Submitted by philip on
By Brian Blackwell, Message Staff Writer
BOSSIER CITY – Brian Prucey’s journey in ministry has taken him from the battlefield in Saudi Arabia to the church field in Louisiana, and countless highways and byways in between.
But no matter if he was serving in the Air Force or in the pew, Prucey has kept his focus on ministering to the multitudes.
“God has given me a wonderful opportunity to serve both my country and His Kingdom, and for many years to do that at the same time,” said Prucey, a bi-vocational pastor at Elm Grove Baptist Church in Bossier City and one of many who will celebrate Veterans Day on Nov. 11.
Though he sensed the call to ministry at 15, Prucey opted to instead focus his attention on one day joining the armed forces. By the time he graduated from a Warren, Ohio, high school at age 18, Prucey was on a plane bound for San Antonio and the start to his 22-year career in the Air Force that ended on Jan. 1, 1999, when he honorably retired as a senior master sergeant with more than 20 medals, awards and ribbons.
However, God never allowed Prucey to forget that call and at 19 he surrendered to the ministry.
Throughout service at bases in South Carolina, the United Kingdom and Louisiana, including a seven month deployment to Saudi Arabia during the first Gulf War and a four month deployment to Kuwait, Prucey ministered to his fellow airmen. He led chapel services from time to time and witnessed to those he serve with, resulting in some of them accepting Christ as their personal Savior and Lord.
“The guys I worked with closely would talk to me a lot about spiritual issues in their life,” Prucey said. “Leading up to the Gulf War there was a lot of uncertainty where we were serving. The troops were understandably nervous and I had the opportunity to share assurances we had in Christ.”
One such time was when the Gulf War began and Iraq was launching SCUD missiles at US forces in Saudi Arabia. Though some of the missiles targeted his base, a Patriot missile defense system intercepted them. However, his fellow servicemen knew there was always a chance a missile reach their base, causing some nervousness on their part.
“After one missile attack, one of the young men who worked for me, who also knew that I was a pastor, confided that he was afraid to die,” Prucey said. “That led to an opportunity to share scripture and the Gospel message of hope through Jesus Christ. God had opened his heart and he prayed to receive Jesus as his Savior.”
Prucey – who also was stationed at the now-closed England Air Force Base in Alexandria from 1983 to 1992 – said he approached the pastor of the church he was attending at the time about pursuing a career in the ministry.
“I let the pastor know that God had called me to the ministry but I didn’t get a sense of calling to get out of the Air Force,” said Prucey, who was attending Community Baptist Church in Alexandria at the time. He also did not see how it was possible to serve as pastor of a church while serving full time in the Air Force.
However, in October 1988, Prucey was asked to supply the pulpit at Amiable Baptist Church in Glenmora. By the end of the year he was named interim pastor, where he remained until England Air Force Base closed in 1992.
In what Prucey saw as an answer to prayer, he was reassigned to Barksdale Air Force Base in the Shreveport/Bossier area. While working as an explosives and nuclear safety manager, Prucey attended Summer Grove Baptist Church in Shreveport until God called him in 1995 to the next church on his journey in ministry, this time at Linwood Baptist Church in Shreveport for seven years.
In addition to Linwood and Elm Grove Baptist, Prucey also has served as pastor of the Shreveport/Bossier City area churches of Red River Baptist in Benton, North Keithville Baptist and Grace Baptist Fellowship in Bossier City.
Prucey cites his strong time management skills as key to balancing his job at a pastor and tax professional – a position he has held throughout most of his time as pastor in the Shreveport/Bossier City area following his retirement from the Air Force.
“Without that I couldn’t have a full-time secular job, work as pastor and spend time with my wife Carole,” said Prucey, who also is a financial consultant for the Northwest Louisiana Baptist Association and other individuals.
Working at a secular job, Prucey said, has helped him better understand his church members.
“I understand what our members are going through,” Prucey said. “Like me, they work a Monday to Friday job and then come up to the church to work in various ministries after work hours and on the weekends. It’s made me sensitive to not over-committing my members.”
Since he is a bi-vocational pastor, Prucey is unable to attend every single surgery or other function involving church members.
He said he is thankful for a congregation that is understanding and supportive.
“There is no way as a bi-vocational pastor that I can be ever where I would like to be. I appreciate our strong team of lay leaders and other bi-vocational staff members. Our people have been able to connect their spiritual giftedness with gracious ministries to one another and I think the church has been enriched because of it.”