LINTHICUM, Md. — Linthicum Baptist Church, of Maryland, welcomed their new pastor, Tim Goins, in November. A graduate of Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary, Goins said he’s thrilled at the opportunity to reach the Linthicum community. He’s baptized one new believer at the church, and the mid-week Bible study group has outgrown their meeting room.
Pastor Tim Goins and his wife, Michelle, see the Linthicum area as a fertile field to reach the lost for Jesus.
Goins grew up attending Tabernacle Baptist Church in Essex, Md., in the ’60s and ’70s. His parents, Dale and Mary, were charter members — the first couple to be married in the building. Goins made a confession of faith when he was seven years old, but said it was after attending a youth retreat as a teen, that he got “serious” about his Christian walk.
While living in Norfolk, Va., he attended the First Baptist Church of Norfolk, then pastored by Kenneth Hemphill, who served for 20 years as president of Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. Seeing people come to Christ every week, Goins began to feel the Holy Spirit’s call to pastoral ministry. Hemphill encouraged Goins to be obedient to God’s call and urged the young man to complete his undergraduate degree and then attend seminary. Goins moved back home, graduated from Towson University and then headed to SEBTS.
He pastored in North Carolina and has provided pulpit supply throughout Maryland. At LBC, Goins is serving bi-vocationally, working fulltime as the director of operations for Homerun Baseball, overseeing the administration of camps for children ages four to 12. The position at Homerun Baseball is flexible and a perfect match for his pastoral role at LBC, he said.
Calling the area around LBC a “fertile field,” Goins is excited about the possibilities with the goal of “reaching the lost of Linthicum.”
He and his wife, Michelle, have three children, Jordon, age 22; Mason, age 17; and Tyler, age 15. Michelle works as a senior administrative assistant at a medical supply company.
The family enjoys the beach and heads to Ocean City whenever they have the chance. Goins, when asked about a hobby, laughed and says he does, but it’s a bit “quirky.”
“I collect rhinos,” he chuckled. A football fan who remembers when Baltimore was deciding on a name for the Ravens, Goins explained that one of the possible names considered was “The Rhinos.” Goins wasn’t a fan of the name but facetiously started saying he’d vote for the Rhinos. “People began giving me figurines of rhinos,” he laughs. “Now I have about 50. It’s my trademark.”