Dr. Paul Chappell has served as the senior pastor of Lancaster Baptist Church since 1986. He was raised in a Christian home and trusted Christ as his Savior at the age of ten. At the age of thirteen, he sensed God’s call to preach. Dr. Chappell met his wife, Terrie, at Bible college in Pasadena, California. They married in 1980 and immediately began serving the Lord together in ministry.
In 1986, the Chappells moved from Santa Clara, California, where he was serving as an assistant pastor, to pastor the Lancaster Baptist Church. The Lord has blessed Dr. Chappell’s ministry in Lancaster. From the twelve members present in 1986, the church has grown to a membership of over nine thousand. It currently gives more than one million dollars annually to missions, operates a thriving bus ministry, and has ministries serving both Spanish- and Korean-speaking people here in the Antelope Valley.
Since 1986, more than 35,000 people have professed Christ as Savior and over 15,000 have been baptized. In 1986, the church building was in foreclosure. Today, the church ministers on a campus valued at over 70 million dollars.
In 1989, the church founded Lancaster Baptist School, which currently serves about four hundred students daily. West Coast Baptist College opened its doors in 1995 and now has over 750 students with over 3,000 alumni serving God worldwide. Under Dr. Chappell’s leadership, Striving Together Publications began in 2000 as a ministry of the church to provide leadership training materials and Christian growth resources for growing Christian families and local church leaders. Dr. Chappell has authored 35 books in addition to Sunday school materials and other printed resources.
Dr. Chappell is heard on the Daily in the Word radio broadcast on over one hundred stations. He serves on the Board of the Capitol Connection ministry. He is the founder of the Spiritual Leadership Conference held annually each fall and in January for Spanish-speaking pastors, and bi-annually in Asia.
Dr. Chappell enjoys time with his family, an occasional round of golf, and time in the California mountains. He and his wife Terrie have four adult children who are all serving the Lord in ministry with their spouses. The Chappells are delighted to be grandparents to Camden, Delanie, Leighton, Chandler, Alivia, McKenna, Blaire, Luke, Blakely, Rylee, and Quinn.
