Ethan Greene

A Young Pastor with an “Old Soul” and a Powerful Message Ethan Greene

By Sherrie Norris

Ethan Greene wants his life to count for Jesus. Plain and simple. “I want people to know that there is a God and that He is real and will be real to them if they will let Him be.”

Greene doesn’t want to be known for what he might say or not say in an interview — but he wants to be known by his life and actions — “And, that I believe and live by the Bible — and through my life and sermons, I will point as many people to Jesus as possible.”

That’s a pretty tall order for any minister, but given the fact that Greene is 23 years of age, it’s pretty amazing, to say the least.

As pastor at Victory Baptist Church in Avery County, the Boone native is making an impact far and wide, not only through his church and community, but also through an annual youth rally that he coordinates each spring in Cove Creek.

Possessing a deep Biblical knowledge and insight, usually associated with older ministers who have been around a few years, Greene knew early in life that he would not only follow Jesus, but that he would serve Him in a special way.

The eldest of five sons of local pastor Michael Greene and his wife, Cheryl, and now a married man himself, Ethan grew up with values instilled in his life from birth. He has much to say about those formative years that helped pave the way for his future.

“I wouldn’t trade my home life growing up for anything,” he said. “We weren’t a perfect family, but everyone loved each other.”

He points to two major elements upon which his parents built their home and family: “One was God and the second was a love for each other.”

Michael Greene is the pastor at Bibleway Baptist Church in Boone, and has been for the last 24 years, accepting that role one month before Ethan was born.

“My mother is an extraordinary woman,” Ethan described. “When people would remark how difficult it must be to raise five boys, she would reply, ‘It’s not a difficulty, it’s a blessing!’ She and dad made each of us feel that we were important — and that God had a special plan for each of our lives.”

Ethan’s brother, Andrew, next in line, lives and works outside of Washington, DC. “I am also just as excited for what is in store for our younger brothers, Jeremy, Isaiah and Joshua. Each of them has great strengths and I am blessed to be their brother and to watch them as they grow. I know I am biased, but I have the best brothers.”

The Greene brothers have been (and the younger ones continue to be) homeschooled; they have lived on a farm, kept cattle, and Ethan had a horse. “We lived on one side of the farm and my paternal grandparents lived on the other.”

He recalls, on many summer days, he would walk the distance between the two homes.

“The walk was close to a mile each way, with some beautiful views along the way,” he shared. “Often, I would stop and admire the views, which fueled my imagination. I daydreamed of what I would be when I grew up — under the branches of the same tree that my grandpa and my dad did when they were growing up.”

The idea of ministry was a playful idea more than a serious thought, he admitted. “I wanted to be like dad, my hero, but I never took the idea of actual ministry serious.”

On occasion, Ethan joined his dad at his “prayer place.”

“Dad had several prayer places on the farm, but one, in particular, had Following in the footsteps of his father, Ethan Greene was preparing early for life in the ministry.

A once shy Ethan Greene overcame many obstacles to be able to stand before an altar to deliver the word of God. Photo by Tara Diamond

views of the valleys below and the mountains off into other states.”

His mother, too, had her own prayer spot. “Not on top of a mountain, but inside our home.”

Greene recalled listening to both of his parents pray — “And it was as natural as if they were talking to their best friend or close relative,” he described. “I would sometimes hear dad address God from his mountain- top prayer spot as the creator of the universe. It was an awesome thought that someone could actually talk to and know the God who made the earth.”

Greene said he could “use up this whole article” talking about his parents, brothers, grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins — because they all made a “wonderful impression” on him and his life. “I grew up being taught the importance and value of hard work,” he said. “There was always a chore to do on the farm or in the house.”

When he got his driver’s license, he went to work for a man who he now has the privilege of pastoring. “He owned

a landscape business and he trusted me to watch and work on the mulch lot. I enjoyed the work and more than that, I enjoyed the people I got to meet.”

From there, Greene started to pick up side jobs mowing yards, which grew into a small business that he still has today — along with being a full-time pastor.

“I don’t see my yards so much as work, as much as I do a hobby that lets me get outside and clear my mind,” he said. “I don’t have a specific hobby, although my wife would argue it was eating — but anything relating to the outdoors I find enjoyable.”

And speaking of that precious wife. “I met her at a youth rally I was hosting. Her brother was my piano player. I found it hard to concentrate on moderating a meeting, though, when I all I could see was the green eyes of a girl named Cathryn.”

That night, he got her phone number, and after talking to her for several weeks, he asked her to be his girlfriend.

