New Zion's Cause pastor looks ahead to bright future

BENTON, Ky. (KT) - Wes Morehead has been the pastor of Zion's Cause Baptist Church for nearly a month now. His level of excitement has ramped up each week.

"This coming Sunday is week four and we baptized our first one last week," he said. "That's exciting. The church is on fire and attendance is up big on Wednesday nights and Sunday nights. There are a lot of new faces and lot of visitors."

Morehead was called to Zion's Cause after pastoring Spring Bayou in Kevil for 7½ years. He had been at Spring Bayou for 19 years in other capacities, including being the worship pastor.

His new position at Zion's Cause has been off to a good start.

"Right now, I'm trying to get the members' names down," he said. "It's a very loving people, very service minded. Some good changes are being made right now on the surface and internally."

Morehead is quick to add that former Zion's Cause pastor Charles Frazier, now the associational mission strategist for the Northern Kentucky Baptist Association, "left a good legacy here.

"I've known Chares since we were little boys," he said. "I knew Charles before he was Bro. Charles. He had hair and I had hair, and we were both slim. He's a special man. I'm building off what he did when he was here. It's an honor to follow him."

Morehead left a church that had a rich history in Spring Bayou which was a state convention leader in baptisms in the 1970s. "They built a gym when nobody else had one and were running about 17 school buses," he said. "Whoever ends up there, with just a little something fresh, will take off."

Morehead said Larry Purcell, a former Kentucky Baptist Convention regional consultant, provided a strong interim ministry at Zion's Cause. "You know that Marine leadership that he has. He even intimidates those who are above him."

Morehead said he was familiar with the history of Zion's Cause but didn't know the people.

"It's an exciting place to be and they love Jesus," he said. "A lot of people serve on the Kentucky Baptist Disaster Relief. This is God's church and He's going to put people in it and do what needs to be done. They took people to New York City in 911 and a couple of years ago they were active when the tornado hit in our own backdoor."

Morehead and his wife, Stephanie, have a grown daughter, Emily, who has a wedding coming up soon.