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Short Stories: G&B Trains, Findlay, Ohio
Not from G&B Trains, but similar to what the store looked like when I worked there. In the early 1970s, my father, Robert Gerencser, and Gary Ziessler, fellow deacons at Trinity Baptist Church,...
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Did My Philosophy of Ministry Change Over the Years I Spent in the Ministry?
Bruce and Polly Gerencser, May 1978 Several years ago, my editor, Carolyn, asked me a question about how my philosophy of ministry had changed from when I first began preaching in 1976 until I left...
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Dear Bruce Turner
Bruce Turner Bruce Turner was my youth pastor in the early 1970s. Bruce played a very influential part in my life, from my profession of faith in Christ to my call to the ministry. I originally...
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Is it Ever Okay to Lie?
I grew up in a religious culture where lying (bearing false witness) was always considered a sin. It was never, ever right to tell a lie, even if the ends justified the means. This was more of an...
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The Day IFB Luminary Russell Anderson Called Out Redheaded Teenager Bruce...
Independent Fundamentalist Baptist (IFB) luminary Russell T. Anderson died yesterday. Over the course of his life, Anderson helped start, through his multi-million dollar contributions, seven IFB...
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What Does it Take to Change the Minds of IFB Believers?
My friend Eric Skwarczynski, the publisher of the Preacher Boys Podcast, had this to say on Facebook today: Been thinking quite a bit this month about why we change beliefs. So often I release a...
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My Baptist Salvation Testimony
Bruce Gerencser, Ninth Grade, 1971-72 Over the past fifteen years, I have received countless emails from Evangelicals wanting me to share with them my salvation testimony. Some of these interlocutors...
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Fifty Years Ago, I Preached My First Sermon
Emmanuel Baptist Church, Buckeye Lake, Ohio, Bruce Gerencser’s ordination April 1983 I was raised in the Evangelical church. My parents were saved in the early 1960s at Scott Memorial Baptist Church...
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Short Stories: Charlotte and Bruce, a Summer Romance
In the fall of 1970, Dad moved us from Deshler, Ohio — a small rural community in northwest Ohio — to a moderate-sized city of 35,000 residents called Findlay. Findlay is home to Marathon Oil and a...
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Evangelists: The Hired Guns of the IFB Church Movement
I grew up in the Independent Fundamentalist Baptist (IFB) church movement, attended an IFB college, married an IFB pastor’s daughter, and pastored IFB churches for a decade. In the late 1980s, thanks...
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Bruce’s Hot Takes for January 17, 2024
Dear Republicans, learn the difference between free speech and free market. Twitter owner Elon Musk told some advertisers to go fuck themselves. That’s free speech. After hearing Musk loud and clear,...
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Short Stories: A Ward of the Court
1973 –Teen Singing Group Trinity Baptist Church, Findlay, Ohio. Delores Sparrow, Cindi Baldridge, Stella Echavaria, Chris Armstrong, and Bruce Gerencser In March 1973, my dad packed up his three...
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Short Stories: My First and Last All-Night Prayer Meeting
Singing Group Trinity Baptist Church, Findlay, Ohio. Bruce Gerencser is the last person on the right, age 15. As a fifteen-year-old boy at Trinity Baptist Church in Findlay, Ohio, I attended my first...
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Why People Have a Hard Time Leaving the IFB Church Movement
Several years ago, I was interviewed by Eric Skwarczynski for his Preacher Boys Podcast. Eric is a Christian, formerly a part of the Independent Fundamentalist Baptist (IFB) church movement. I had a...
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Short Stories: A Moment of Kindness Remembered for a Lifetime
It’s early spring in northwest Ohio, the year is 1972. A fourteen-year-old boy is playing with his Lionel trains in the basement of a rented house on Cherry St. in Findlay, Ohio. He loves playing...
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