“We dated from December 2015 until we got married on June 10, 2017,” he said. “ I love her more today than I ever dreamed I could when I said ‘I do’.”

A piece of advice that Greene was given on his wedding day — and something that he won’t soon, if ever forget: “The ‘I do’ isn’t a one-time thing. You repeat it and live it and keep saying it. Remind yourself of the promise you made to your spouse on that very special day.” He Owes it All to Jesus

All the blessings in his life, Greene said, “Every single one of them — I owe to Jesus.”

When he was 8, he was introduced to Christ in a personal way.

“It was on a Thursday night, April 8, 2004, to be exact, right before Easter Sunday,” he shared. “Easter was on the 11th that year and Mom had just finished reading to me the story of the crucifixion of Jesus. I had heard the story before — of Jesus being born in a Bethlehem barn inside of a crib filled with hay, living a perfect life and then being nailed to a cross, dying, being placed in a tomb, and three days after His death, miraculously getting back up, just as alive as though He had never died, and after being seen and verified by earthly witnesses, He went back to heaven.” As pastor at Victory Baptist Church near Newland, Ethan Greene preaches to a packed house nearly every Sunday, having seen weekly attendance surge since he came two years ago. From humble beginnings and through difficult days, it is evident that Victory Baptist Church never lost sight of its desire for God’s provision. Photo by Tara Diamond

Cathryn and Ethan Greene stand side-by-side in marriage and ministry. “Outside of trusting Christ to be my Savior, nothing has changed my life any more than being married to Cathryn,” said Greene. Photo by Tara Diamond

But something about that time during the story, Greene said, “I could picture Jesus hanging on the cross, beaten and hurting, about to die and realizing that He was doing that because He loved me and wanted to give me a home in heaven one day with Him.” In the bedroom floor, he knelt down and asked Jesus to forgive him for his sins. “I trusted Jesus to be my personal Savior, and at that very moment He forgave me for my sins, past, present and future, and gave me a peace and joy that I have never got over. Jesus changed my life! What He did for me, He can do for anyone!”

His Path to the Ministry

From that point on, Greene was anxious to share his faith with anyone who would listen.

“On Friday, after receiving Christ into my heart on Thursday, our church was having a men’s prayer meeting. I was so excited to tell the men that I had gotten saved — but the most amazing part was when we started praying, I felt in my heart that now when I prayed, God was actually listening to me!”

While traveling with his dad to meetings where he

The Greene family, from left to right: Isaiah, Cathryn and Ethan, parents Michael and Cheryl, Joshua, Andrew and Jeremy. Photo by Kim Greene Scott/Timeless Treazures Photography

was preaching, the two talked about many things along the way.

“Many times, my dad would remind me of the importance of finding out what God wanted from me,” Greene recalled. “He never pushed ‘the call,’ or encouraged me to consider the ministry. He wanted what God wanted for my life — and I appreciate that very much.”

When Greene was 9, he said, God put a love in his heart for people — one that he hasn’t been able to since shake.

“I would cry over complete strangers, because I wasn’t sure if they knew Jesus,” he shared. “I would stuff my pockets full of gospel tracts and pass them out to whoever would take them. Even then, it was becoming clear that the only way for me to satisfy what was in my heart was to tell as many people as I could about the Lord.” It seemed like ministry was in his future, even then, he said.

“But, there were several problems — or at least they seemed like problems to me. I was too young, I was super shy — and even though my dad was my hero — I didn’t want to spend my life in the ministry. I shrugged off the thought of preaching, every time it entered my mind.” Beginning his teenage years, Greene said, he was engaged in all sorts of activities and spent a lot of time with his friends, fishing and hanging out.

“But it was always in the back of my mind, that God

Rev. Ethan Greene, seated, fourth from left, is surrounded by other ministers of the gospel during the annual Rising to the Occasion Youth Rally at the old Cove Creek School gymnasium.

might want to call me into the ministry,” he said. “The thought of preaching scared me.” One winter Sunday when his dad had to call off church because of inclement weather, he asked Ethan to teach a Bible lesson to the family.

“I was so scared. And after a lengthy five minutes, I sat back down. I told the Lord that if I was too nervous to teach a Bible lesson to my family, there was no way I could preach to strangers.” He remembers becoming so miserable though, that finally, in the early part of May, 2010, at the age of 14, he climbed a hill on the family farm — with a shovel in one hand and a Bible in the other.

