By Baptist Message staff
BATON ROUGE, La. (LBM) – Andrew Ogea has been commissioned as a pastor with multiple church plants, but nothing compared to his installation as the pastor of First Baptist Church, Baton Rouge, when his dad passed the mantel of leadership to him on Father’s Day.
“A pastoral succession between a father and son is a unique experience that probably doesn’t happen very often, and for ours to occur on Father’s Day made it especially meaningful,” Ogea told the Baptist Message. “My father handed me the baton after I promised to faithfully shepherd the congregation. For him to be the person passing that baton to me was incredible.”
Ogea, who previously served as worship pastor and executive pastor with Vintage Church, New Orleans, and later as worship and discipleship pastor with Northshore Church, Slidell, said he will do his best with the Lord’s guidance to fulfill those promises he made, including keeping God first, family second and the church third and leading with love, encouragement and integrity to the church and community.
Additionally, the church promised during the ceremony to pray for Ogea and his family and encourage them.
He added that he has learned much about pastoring churches from his dad, who has served multiple churches as an interim pastor for 17 churches.
“My father exemplifies strong expository preaching, strategic leadership, and the importance of longevity in ministry,” he said. “God was so gracious to bless me with not only a devoted father, but also a hero in ministry.”
Ogea’s dad, Reggie, shared this was the most challenging and rewarding of all the churches where he has served as interim pastor.
“The chairman of the pastor search committee said he wondered if they would turn out the lights at one point but now feels they have a bright future,” he said. “They know it’ll be hard moving forward but Andrew is the right age and is interested in staying there long term.
“After I submitted his name for pastor, I stepped out of any more search committee meetings because I did not want them to say I had any kind of influence and that God was leading it,” he continued. “I was excited, and Andrew was too when they called him. The church deserves a fresh start and is serious about revitalizing themselves and downtown Baton Rouge.”
Moving forward, Andrew Ogea said he is ready to use his experience in church planting to help revitalize FBCBR. While serving as one of the pastors at Vintage Church and Northshore Church, Ogea saw dozens baptized and hundreds of members added. He also expressed optimism for a church with great passion for reaching the city with the Gospel and believes even greater days are ahead.
“First Baptist has a rich heritage and history, but at the same time is in a season where it needs renewal,” he said. “In a sense, this is kind of like another church planting situation but it’s different because we have been here for 150 years. I’m blessed to be with others who share the same vision for our church as we seek the Lord’s wisdom and move forward to reach Baton Rouge for Jesus.”
Ogea said that when he was at Northshore Church, he always believed he would follow Pastor Larry McEwen, who started the church in 2001 and served as lead pastor until May of 2024. However, when McEwen announced his retirement in 2023, Ogea felt the Lord was leading him in another direction.
“I told our congregation I was withdrawing my candidacy, and the next day I got an email from the search team at FBCBR asking me if I would consider submitting my resume,” Ogea said. “I always thought that if I was going to be lead pastor anywhere, it would be at Northshore Church, but God shut the door. However, those desires to be a lead pastor were still present, but I just didn’t know where they were going to be directed. And then the Lord answered my prayer and led me here to First Baptist.”
Ogea is excited about engaging the community through Christ-centered expository preaching, relational evangelism, and intentional community outreach. He will be serving alongside gifted staff members and a congregation hungry for growing the church and seeing Baton Rouge changed for Christ.
“Our people are servant-hearted, godly men and women of Christ, and they have served so well for so long,” he said. “We are serious about our commitment to fulfill God’s mission to make fully devoted and fully delighted disciples of Jesus Christ in Baton Rouge. We can’t wait to engage with our community, welcome new people that come through our doors, reach the next generation for Christ, and see the halls of First Baptist full of people again.”
