A Tribute To Steve and Becky Childers

by Mike Tilley

When Molly and I were preparing to be church planters, we attended Steve Childers’ boot camp to gain the essentials of church planting and pastoral leadership. The course grounded us in the gospel, and helped shape the culture and trajectory of what would become Lake Baldwin Church.

Since 1995, Steve had been professor of practical theology at Reformed Theological Seminary (RTS) in Orlando. He taught evangelism, church planting, and missions. Thanks to Steve’s innovative teaching style, young pastors-in-training found the course to be highly engaging. Steve had a profound influence on future pastors and staff who would cut their teeth at Lake Baldwin Church: Soon Pak, Dave Abney, Tim Inman, Tyler Groff, Michael Aitcheson, Joel Pollard, and Joe White.

Steve formed an organization called Global Church Advancement, which hosted annual training for planters and pastors both inside and outside the Presbyterian Church of America. In 2014 Steve invited me to teach a “learning track” on Gospel-Centered Leadership. That track included pastors from the Midwest who were part of John Piper’s church planting movement. Steve and I huddled to make doubly sure the course was rooted in Scripture!

After Steve transitioned out of his role with RTS, his global ministry expanded. Always an innovator with learning styles, Steve took the unusual step of shifting from a conference ministry to a digital platform having broader reach and greater accessibility. Pathway Learning came into being, and its platform is loaded with biblically rich, practical courses on theology and ministry. In 2024 I used two of the courses in a cohort for pastors in Europe. To this day, Pathway Learning is one of our global missions partners.

Through their involvement at LBC, we saw the quiet strength and friendship of Steve’s wife, Becky. For years, Becky has been part of the Wednesday morning women’s study, supporting all ages of women as they go through stages of life. She has been a dear friend to Molly through all of these years, giving mutual support through family challenges and other hardships. Together, Steve and Becky have befriended one of our own, Martha Hammond, providing rides, friendship, and other support.

While Steve was often “invisible” to our congregation, he consistently cheered for and encouraged those who were visible. This included everyone who has preached at Lake Baldwin Church. Steve loves the grace of the gospel, and gives generous, kind words when he hears us preach a Christ-centered message. Somehow we knew that Steve could have done it better, but he never hinted at that.

We pray for Steve and Becky as they go. We love them, and we will miss them.