Dear Visitor,

My name is Richard Hivner, and I want to let you know a little about myself. Born in December of 1964 to John and Eileen Hivner while stationed with the United States Navy in Oakland, California, I grew up in a home where loyalty and faithfulness were trained into us. We moved often for the first 5 years of my life, but ended up in western Tennessee where dad retired from the Navy.

Even though I had been raised in a religious home with good parents, and though I had met some true Bible believing Christians along my life’s trail, I had chosen my own way in life until August of 1988, at the age of 23, when I yielded to the Holy Spirit’s conviction and trusted in the Lord Jesus Christ.

Upon this salvation experience, I followed the Lord in believer’s baptism and became a faithful member of Southside Baptist Church of Millington, Tennessee.
As I grew in grace and knowledge of Christ, there became opportunities for ministry for which I availed myself. Ministry lead to more ministry and into what we would call full-time ministry by 1996 when Melissa and I became missionaries to prisons with the Rock 0f Ages Prison Ministry.

After 12 years with the ROA prison ministry, the Lord directed us into pastoral ministry and allowed us the privilege to serve as the Associate Pastor of Candlestick Baptist Church under the leadership of Pastor Bob Van Dyke. After a time, the Lord moved us to Indiana where Richard served as pastor of a small Baptist church. Now, the Lord has blessed us with the great opportunity to plant, and by His grace, establish a Bible-preaching church here in the city where we have made our home, Shelbyville.

Allow me to introduce my family:

First, let me introduce Melissa, my faithful and beloved bride since our marriage in April of 1988. Even though she was raised in a Christian home, she did not have a personal relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ. At age 28 she came under conviction and trusted Christ during an old-fashioned tent meeting in Millington, TN.

After 12 years of marriage the Lord blessed us with two wonderful children, Richard (Rooster) born in 2000 and Victoria born in 2002. Both children have professed salvation and seem to have a desire to serve God.

Your servant for Jesus’ sake,

Pastor Richard