Lighthearted chatter echoed down the halls of the MacKenzie Building as Pensacola Christian College summer work students, along with Campus Church members and guests, after the Sunday evening church service. A welcome reception hosted by Campus Church brought everyone together to meet Pastor Jeff Redlin (Youth Ministries ’87), his wife Julie (Humanities ’94), and their son Conner (Jr., CO), a current student at PCC.
The church family showed their appreciation with gift cards to local restaurants and expressions of gratitude before making their way over to the Great Hall. Once inside, they formed a receiving line and enjoyed beverages and assorted cookies while fellowshipping with one another. At the end of the line, each person greeted the Redlins, offering a warm handshake and a brief introduction to the new pastor and his family. “Everyone was very nice,” Conner said. “It was a good way to meet people.”
Just one week earlier on July 22, Dr. Redlin had officially begun his ministry as pastor of Campus Church. “I feel like I’m gonna be filling out the guest panel [in the church bulletin] and putting it in the offering plate,” he joked, having ministered in Colorado since 2003. “But we’re really eager to see what God has in store.”
Pastor Redlin is certainly no stranger to Campus Church and the ministries of Pensacola Christian College. While still a college student studying youth ministries, he volunteered for three years at Campus Church and would eventually serve as youth pastor for over fifteen years. In 2003 he went on to become senior pastor of Front Range Baptist Church in Fort Collins, Colorado, seeing much fruit during his fifteen years there.
During his time in Colorado, Dr. Redlin continued to preach on campus, often speaking in PCC’s Opening Meetings at the start of a new semester, in chapel and church services during the semester, and at Youth Outreach Ministry’s Teen Extreme Youth Camp.
In early 2018, after learning about the upcoming retirement of Campus Church Pastor Denis McBride, Dr. Redlin knew the church would have a great need to be filled, and he began praying for God to meet that need. For some time, he had already been praying at his church in Colorado, “Lord, use me to my greatest potential to influence my family and others for You.”
Then, in May, after much prayer, the Campus Church pulpit committee unanimously voted to invite him to candidate for the position of senior pastor. On Sunday morning, June 24, Dr. Jeff Redlin came to candidate in view of a call, sharing a message about who God uses. During the evening service, he had the opportunity to answer questions and share his beliefs on a number of topics. That evening, Campus Church members voted to extend the call to Dr. Redlin as senior pastor of the congregation. Having accepted the invitation, he became the fifth pastor of Campus Church and the first elected by a vote.