-two years after his first sermon at Columbia’s First Baptist Church, the Rev. Wendell Estep will preach his last as the church’s pastor on Sunday.

Sunday marks Estep’s official retirement from one of Columbia’s largest and most influential churches. He is the second-longest-serving pastor in the church’s 209-year history.

When he announced his retirement last year, Estep said he felt the church needed “someone who can give a longer-term plan or vision than I can give them.”

Estep, a Texas native, arrived at First Baptist in 1986, coming from the rapidly growing Council Road Baptist Church in Oklahoma City. Before preaching, he worked as a TV news producer.

Estep ushered in an age of stunning growth at First Baptist, including a $13 million expansion of the downtown campus, with a 3,300-seat sanctuary, in 1992.

As First Baptist maintained prominence in the capital city, Estep rose to prominence among state and national Baptist leaders. He was one of four Southern Baptist pastors to meet with a newly elected President Bill Clinton in 1993. And at the turn of the century, Estep was elected president of the S.C. Baptist Convention.

Estep has said that in his retirement, he plans to help his son Erik in his ministry at Village Church in Blythewood.

It’s a bittersweet time for the church, said Steve Phillips, First Baptist’s associate pastor and music minister, who has worked closely with Estep for three decades.

“We’re very sad that he’s leaving,” Phillips said. “But there’s also a confidence in knowing that he’s doing what God wants him to do.”

A new senior pastor has not yet been named, but the church’s search is nearing completion, according to Sylvia Rish, a church spokeswoman.

Estep’s final First Baptist worship service as its pastor will begin at 10:30 a.m. Sunday. The service is broadcast live online at www.fbcola.com and televised locally on WLTX at 11 a.m., as well as on TV stations across the state.

A service honoring Estep and his wife, Lynda, will be at 5 p.m. Sunday. Special guests expected to be in attendance include S.C. Gov. Henry McMaster, U.S. Sens. Lindsey Graham and Tim Scott, U.S. Rep Joe Wilson, and Brookland Baptist pastor — and Estep’s longtime friend — Charles Jackson, Rish said.

The evening service also will be broadcast on WLTX starting at 5 p.m.

This story was originally published July 20, 2018 at 6:26 PM.