What does your job involve?
My ministry includes assisting with Senior Adult ministries, performing weddings, and funerals, hospital visitation, and assisting with work in the First Orlando Foundation, which includes the Memorial Prayer Gardens.
Where were you born and raised?
Atlanta, Georgia.
How large is the family you grew up in?
Mom, dad and a younger sister.
When and how did you come to know Christ?
I gave my heart to the Lord when I was 8 years old and made a public profession of faith in my home church in Atlanta.
What was the first job you ever had?
I worked in my father’s laundry and cleaning business. I was probably 12 or 13 when I started.
Where did you go to college?
I earned a BA degree from Bob Jones University in Greenville, South Carolina, a Master’s of Church Music Degree from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Fort Worth, Texas, and a Doctorate in Church Administration from Luther Rice Seminary.
When and to whom did you marry?
I married Patricia Lynn Wells from Baton Rouge, Louisiana, in February of 1969. We met in the choir room at First Baptist Church of Dallas and were married there by Pastor W.A. Criswell. Dr. Criswell also preached my ordination sermon in my home church in Atlanta in November of 1968.
How many children do you have?
Two sons.
How did you get into ministry?
I grew up in a very active Southern Baptist Church in Atlanta that had a very progressive Music Ministry. That ministry gave me a deep love for church music. When I went to college I knew that I was going to be a music minister. That’s what the Lord called me to do and I followed that call. After completing my work at Southwestern Seminary in December 1968, I was called as Minister of Music to Roswell Street Baptist Church in Marietta, Georgia. After serving there for nine years, I accepted the call to become Minister of Music here at First Orlando in February 1978. After 30 years in Music Ministry, in February 1999, I transitioned into my present scope of ministry.
Have you ever done any long or short-term missionary work?
I have had the joy of leading my choirs in mission ministries throughout the United States, Great Britain, Europe, the Middle East and the Orient.
Do you have any memorable moments from those trips?
One of the most exciting trips I took was with the youth choir to Israel in 1993. We sang in Nativity Square in Bethlehem on Christmas Eve. We took one of our tech people with us, and he recorded the performance, took it to a studio in Israel to uplink it back to Orlando, and it was shown at First Orlando during our Christmas Eve service. Channel 9 also played it on the 11 o’clock news that night.
What brought you to First Orlando?
(Then Pastor) Jim Henry and I met when I was in Atlanta and he at Two Rivers Baptist Church in Nashville. When he came to Orlando, he called me a few months later and we ended up meeting in the Atlanta airport. We had lunch for about two hours. At the end of that time, he said to me, “Ragan, we need a minister of music and the Lord has led us to speak to you.” He then invited me down to Orlando to take a look. I was very happy where I was , but I agreed to visit First Orlando. I met with a few people and went back home to pray. Several weeks later, I returned to meet the choir. The church voted on me, I accepted their call, and on February 15, 1978 I became the Minister of Music.
You also have been a longtime chaplain for the Orlando Fire Department. How did all that begin?
I had a lifelong interest in the fire service because my dad’s business was across the street from an Atlanta fire station. By the time I went into ministry, I was already familiar with chaplain work because the Atlanta Fire Department had a chaplain. I thought that would be a neat ministry. I always believed that people should do something for their community. So I went to the chief of the county fire department, we talked a little bit, and he asked me if I would like to be his chaplain. I began in 1972 in Cobb County — Marietta, Georgia. When I came to Orlando in 1978, he called the fire chief of Orlando and the mayor and the city council officially appointed me as the first fire chaplain for the Orlando Fire Department.
What do you like most about being a chaplain?
I love helping people. These days, chaplain work has turned inward. In the past, we worked a lot with victims, and we still do somewhat. But now, I work a lot more with the fire department and sherrif's department personnel. I consider myself a caregiver to the caregiver.
What was the turning point of your life?
When I transitioned from being a fulltime minister of music to the pastoral care ministry in 1999. I had done church music for 30 years, so beginning with that 31st year I had an entirely new scope of ministry. It was a whole new horizon for me and a great challenge.
What do you like most about your job?
There are just so many facets to it. I do something different every day. One day I’m getting a helicopter for Pastor David; the next day I’m visiting someone in the hospital; the next day I’m doing a wedding or a funeral, or responding to a three-alarm fire! Never a dull moment!
What are your most memorable moments in ministry?
Having the privilege of leading our people to minister in worship, concerts and presentations both locally and around the world, and to see them have the joy of witnessing thousands of people to whom they’ve ministered come to know Christ. I’ve been amazed, humbled, and grateful to our Lord for all the many people we’ve been able to touch through our different programs and Christmas and Easter presentations, our Sunday ministry and our mission ministries.
What is your favorite Bible verse?
Proverbs 3:5-6: “Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths.” Whenever you acknowledge God, you can be assured that He will direct your paths.
What do you like doing with your free time?
I use most of my free time enjoying life with my wife and family.
If you weren’t a pastor, what else would you be doing?
Being in ministry is all I’ve known, so I never even thought about doing anything else.
Ragan Vandegriff: Pastoral Care and First Orlando Foundation