Baptist minister blesses school as fourth-grade teacher

Administrators and faculty say Mike Martin brings unique perspective to students

Published: April 29, 2013

By Alesia Schaefer
Rogers Correspondent

Alesia Schaefer

Mike Martin, a fourth-grade teacher at St. Vincent de Paul School in Rogers and a Baptist minister for Northeast Southern Baptist Church in Fayetteville, listens to his students as they discuss a lesson in social studies.

Alesia Schaefer

ROGERS — Most parents and students at St. Vincent de Paul School know Mike Martin best for his day job. But it is his weekend job that might surprise a few folks.

For the past five years, Martin has taught at the school, first as a third-grade teacher and currently as a fourth-grade teacher. But when he is not in the classroom cultivating young minds, he is shepherding a flock of his own as the pastor of Northeast Southern Baptist Church in Fayetteville.

It is an unlikely pairing. Not many Catholic schools can lay claim to having an Baptist minister teaching in the classroom. But, it’s a pairing that gives the word “ecumenical” real, visual definition and one that seems to be mutually beneficial for both parties.

“After teaching with Mike Martin for the past five years, I find him to be a remarkable man,” said music teacher Kristi Brackett. “I have said to others that he truly is the hands and feet of Jesus on this earth. His positive attitude and constant spirituality has been an inspiration to all of the teachers and students at SVdP,” she said.

His story is not without its twists and turns. A native of Northwest Arkansas, Martin graduated from Springdale High School, married his high school sweetheart and worked at Ball Corporation.

“I felt like I had a calling, but I was waiting for that surrender,” Martin said, “and it took God 10 years to prepare my wife, Becky.”

In 1996, after attending Mid-America Baptist Theological Seminary in Memphis, the Martins, parents to two adult girls, were uncertain of God’s plan for them.

From 1999 to 2005, Martin was instrumental in helping grow the congregation of Oak Grove Baptist in Springdale from 40 members to 115 members. After six years, he felt it was time for him to move to another church.

Martin explains his transitional time in the cadence of a well-seasoned minister.

“I went from doing God’s perfect will to God’s permissive will,” he said. “It was a move I thought I was supposed to make, but not the move God had for me.”

It was a time of struggle both in his faith life and financially. After some soul searching, Martin volunteered to become a substitute teacher and felt in teaching he had found his niche and a ministry within his call to ministry.

He wasted no time earning his non-traditional teaching degree and in the fall of 2008 was hired at St. Vincent de Paul.

Martin considers the pulpit and the classroom equally important.

“I think of it as servanthood leadership,” he said “I am the servant for the students I teach and the people I preach. It’s my prayer that whoever I come in contact with they can see Jesus in me. I do believe that I am a better pastor, teacher and preacher because of St. Vincent de Paul School. I am here as long as God wants me here. I have never doubted since I have been here that I am in God’s perfect will.”

Principal Ann Morrison agrees that Martin’s presence at the school has enhanced what students learn about their faith.

“We often call upon Mike for prayer on different occasions,” Morrison said. “He is always Christ-like in his dealings with students or staff and through the respect he shows for our Catholic traditions and beliefs, our students have also learned to respect those of other Christian denominations and beliefs.”

On Feb. 10, students from fourth to eighth grade had the opportunity to go to Martin’s church and sing for his congregation. Students then listened to Martin’s sermon that tied in with the Gospel reading from the previous Friday morning Mass. He also read Scripture and acted out the stories. Following the service, members of his congregation treated the students to pizza and cookies.

“We wanted to share our love for him with the people of his church,” said Brackett, who organized the Sunday field trip. “He truly shows us that as Christians, we are all on the same journey, we may just be taking a different road to get there.”

Click for the Catholic Schools Herald, April 2013 index