Introduction
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As a Christ-Follower, I must continually cultivate the personal love relationship Jesus Christ initiated with me.
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As a husband, I am thankful for, deeply committed to, and madly in love with my beautiful bride, Crystal.
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As a father, I love being daddy to my two adorable daughters: Abigail and Elizabeth. I have a strong conviction to raise them in the love and teachings of Jesus Christ.
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As a pastor, I feel a great burden to shepherd and equip the saints to live a life that pleases God and brings Him great glory.
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As an entrepreneur, I seek to have an impact upon the Church and culture by operating a God-honoring business that helps to support my family. While I am not making tents, I am creating products that fulfill my needs at zealoushomes.com and zealouschristian.com
Who I Am
Favorite Quotes
“The ultimate end of our pastoral oversight must be linked with the ultimate purpose of our lives. This is to please and to glorify God. It is also to see the sanctification and holy obedience of the people under our charge. To nurture our people’s unity, order, beauty, strength, preservation, and increase must be our task. It is the right worshipping of God”
"My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me; and I give eternal life to them, and they will never perish; and no one will snatch them out of My hand. My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand. I and the Father are one.” - John 10:27-30
"And He gave some as apostles, and some as prophets, and some as evangelists, and some as pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of service, to the building up of the body of Christ; until we all attain to the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a mature man, to the measure of the stature which belongs to the fullness of Christ." - Ephesians 4:11-13
Expertise
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Approachability/Relatability: Approachability is about being accessible, consciously breaking down perceived barriers, having appropriate body language, and using the right verbal communication and listening skills. Relatability is about connection. How well you connect with different people on a level of empathy and relation. Being approachable and relatable is key to building relationships and creating a strong team in which trust, confidence, and ideas can flow. I have long been told that I have the gift of being able to approach and relate to almost anyone. I would like to think that this is one of my greatest traits.
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Communication: As a pastor, it is imperative to be gifted in communication. This does not speak of eloquence or charisma, but mainly of the ability to present an argument or idea in an understandable fashion. Communication can be non-verbal, verbal, or written. I believe I am gifted in communicating well at each of these levels.
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Teamwork: Every church needs a team of individuals to function in unity if it is going to make an impact for the Kingdom. I believe another strong skill that defines me is that I am a person who works well in a strong team environment. It is easy to be a lone ranger, but a team takes work. In the end, the strong team will always accomplish more than the greatest lone ranger.
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Learner
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Intellection
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Responsibility
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Input
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Achiever
Skills
- Approachability - 95%
- Teamwork - 90%
- Mentoring - 85%
- Communication - 90%
- Leadership - 90%
- Administration - 85%
Professional Experience
Founder / Owner
ZealousHomes, LLC - September 2022 -
- Founded a Christian-based business that provides spiritual growth resources for individuals and families. Our goal is to ignite a stunning zeal for our followers’ sensational journey.
- We write, edit, and publish articles and resources to encourage a passionate zeal in following after Christ personally and at home.
- We offer a podcast to motivate and train Christians for the journey ahead.
- We have recently added an online store to provide Christian gifts and apparel designed to help proclaim Christ and shine His light into our culture.
- You can learn more at zealoushomes.com and zealouschristian.com.
Lead Pastor / Church Planter
Zealous Church - June 2022 -
- Planted and pastor a small, yet active church for the glory of God.
- Oversee weekly gatherings where fellowship around the Word is central to all we do.
- Provide pastoral care and administration.
Lead Pastor
Ephesus Baptist Church, Spring Hope, NC - August 2018 - March 2022
- Served as the Lead Pastor in a Church Revitalization Process.
- Saw positive growth as the average attendance grew from approximately 25-30 to 60+ souls every Sunday prior to Covid Pandemic.
- Oversaw a staff that included a volunteer secretary, the music director, and a ministry intern.
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Preached in all weekly services, lead ministry to children and youth, performed baptisms, administered the Lord’s Supper, and conducted funerals and weddings.
High School Science Teacher
New Life Christian Academy, Rocky Mount, NC - July 2017 - January 2018
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Courses Taught: Advanced Microsoft, Bible Doctrine, Biology, Chemistry, General Science, Physics, and Physical Education.
Transitional Pastor
Cornerstone Baptist Church, Spring Hope, NC - August 2015 - August 2017
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To provide oversight and guidance as the congregation moves toward healing, revitalization, and renewal among the church and community.
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To preach weekly services, lead ministry to children and youth, perform baptisms, administer the Lord’s Supper, and conduct funerals and weddings.
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Had the privilege to lead four youth to know and confess Jesus Christ as Lord.
Temporary Interim Pastor
Macedonia Baptist Church, Spring Hope, NC - October 2013 - October 2013
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Preached biblical sermons during the congregation’s transition to a permanent interim minister.