“When I found what I thought was a good spot, I used the shovel to level the ground, gathered some rocks, stacked them on top of each other and laid my Bible open. I said, ‘God, if you’re as real as this Bible says you are, and if you have the power to create the heavens and the earth as the Bible says you have, then I want to know you in a real and powerful way, and if that means that I preach just to get peace again in my heart, and if preaching is how I can know you better, then I’m willing.’”

On the last Sunday of May, his dad had scheduled a youth meeting for that afternoon.

“Cody Shew, a semi-professional bull rider was preaching that night on a message called ‘Divine Possibilities,’ Greene shared. “In the message, he mentioned that God could do more with your life than you could ever dream of doing yourself. All you had to do was let go and give it to God.” That Sunday evening, May 30, 2010, Greene surrendered his life to serve Christ.

“Most people are willing to give Jesus their heart, but very few ever give Him their life,” he explained. “I told the Lord at the altar that night that I didn’t know how to preach, but if I made a fool of myself trying — if that’s what God wanted — I would gladly do it for Him.” Outside of salvation, answering the call of God for his life was the best thing to happen to him, he said.

“And because of the call, I met my wife,” he said with a smile. “I owe everything good in my life to Jesus. I tell people all the time that the will of God is different for everyone. The will of God might be for someone to be a welder, a lawyer, a nurse or doctor. For me, it was to be a preacher. Whatever the will of God is, there is nothing like knowing what it is for your life — and then doing it!”

Greene’s wife, the former Cathryn Clark, was raised in Granite Falls and has worked at Samaritans Purse. Having always wanted to be a hair stylist, she recently completed cosmetology school and currently works at a salon in Boone.

“She loves it, and people love the job she does,” Greene said. “She knew I was a preacher before we started dating, so she knew what she was getting,” he said with a chuckle. “But, I’m not sure she knew what all she was signing up for.”

Before their marriage, the couple had in-depth discussions of the affects of ministry on a marriage and on a family, Greene said. “We talked about the pros and cons. These conversations never fazed her.”

He continued, “One Wednesday evening, Cathryn and I pulled into the parking lot of a church where I was scheduled to preach that night and I asked her a question. She knew that I had previously assisted a pastor in Boston, Mass. several years prior, so before we walked into church I asked her, just as serious as I could be: ‘Cathryn, if God told me to move to Boston to pastor, would you be alright going with me?’ Without batting an eye, her immediate response was: “Ethan, if you tell me that God wants you to preach in Boston, or somewhere else around the world, I’ll follow you wherever.’ I’m not pastoring in Boston, but I have watched how Cathryn has handled the pressures of life in the ministry. She is right there with me. She likes to say that she is my cheerleader. She certainly is! She can be brutally honest with me, but she is always full of compassion. Outside of trusting Christ to be my Savior, nothing has changed my life any more than being married to Cathryn.”

Before he had his driver’s license, he would have to ask for rides to get from church to church “Either from my mom, (not dad, because he was busy preaching himself), grandparents or older friends. I never claimed to be an evangelist, although I was traveling quite a bit and doing the duties of one.”

Greene was 16, he said, when God put pastoring in his heart.

“I started praying for the church I was to pastor at 16, even though it would be five years before God answered that prayer,” he said. “Around the same time that God was dealing with my heart to preach, I met a man who questioned me about my direction in life. After I told him I was already involved in ministry work, he asked if I felt like I was missing out on the things that most my age would be interested in?”

Greene said he remembered a song that mentioned how Christians do, in fact, miss out. “The song implies that Christians have missed out on the heartaches and sorrows of sin. That was my reply.”

Greene said he will always be appreciative to all the men who opened their pulpits to him when he was just getting started.

“They trusted me and loved on me,” he said. “ I am forever indebted to them. I have often been called an ‘old soul,’ and I suppose that is partially true. But what can you expect from a teenager following around and listening in to conversations of men who are more than twice his age?” Newlyweds Ethan and Cathryn Greene share a love for the Lord, for each other and their ministry.

After Greene started in the ministry, one of his spiritual heroes became a man who had died five years before he started preaching: Adrian Rogers with Love Worth Finding Ministries.

“Outside of my dad, his recorded sermons did as much to bolster my faith in the Word of God as anyone else,” he said.

“Since I answered the call into the ministry, God had blessed me with many friends in the ministry, and not just older men, but many who are around my own age, who I can call or meet up for fellowship.”

One of those friends, Corey Engebretson, pastor of Floyd Baptist Church in Eden, shared: “Ethan is a man of great character who loves the Lord and has a mind and wisdom way above his years. Who he is behind the pulpit is who he is behind closed doors.”

