Meet Our Pastor

Clarence Small, D. Min., has served as pastor in the Dakota, Chesapeake, and Illinois Conferences of Seventh-day Adventists since 1980, and of the Peoria church since September, 2005. Born in Tennessee, Pastor Small is married to Virginia (Ginger), and has two adult sons, and a grandson. Clarence and Ginger have been married for nearly 40 years. Pastor Small has a BA in communication from Southern Adventist University, plus Master of Divinity and Doctor of Ministry degrees from the Seventh-day Adventist Theological Seminary at Andrews University.

"My goal," says Pastor Small, "is to present the Gospel as effectively as I can. I love the stories in the Bible, and generally, the most effective way is to just tell the stories. I love teaching people what the Bible says."

Pastor Small’s personal interests include reading, golf, white water rafting, walking, computers, classic movies, and home repairs. "I read a lot about leadership," he states. "But it really doesn’t matter. If there are words, I read them."

"My priorities run like this," he adds. "First, I have to maintain my own relationship to God. Next, I have to maintain my relationship with my family. Then my time is spent on the church and the community. I’ve found that when this order gets out of balance, I am ineffective in all my relationships."