Part-time Keyholder
LifeWay Christian Stores, Rocky Mount, NC - March 2012 - February 2015
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Part of the store management team.
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Responsible for counting, recovering, and delivering bank deposits.
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Assisted shoppers in finding resources for their spiritual growth.
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Handled all shipping and receiving duties for our store.
Church Planting Internship
Wilson Community Church, Wilson, NC - September 2012 - July 2013
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Attended the weekly staff meeting where the church leaders evaluated past ministry and planned for future ministry endeavors
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Taught a 10 week class on evangelism using “The Story” curriculum.
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Co-taught the monthly “Connect 101” new members class.
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Led a small group that allowed me the opportunity to baptize four new believers.
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Received a firsthand look at how a successful church plant functions.
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Church Website: www.wccnc.org
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Sermon Preached at Wilson Community Church
Senior Pastor
Poovey's Grove Baptist Church, Granite Falls, NC - November 2010 - January 2012
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Preached expository sermons during our two Sunday Services.
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Facilitated prayer meetings on Wednesday evenings.
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Provided oversight to the weekly visitation ministry.
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Performed frequent visitation of healthy, hospitalized, and shut-in church members as well as the friends and family of church members..
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Met the churches needs through Pastoral Counseling, Administration, Ordinances, Funerals, Weddings, and other day to day functions of pastoral ministry in the life of the church.
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Church Website: www.pooveysgrove.org
Part-time Youth Minister
Benvenue Baptist Church, Rocky Mount, NC - March 2008 - January 2009
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Organized and led all youth activities with a gospel centered mindset.
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Assisted the pastor in the worship service.
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Assisted the pastor in leading the weekly visitation program: G.R.O.W.
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Youth ministry grew from one student to fourteen students in a period of approximately six months.
NRBA Youth Director
North Roanoke Baptist Association, Dortches, NC - September 2007 - August 2009
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Coordinated with Associational youth ministers to encourage, support, and enhance their ministry to students.
Full-time Minister of Students
Edgemont Baptist Church, Rocky Mount, NC - July 2007 - January 2008
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Organized and led children, youth, and college/career departments.
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Provided oversight to the various weekly programs available to children, youth, and college/career students.
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Assisted the pastor in leading a local weeklong mission project.
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Organized multiple children and youth trips and activities.
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Assisted Englewood Baptist Church in bringing Josh McDowell to lead a youth outreach event, by serving on their planning team.
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Assisted the pastor in carrying out his ministry duties when needed.
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Preached to the entire congregation at least once a month.
Part-time Keyholder
LifeWay Christian Stores, Rocky Mount, NC - November 2005 - June 2007
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Part of the store management team.
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Responsible for counting, recovering, and delivering bank deposits.
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Assisted shoppers in finding resources for their spiritual growth.
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Handled all shipping and receiving duties for our store.
Education History
Master of Divinity in Christian Ministry with Biblical Languages
Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary - January 2005 - May 2010
Bachelors of Science in Biological Sciences
North Carolina State University - January 1998 - May 2001
Bachelors of Science in Botany
North Carolina State University - January 1998 - May 2001
Certifications
Certified NC Church Planter
North Carolina Baptist Convention and NAMB - November 2012
Certified Transitional Pastor
South Carolina Baptist Convention and LifeWay - October 2014
Pursuing SYMBIS Facilitator Certification
SYMBIS | Drs. Les and Leslie Parrott - December 2023
In the process of gaining this pre-marriage and marriage counseling certification. Should be completed by the end of the 2023.
Pursuing PREPARE/ENRICH Marriage Counseling Certification
PREPARE/ENRICH - December 2023
In the process of completing training to gain PREPARE/ENRICH pre-marriage and marriage counseling certification. Completion should occur by the end of December 2023.
Recommendations
Larry Curtis
Associate Pastor, First Baptist Church, Rocky Mount, NC
"Wayne Sullivan is one of the brightest young expositional preachers of our day. He is not only a visionary leader, but also has a pastor’s heart, and he is a man of prayer. His dedication to the Lord and His Word is evident in his faithfulness to God’s call upon him to pastor a church as well as his exemplary devotion to his wife and children. I cannot say enough about Wayne’s gifting as a pastor."
Danny Henderson
Former Store Manager, LifeWay Christian Stores, Rocky Mount, NC
"I have known Wayne Sullivan for years, and had the distinct privilege of working with him on two separate occasions. He is an outstanding young man and an exceptional preacher. His ability to interpret scripture and defend the Word of God have always impressed me as a fellow believer. Having had the experience of working in a retail environment with Wayne, I can also attest to his strong work ethic and attention to detail. I believe any company, church, or other organization would be greatly enhanced by his involvement and blessed by his deep devotion to his faith."