The two met several years ago when Greene was speaking in a church of a mutual pastor friend and have gotten to know each other well. “He’s got a mountain country twang that I loved from the start — I had never heard anything like that before. I consider him one of my best friends and like a brother I never had. We talk several times a week. He’s so kind and he listens. He has so much wisdom, you just wouldn’t expect that from a man so young. I’m 28 and I look up to him. God is using him in a mighty way. His influence is on the small end of something big.”

Derrick Wilson, pastor for the last 20 years at Timbered Ridge Baptist Church near the Bethel Community, is also a dear friend and mentor to Greene.

“I’ve known him a long time, and as a good friend to his daddy, I watched him grow up,” Wilson said. “There’s not a finer young man in this country than Ethan Greene. He started helping me preach when he was about 15, right after he announced his calling to preach. He’s sure been a blessing to me and Timbered Ridge. Anytime I needed to be gone for some reason, he would be there to fill in for me.”

Wilson said he was blessed to help in Greene’s ordination service, and at his wedding. “The Lord is really using that young man. I think the world of him and his sweet wife.”

Wilson said Greene also helps him with services at Deerfield Ridge Assisted Living in Boone on the third Sunday of every month.

Greene is thankful for his friends, he said, but

admitted that ministry can still be “a lonely thing.”

While he has no regrets that he gave his life to Jesus at such an early age, he said, “There are challenges that I face, but no matter what age you are, trials are going to come. I read recently where only about 15 percent of the pastors in America now are under the age of 40. I consider myself very blessed to be a part of the percentage.”

Jesus outweighs all of the negatives, Greene stressed. “If I had a mission, it would be to build people’s confidence in the Bible and to point as many people to Christ as possible. People aren’t going to respond to Christ if they don’t believe, and they aren’t going to believe without the Bible. Romans 10:17 says: “So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.”

People have often asked Greene what version of the Bible he uses — or would recommend. “My reply is the King James Bible, no matter what age or background. I have heard the arguments both for and against it, and my personal choice and conviction is to stay with it. I have not found a reason not to trust it. It’s been reliable and powerful and if it isn’t broke, in my estimation, then there’s nothing to fix.”

Greene said he has been told that he would never see a church or youth program grow if he held onto that version of the Bible.

“I was told it was too hard to read or understand. But, they told me that too late. I was 8 when I read through my Bible, the King James Bible, for the first time, and I had no problem with it. Once I finished, I read through it again, and I have read through it several times since. I have friends who disagree with me on this issue, and that’s all right. I have made my choice.”

Why is he so convinced?

“I believe the King James Bible, written in the old English language, gives a very thorough, in-depth and beautiful picture of Christ,” he said. “The book does a magnificent job painting a picture of Jesus to its readers. That’s what I’m looking for, to make much of Jesus, and that’s exactly what it does.”

God Answered His Prayer to Pastor

In January, 2017 God answered Greene’s prayer to pastor a church. “After serving as interim at a few other churches, and then coming to Victory Baptist Church to also serve in an interim position, I was voted in unanimously to be their pastor.”

He can’t describe the emotions he felt that day, Greene said, “Except by saying it was a mixture of both absolute fear and overwhelming joy.”

He was 21, he and Cathryn had been married for six months, and he was going to be the second pastor in the church’s almost 40-year his

tory. “Preacher James Beaver was 91, and he and his wife, before she passed away, had been married more than 50 years. What a contrast!” he said. “The church had started in a house basement and then moved around to occupy space in a greenhouse once, and a burned-out trailer another time, before ultimately buying an old general store on Squirrel Creek Road,” he described. “As the church grew, they added a main seating area to the back of the store front and that was their church. Preacher Beaver, as we call him, is still an encouragement to me. He’s not in the best of health and isn’t able to attend church much anymore. I will go and see him, and each time I do, I try to make it clear how grateful I am to him for his faithful leadership all those years. I feel like I’m reaping benefits in fields he sowed in for most of his ministry.” When Greene got the call to fill in, the congregation was averaging 35 to 40 in attendance on Sunday mornings, and most of those were older members.

“But, what I saw in that group of believers was a desire to see God do something big and to use them to reach others in their community,” Greene said. “Not a one of them, to my knowledge, believed that God was finished with their church. I laid out a vision for the future and they jumped right on board. After they voted me in, we went straight to work.” Change was a big part of the process, he recalled. “There was a change in leadership, a change in the service structure, a change with just about everything — except with the Word of God and our music. We are still preaching from the King James Bible and we still have a conservative tone to our music. In two years, we have watched God, not me or my ministry, but God grow His church in rural Avery County from 40 to a consistent 100 plus congregants on Sunday mornings.”

