Our Pastors
Rev. Robert Vradenburgh - Senior Pastor
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Pastor Vradenburgh came to Friendship after 18 years as a missionary in the Caribbean. He has a heart for missions and for missionaries. After serving as Associate Pastor for one year, he became the Senior Pastor in January, 2001.
Pastor Vradenburgh married Rachel Ulmer in 2005 following the passing of his first wife Chlo. Their blended family consists of five grown children and five grandchildren.
Raised in a Christian home, Pastor Vradenburgh came to know Christ at a tender age. He surrendered to full-time ministry while a teenager at a Christian camp. Later, under the ministry of the late Dr. Lee Roberson at Tennessee Temple University in the late 1970s, he surrendered to preach the Gospel. A graduate of Tennessee Temple University, Pastor Vradenburgh has a passion for the expository preaching of the Scriptures to insure that "all the counsel of God" is preached. In addition to his pastoral responsibilities, he also directs the adult choir.
Pastor Vradenburgh led the church into erecting a new sanctuary seating just under 1000 in early 2004. His vision is to use this facility as a tool to evangelize North Raleigh and beyond.
Rev. Eddie Peterson - Associate Pastor
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Pastor Peterson enjoyed the privilege of growing up in a Christian home. He has fond memories of attending revival meetings held by Oliver B. Greene, Dr. John Gamble and Dr. Jimmy Johnson. The impressions of those meetings still linger to this day. In addition, his involvement in his local church youth group, summer camps, a weekly radio broadcast called, "Tips for Teens," led him to surrender his life to full-time service at a young age.
He attended Piedmont Bible College and graduated with a Bachelor degree in Religious Education in 1967 and a Bachelor of Theology degree in 1969. While in college, he met the love of his life, Linda Gail McHargue. They have been married for over 45 years and have two children, Michael, a Raleigh policeman, and Angela, a church secretary in Hendersonville, TN, plus four marvelous grandchildren, Caitlin, Caleb, Andrew and Jessica.
Shortly after graduating from Bible College, he received an invitation to become the Associate Pastor of Friendship Baptist Church. For the next two years, he served in that capacity. After pastoring a church in central NC, he returned to Friendship Baptist Church in 1979 , serving in a number of capacities for the next 14 years. Leaving Friendship Baptist Church in 1993, he labored with Positive Action for Christ, a youth ministry established in his hometown and home church, Falls Road Baptist Church. With great anticipation for what the Lord has in the future, he has returned to labor with folks that he and his wife have loved for many years.
Pastor Peterson's desire is to see souls saved and every Christian reach his/her maximum potential for Christ. This is accomplished through teaching, preaching and discipleship.
Rev. Robert DeAngelo - Youth Pastor
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"Pastor Bob" came aboard the Friendship team as Youth Pastor in June of 2001. He is joined in the ministry by his wife Kelly, his son, and his two daughters.
Pastor DeAngelo grew up in a Christian home in the Chicago area, and accepted Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior at the age of sixteen at the Wilds Christian Camp in Brevard, NC. He immediately sensed and responded to God's call to preach in high school at Bethel Baptist Church in Schaumburg, Illinois. Pastor DeAngelo received his undergraduate degree at Northland Baptist Bible College in Dunbar, Wisconsin, and his Masters of Divinity at Heart of America Theological Seminary in Kansas City, Missouri.
Pastor Bob has a passion for God and for the students in the Raleigh area. His heart is that the students will grow in their love for God and for His Word, and that they will develop in the area of leadership, with a heart to influence others.
Rev. Gene Kessler - Outreach Director
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Bro. Kessler has gleaned much experience from serving as pastor of two different Baptist churches prior to his coming to Friendship in 1988. As Outreach Director for the last several years, Gene has helped organize and maintain a weekly visitation program. He oversees and participates in regular preaching services at a local jail. He has organized and takes part in weekly Nursing home services on Monday nights and is the teacher of the Berean Sunday School class.
Here is Gene's account of his salvation experience: "There are two people that stand out above the rest in sharing the role of leading me to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ my Lord. At a time when I was not interested in anything spiritual, a co-worker left me with a life-changing statement, 'Gene, you don't seem to need God today, and I hope you will never need Him.' Wow! That nearly floored me. I was upset about it for weeks. But the matter passed and I forgot about it until my neighbor began to witness to my wife and me. She pestered me until I agreed to go to church and sit with her family. During that service the statement my co-worker had made kept coming to my mind. I knew that I needed God and that He actually loved me. Then and there I took him as Lord of my life and nothing has been the same since that day."
Bro. Gene is a 1981 graduate of Tennessee Temple University. He and his wife Linda have been married for 42 years. They have two grown children. He is very optimistic about the future of Friendship Baptist Church. "Many exciting things are happening here at Friendship. The church recently called a young, exciting new pastor to lead them into the twenty-first century. Bro. Bob Vradenburgh and his family bring with them a fresh and wholesome attitude and knowledge of the ministries here at Friendship. We are looking to God and to the future with excitement of what God can and will do."
School Administrator - Mr. Ric Nelson
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Mr. Nelson moved to Raleigh in August 2006. He served as the athletic director at FCS for one year, before attaining the position of administrator in July 2007. Before moving to Raleigh, Mr. Nelson served at Calvary Baptist Church Academy in Glen Burnie, MD for 11 years where he was the athletic director and assistant middle school and high school principal.
Mr. Nelson graduated from Bob Jones University in December 1992 with a major in Biology and a minor in coaching. He finished his Masters Sports Science - Sports Medicine from the United States Sports Academy in Daphne, AL in 1997. It was soon after this time that he became an assistant principal, until 2005 when he went back to college and received his Masters in Educational Administration from Baptist Bible College in Clarks Summit, PA.
He married his high school sweetheart, Amy, in August of 1994. Mrs. Nelson served as the Elementary secretary and typing teacher at Calvary for 7 years. She now is a stay-at-home mom for their four wonderful children.
His favorite past times are trying to be a better husband and father, reading, camping and anything with athletics. When asked about why he became involved with Christian education, Mr. Nelson responded by saying, "The main influences in my life were coaches and teachers. I believe God has given me the desire to have an impact in students' lives that will count for eternity. I believe every child is created as God's masterpiece and it is our mission to help them to develop all of their gifts for God's use."