Mark Qualls
Missionary to South Africa and Former Store Manager, LifeWay Christian Stores, Rocky Mount, NC
Wayne Sullivan and I have known each other for about 20 years. We both worked at LifeWay Christian stores and he was a wonderful mentor and leader to the staff and truly valuable to LifeWay. Over the years, I have seen him grow immensely and I greatly respect his character. Wayne is willing to stand against unbiblical or unethical teaching and behavior backed by sound biblical theology even when it may cause him personal harm. He has shown great initiative with the development of an online community (Zealous Church) and merchandise store. It is exciting to see the new offerings and ideas he presents through this medium. These are all important elements of his character and personality, but by far I appreciate his love and compassion for others. He has shown great love for my family through prayer and encouragement while we have served overseas. He genuinely loves the people he leads and consistently shows a concern for their well-being.
Skills
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Approachability
95%
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Teamwork
90%
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Mentoring
85%
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Communication
90%
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Leadership
90%
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Administration
85%
Download Resume
My Portfolio
Blog
I Affirm the Chicago Statement on Biblical Inerrancy
Chicago Statement on Biblical Inerrancy
Download a PDF Version here.
Preface
The authority of Scripture is a key issue for the Christian Church in this and every age. Those who profess faith in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior are called to show the reality of their discipleship by humbly and faithfully obeying God’s written Word. To stray from Scripture in faith or conduct is disloyalty to our Master. Recognition of the total truth and trust‐worthiness of Holy Scripture is essential to a full grasp and adequate confession of its authority.
The following Statement affirms this inerrancy of Scripture afresh, making clear our understanding of it and warning against its denial. We are persuaded that to deny it is to set aside the witness of Jesus Christ and of the Holy Spirit and to refuse that submission to the claims of God’s own Word which marks true Christian faith. We see it as our timely duty to make this affirmation in the face of current lapses from the truth of inerrancy among our fellow Christians and misunderstanding of this doctrine in the world at large.
This Statement consists of three parts: a Summary Statement, articles of Affirmation and Denial, and an accompanying Exposition*. It has been prepared in the course of a three‐day consultation in Chicago. Those who have signed the Summary Statement and the Articles wish to affirm their own conviction as to the inerrancy of Scripture and to encourage and challenge one another and all Christians to growing appreciation and understanding of this doctrine. We acknowledge the limitations of a document prepared in a brief, intensive conference and do not propose that this Statement be given creedal weight. Yet we rejoice in the deepening of our own convictions through our discussions together, and we pray that the Statement we have signed may be used to the glory of our God toward a new reformation of the Church in its faith, life, and mission.
We offer this Statement in a spirit, not of contention, but of humility and love, which we purpose by God’s grace to maintain in any future dialogue arising out of what we have said. We gladly acknowledge that many who deny the inerrancy of Scripture do not display the consequences of this denial in the rest of their belief and behavior, and we are conscious that we who confess this doctrine often deny it in life by failing to bring our thoughts and deeds, our traditions and habits, into true subjection to the divine Word.
We invite response to this statement from any who see reason to amend its affirmations about Scripture by the light of Scripture itself, under whose infallible authority we stand as we speak. We claim no personal infallibility for the witness we bear, and for any help which enables us to strengthen this testimony to God’s Word we shall be grateful.
*The Exposition is not included here.
A Short Statement
1. God, who is Himself Truth and speaks truth only, has inspired Holy Scripture in order thereby to reveal Himself to lost mankind through Jesus Christ as Creator and Lord, Redeemer and Judge. Holy Scripture is God’s witness to Himself.
2. Holy Scripture, being God’s own Word, written by men prepared and superintended by His Spirit, is of infallible divine authority in all matters upon which it touches: it is to be believed, as God’s pledge, in all that it promises.
3. The Holy Spirit, Scripture’s divine Author, both authenticates it to us by His inward witness and opens our minds to understand its meaning.
4. Being wholly and verbally God‐given, Scripture is without error or fault in all its teaching, no less in what it states about God’s acts in creation, about the events of world history, and about its own literary origins under God, than in its witness to God’s saving grace in individual lives.
5. The authority of Scripture is inescapably impaired if this total divine inerrancy is in any way limited or disregarded, or made relative to a view of truth contrary to the Bible’s own; and such lapses bring serious loss to both the individual and the Church.
Articles of Affirmation and Denial
Article I
We affirm that the Holy Scriptures are to be received as the authoritative Word of God.
We deny that the Scriptures receive their authority from the Church, tradition, or any other human source.
Article II
We affirm that the Scriptures are the supreme written norm by which God binds the conscience, and that the authority of the Church is subordinate to that of Scripture.
We deny that Church creeds, councils, or declarations have authority greater than or equal to the authority of the Bible.
