Following their faith

*Editor's Note* A previous version of this article had Greg Snell's wife named as Wanda. Her name is Linda. We apologize for the error.

After nearly a year and a half without someone in their pulpit, the congregation at the First Baptist Church of Saratoga at 802 W. Main Street finally has a church leader. Greg Snell and his wife, Linda, moved to Saratoga last month and will be leading services at the church.

The Snells bring a wealth of knowledge and experience to this position. 

"We met at Colorado State University 48 years ago at a square dance and we got married. I was a Forestry Graduate, twice, from CSU," said Greg. "Together, we went to the Moody Bible Institute about 20 years ago. Linda got a degree in '04 and I got a Master's Degree in '05."

The Moody Bible Institute is an Evangelical bible institute located in Chicago, Illinois. Founded by evangelist and businessman Dwight Lyman Moody in 1886, the institute is fully accredited and one that both Snells felt would be recognized across a broader spectrum of Christianity.

Saratoga, with its population of just over 1,600, is quite larger than the previous municipality that the Snells called home. Prior to moving to the Valley, Greg and Linda Snell lived in the hamlet of Westby, Montana. Westby has a population of 168 and rests in the most northwest corner of Montana, just a few miles from Saskatchewan, Canada.

"Westby is on the edge of the Bakken Oil boom, so to speak, and six (to) seven years ago we had quite an influx of workers and people. It's been dwindling ever since and the last oil related industry closed about two years ago," Greg said. "We've been retired for 10 years and we've been missionaries going into Canada and Alaska for four out of those 10 years. Previously been hooked up with a missionary organization out of Oregon that has missionaries in Alaska, Western Canada and Siberia. Their major focus has been native peoples. They had a somewhat other focus in the urban communities of Canada towards immigrants."

As they performed their missionary work while based in Westby, the Snells were considering moving their missionary work to Alaska. The life and the Lord, however, appeared to have different plans. 

"We've been trying to raise support to go to Alaska for the last two years and that support hasn't been forthcoming," said Greg. "A year ago, we started looking for vacant pulpits and we found this one at the Southern Baptist Convention website. I'm not sure how long it had been there but I guess the pulpit's been vacant about a year and a half when we got here."

After applying for the position, the Snells were invited down to Saratoga to interview with the First Baptist Church's pulpit committee. A week and a half later, Greg performed a service at the church. It wasn't long after that, the Snells were informed that they were welcomed into the church. From application to pulpit placement, only about three weeks had passed.

"We're very welcomed and they're very, very glad to have us here. They've been doing church by electronics for the past year and a half," Greg said. "I don't know how many guest speakers they've had in but they were doing quite a bit on the internet when we got here."

Even before retirement and becoming missionaries, both Greg and Linda found that the church was central to their lives. 

"From very early in our marriage, and even before that, we've had a calling to the ministry, a calling to help people," said Linda. "That has been filled different ways through our married life and, at this point, it's right here in Saratoga."

"Ever since we've been married, we have been in the church. As we've studied, our faith has grown. The first time we had contact with missionaries was about 1977," added Greg. "We were down in Pueblo, Colorado and we learned more about it while we were there. We've had a number of contacts through the years of various missionaries. Some had told us to go for it, others had told us to raise our kids" 

That's right. In addition to being involved with the church, the Snells have raised a large family as they have four kids. Two kids currently live in North Dakota and two kids currently live in Missouri. Along with their four kids, Greg and Linda have 16 grandchildren. With a focus on family and faith, the Snells are excited to be in Saratoga and to grow the congregation of the First Baptist Church.

"We want to welcome everybody to come to church at First Baptist. We have Sunday school at 9:45 (a.m.) and church at 11 (a.m.)," Linda said. "We're looking to build a children's ministry."