The newest pastor at Tapp Methodist Church said it was divine intervention that led him to New Boston.
“We believe with all of our heart that God orchestrated our steps to be here,” Chase Bradfield said. “Pretty much from the very beginning, it felt that there was something special about it … the church, the people. And there was a connection right away.”
The 45-year-old has taken the role as head pastor, filling the gap left after the departure of David Godwin earlier this year.
Bradfield and his family came to the area via Missouri where he held a bi-vocational pastoral position. His position at Tapp is his first full-time church leadership position.
Growing up, Bradfield said his family “was in church every time the doors were open.”
“That was kind of the joke,” he said with a laugh. “It was a lifestyle that my parents instilled in me. And I’m thankful for that.”
But it was about ten years ago that Bradfield said he began his transition into ministry.
He began his journey in Christian education which translated into overseas missions and youth ministry with his wife, Glory.
It was in 2019 that he said he was called into pastoral ministry.
While he comes to New Boston from Missouri, he said ministry life has taken him to various places.
“We’ve been an active ministry family so we come from a lot of places,” Bradfield said. “When you’re in ministry you just live in different places and you travel to different places so it’s hard to know what you call home. But as a Christian, we call heaven our home. It’s our eternal home.
However, he hopes to make New Boston a longtime home for him and his family.
“I hope to be here for a long time. We’re trying to plant our roots here in New Boston. My wife already loves it here … Once we got here, we realized yeah this is a great fit for us,” Bradfield said. “We love the small town feel and access to things. The family atmosphere. It’s just a good fit for us. We’re going to be here as long as God allows us to be here.”
His children—9-year-old Henry, 7-year-old Bishop, 5-year-old Carmen and 4-year-old Hosanna—are also excited about being in the area and getting ready to attend school with their new friends at DeKalb elementary, he said.
“Even though our kids are going to DeKalb, we want to be deeply engrained in the New Boston culture and community,” he said. “I even joked to a couple people at my church, ‘Even during the DeKalb/New Boston football games, even though my kids are going to DeKalb, I’m going to sit on both sides.’” Bradfield said that while he is honored to lead, he said his role at Tapp is just to give glory to God and show the love that is already at the church.
“Personally, I don’t think I bring anything because I don’t have anything apart from God. Any talent, any skill, any ability that I have I believe comes from the Lord. God enables me to do anything I do,” Bradfield said.
“Tapp Methodist is a very special place. The people here really do genuinely love each other passionately... I’ve been to a lot of churches in my 45 years, but this one is special … In this church, the spirit of God is actively moving. And it’s a place where people can come and they can learn about Jesus and love and feel loved … And we invite people to come be a part of it.”
Tapp Methodist Church in New Boston recently welcomed new pastor Chase Bradfield and his wife, Glory, and their four children Henry, Bishop, Carmen and Hosanna.