Article III
We affirm that the written Word in its entirety is revelation given by God.
We deny that the Bible is merely a witness to revelation, or only becomes revelation in encounter, or depends on the responses of men for its validity.
Article IV
We affirm that God who made mankind in His image has used language as a means of revelation.
We deny that human language is so limited by our creatureliness that it is rendered inadequate as a vehicle for divine revelation. We further deny that the corruption of human culture and language through sin has thwarted God’s work of inspiration.
Article V
We affirm that God’s revelation in the Holy Scriptures was progressive.
We deny that later revelation, which may fulfill earlier revelation, ever corrects or contradicts it. We further deny that any normative revelation has been given since the completion of the New Testament writings.
Article VI
We affirm that the whole of Scripture and all its parts, down to the very words of the original, were given by divine inspiration.
We deny that the inspiration of Scripture can rightly be affirmed of the whole without the parts, or of some parts but not the whole.
Article VII
We affirm that inspiration was the work in which God by His Spirit, through human writers, gave us His Word. The origin of Scripture is divine. The mode of divine inspiration remains largely a mystery to us.
We deny that inspiration can be reduced to human insight, or to heightened states of consciousness of any kind.
Article VIII
We affirm that God in His Work of inspiration utilized the distinctive personalities and literary styles of the writers whom He had chosen and prepared.
We deny that God, in causing these writers to use the very words that He chose, overrode their personalities.
Article IX
We affirm that inspiration, though not conferring omniscience, guaranteed true and trustworthy utterance on all matters of which the biblical authors were moved to speak and write.
We deny that the finitude or fallenness of these writers, by necessity or otherwise, introduced distortion or falsehood into God’s Word.
Article X
We affirm that inspiration, strictly speaking, applies only to the autographic text of Scripture, which in the providence of God can be ascertained from available manuscripts with great accuracy. We further affirm that copies and translations of Scripture are the Word of God to the extent that they faithfully represent the original.
We deny that any essential element of the Christian faith is affected by the absence of the autographs. We further deny that this absence renders the assertion of Biblical inerrancy invalid or irrelevant.
Article XI
We affirm that Scripture, having been given by divine inspiration, is infallible, so that, far from misleading us, it is true and reliable in all the matters it addresses.
We deny that it is possible for the Bible to be at the same time infallible and errant in its assertions. Infallibility and inerrancy may be distinguished, but not separated.
Article XII
We affirm that Scripture in its entirety is inerrant, being free from all falsehood, fraud, or deceit.
We deny that Biblical infallibility and inerrancy are limited to spiritual, religious, or redemptive themes, exclusive of assertions in the fields of history and science. We further deny that scientific hypotheses about earth history may properly be used to overturn the teaching of Scripture on creation and the flood.
Article XIII
We affirm the propriety of using inerrancy as a theological term with reference to the complete truthfulness of Scripture.
We deny that it is proper to evaluate Scripture according to standards of truth and error that are alien to its usage or purpose. We further deny that inerrancy is negated by Biblical phenomena such as a lack of modern technical precision, irregularities of grammar or spelling, observational descriptions of nature, the reporting of falsehoods, the use of hyperbole and round numbers, the topical arrangement of material, variant selections of material in parallel accounts, or the use of free citations.
Article XIV
We affirm the unity and internal consistency of Scripture.
We deny that alleged errors and discrepancies that have not yet been resolved vitiate the truth claims of the Bible.
Article XV
We affirm that the doctrine of inerrancy is grounded in the teaching of the Bible about inspiration.
We deny that Jesus’ teaching about Scripture may be dismissed by appeals to accommodation or to any natural limitation of His humanity.
Article XVI
We affirm that the doctrine of inerrancy has been integral to the Church’s faith throughout its history.
We deny that inerrancy is a doctrine invented by Scholastic Protestantism, or is a reactionary position postulated in response to negative higher criticism.
Article XVII
We affirm that the Holy Spirit bears witness to the Scriptures, assuring believers of the truthfulness of God’s written Word.
We deny that this witness of the Holy Spirit operates in isolation from or against Scripture.
Article XVIII
We affirm that the text of Scripture is to be interpreted by grammatico‐historical exegesis, taking account of its literary forms and devices, and that Scripture is to interpret Scripture.
We deny the legitimacy of any treatment of the text or quest for sources lying behind it that leads to relativizing, dehistoricizing, or discounting its teaching, or rejecting its claims to authorship.
Article XIX
We affirm that a confession of the full authority, infallibility, and inerrancy of Scripture is vital to a sound understanding of the whole of the Christian faith. We further affirm that such confession should lead to increasing conformity to the image of Christ.
We deny that such confession is necessary for salvation. However, we further deny that inerrancy can be rejected without grave consequences, both to the individual and to the Church.
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