Aces of Trades: Brad Pilkington takes 'wonderful journey' to Spring Hills Baptist in Granville
GRANVILLE – He grew up a gifted athlete – and musician.
“I loved sports,” recalled Brad Pilkington. “I played baseball and basketball from age 8, and football from age 12 through high school. I dreamed of playing professional baseball for sure. I pitched a no-hitter when I was 8, and I thought that would secure my future for me!”
“I also developed a love for music,” he added. “My mom sang gospel music and played piano. My granddad taught singing in the Arkansas Singing Schools and travelled with Gospel quartets for most of his life. My two sisters and I were required to take piano lessons as children. I started piano lessons at age 8. I liked music pretty much from that time on. I dreamed of being a famous rock or pop player/singer as I was bouncing from band to band, never really getting anywhere with that scene!”
“At age 16,” he continued, “I made a new commitment to Jesus Christ and started making music that would glorify Him. As a senior in high school, I took a drastic turn from focusing on math and science and turning to choir, show choir, and music theory classes. Mr. Jones, our high school music director, influenced me greatly. I remember thinking, ‘I could do that. I might do that!’ – become a choral director.”
Today, Pilkington is senior associate pastor for worship and operations at Spring Hills Baptist Church in Granville.
“I’m responsible for our weekend worship services,” he said, “including rehearsing the worship bands and tech teams, and special events that might be worship or music related. I also serve on the Spring Hills executive team.”
Now 61, Pilkington was born in Ft. Worth, Texas but moved to the St. Louis area at about 18 months old. He graduated from McClure North High School in 1978, Missouri Baptist College (now University) in 1982 with a B.A. in music education, then received a master’s in choral conducting from Webster University.
“In 1985 my wife Paula and I moved to Ohio,” he said, “and I became the minister of music at Whitehall Baptist Church. Then sometime in the late 80’s I met Pastor Jeff Pound. He was frequently asked to be the featured speaker around the State Convention of Baptists in Ohio at revival meetings, men’s gatherings, SCBO evangelism and convention meetings, etc. I was also frequently asked to be the worship leader at these same types of events and our paths crossed frequently.”
“We became friends,” Pilkington noted, “and I became interested in a group of people that started meeting in the Pound’s home, then moved to the Granville High School cafeteria, then eventually purchased the land and built a building at 1820 Newark Granville Road. Paula and I loved to visit Granville and the newly formed Spring Hills Baptist Church, and that eventually turned into talking with the Pounds about coming to Granville and joining the staff at SHBC. I started as the worship pastor at Spring Hills on Easter Sunday, 1993. In 2023 I’ll celebrate 30 years of ministry here.”
“The entire staff of Spring Hills loves working with Pastor Brad,” assessed Tom Pound, Jeff Pound’s son and now Spring Hills senior pastor. “His dedication, humility and drive to glorify God inspire us.”
“I only do it from the heart,” Pilkington responded. “I frequently tell people, ‘I have the greatest ‘job’ in the world!’ It’s been a wonderful journey.”
For more
Spring Hills Baptist Church is located at 1820 Newark Granville Rd. in Granville. For more information, log on www.springhillschurch.org.
Aces of Trades is a weekly series focusing on people and their jobs – whether they’re unusual jobs, fun jobs or people who take ordinary jobs and make them extraordinary. If you have a suggestion for a future profile, let us know at advocate@newarkadvocate.com or 740-328-8821.
This article originally appeared on Newark Advocate: Aces: Pilkington takes 'wonderful journey' to Spring Hills Baptist