To make additional space, the church recently remodeled its sanctuary, which increased seating capacity by more than 50 seats.

“On our first Sunday back in the building, we had 153 in attendance,” Greene shared. “I remember back to what my wife’s former pastor had told me once: ‘If you will be faithful to preach the Word, Christ will build His Church.’ That’s been our philosophy. We preach unapologetically that the Bible is a book of absolute truth and not situational ethics. It has the power to change anyone’s life who will believe and obey it. It may be contrary to today’s society and culture, but if God said it, that settles it for me, whether I believe it or not!”

David Cooke, deacon at Victory Baptist Church, had this to say about his young pastor: “He’s the most advanced in preaching God’s word of any young man that I’ve ever heard. We’ve been able to watch him grow since he’s been here and it’s not like anything we’ve ever

seen before.”

Cooke said the church thought Greene would be a great minister for the youth — “And he loves the youth, but what he’s doing for our older adults is unbelievable. God is using this young man in a special way. There’s not many like him. We love him.”

Cooke said the church has really grown since Greene came as its pastor — even during the recent period of renovation, attendance was growing with services in the fellowship hall.

What makes him stand out, we asked Cooke? “He’s committed to God.” It bothers Greene, he said, to see our nation turning its back on God.

“In God we Trust is our motto and on the principles of the Word of God we have stood and been blessed by God for it, but if we don’t get back to taking a stand on the scriptures again — instead of apologizing and trying to reinterpret what the Bible says — we are going to find ourselves in a bad place, nationally, much quicker than we had imagined possible. “

Greene refers to the following scripture, found in 2 Chronicles 7:14: “If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.”

In May, Greene will celebrate 10 years in the ministry.

“If God will help me, I plan on doing the same thing for the next 10 years and however long I have on earth — believing the Bible and preaching Jesus! I told my wife that I hope one day, at the end of my life, people can simply say that I was a man who believed and lived by the Bible.”

Rising to the Occasion Youth Rally

In 2014, Ethan Greene preached a message from 1 Samuel 17:29 titled “Rising to the Occasion.” In the text, he spoke of the Philistines who were fighting against the Israelites, and included a man named Goliath.

“The Bible recorded that he was a giant — and on top of that, he was very skilled in military combat. While everyone, including King Saul of Israel, was afraid to fight against him, David asked the question, ‘Is there not a cause?’ As I look around at my generation, I see giants of drug addiction, alcohol addiction, lust and immorality, fear and depression, and I have asked myself the same question — ‘Is there not a cause?’ After much prayer and preparation, in 2015 Greene, with the help of fellow pastors, family and friends, hosted the first Rising to the Occasion Youth Rally at the Old Cove Creek Gym in Sugar Grove. “Around 200 attended that meeting,” Greene said. Since then, the attendance has steadily grown.

“Last year, in the Friday evening service, we had close to

Photos by Tara Diamond

500 attending. This year, in April, we will, Lord willing, do it again.” The scheduled dates are: Wed., April 29 – Fri., May 1, and again, at the Old Cove Creek Gym, 205 Dale Adams Rd. in Sugar Grove.

The service are scheduled to begin at 7:30 p.m. each night, with special guest speakers and musicians.

“This meeting is for all ages, although it’s labeled a youth rally,” Greene said. “It blesses my heart to look out and see a multigenerational audience. We are in this together, no matter what age, race or background.”

Greene said the rally shares the same emphasis with other areas of his ministry: “Build people’s confidence in the Bible and preach Jesus!”

It is all surreal to Greene, he said, “Because I was never the most athletic player on the team. I wasn’t usually the first choice. On the gym floor at Old Cove Creek, when I was playing on a Parks and Rec basketball team, I proved this point very well by stealing the ball and shooting for the opposite team. I felt like the biggest failure that night, embarrassed and ashamed.”

He had no idea, though, that several years down the road, he wouldn’t be carrying a basketball into that gym, but rather, a Bible.

If he had one message to share with every young person in America, Greene said, “It would be that you are never too young to serve the Lord. Give your heart to Jesus in salvation, acknowledge that He alone can save you from your sins. Ask Jesus to forgive you and save you — and He will. And, once you have given Him your heart, go ahead and give Him your life!” Those who know him, Greene said, have heard him say: “Living for Jesus is like a dream come true!” ◆