David Rogers, pastor of First Christian Church, has had many experiences and they steered him down the path of serving God.
During his first two years in Artesia, Rogers has become well known in the community due to his intense passion for social justice.
“Jesus cared for those who society pushed aside,” said Rogers. “That’s why my heart goes out to those people who are not part of mainstream society.”
Rogers has served as Chaplain for the Eddy County Sheriff’s Office and Artesia General Hospital and has been very involved in the Ministerial Alliance. He has also served on Mayor Daniel Reyes’ Task Force for Diversity.
Rogers admits that his biggest frustration is that there are only 24-hours in a day.
His passion for ministry recently lead Rogers on a pilgrimage to the Holy Land where he said he had a very powerful 10-day experience.
Rogers said that visiting the Holy Land fulfilled a life-long dream.
“I describe it to people as being the fifth gospel,” said Rogers. “There’s Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. We know about them and can read about them. The fifth gospel is the land. It has to be seen for itself because it illuminates the whole Biblical story. Being there is without parallel.”
Rogers said that a meeting with two Christian Palestinian leaders as well as many other Palestinians allowed him to connect with the people and opened his eyes to some of the atrocities inflicted by the Israeli government.
“My heart really goes out to the Palestinians,” explained Rogers. “To see first hand the abysmal treatment by the Israeli government toward the Palestinian people is incredibly disheartening.”
Rogers continued to say that the treatment of the Palestinians is truly unjust and unholy.
While in the Holy Land, Rogers also was able to visit and worship in the cave where Jesus Christ was born, he toured Jerusalem, which he said was very powerful, and took communion at a site similar to the site of the crucifixion of Jesus. He also visited the Western Wall and left prayers in the cracks of the wall from himself and other Artesians.
Rogers says that visiting the ruins of Chorazin and Capernaum was a very spiritual experience because most of Jesus’ ministries were held there.
Rogers plans to lead a group back to the Holy Land in January 2002.
Originally from Albuquerque, Rogers received his Bachelors degree from Eastern New Mexico University in Portales.
He began working in broadcast journalism with KENW-TV as a weatherman, producer, writer, director, photographer and reporter.
In 1988, Rogers was working for KOB-TV in Albuquerque, when he decided that television news wasn’t what he wanted to do.
“The very cut-throat world of TV news was really bothering me. I went ahead and finished my degree, but decided not to go into television,” said Rogers.
From there Rogers went back to Portales and worked as a disc jockey at a radio station and as a car salesman. He says he knew that he needed a change in his life.
Rogers asked a friend of his who was an Army officer what he thought of him going into the Army. He said that after his friend stopped laughing, he suggested that Rogers look into the Coast Guard.
Two months later, Rogers was at Coast Guard Boot Camp in Cape May, NJ. He then was assigned to a Coast Guard cutter out of Sandy Hook, NJ.
He recalls helping clean up the wreckage of a fishing boat after the infamous storm, immortalized in the recent movie, “The Perfect Storm.”
Rogers was later sent to cook school and was reassigned to a Coast Guard cutter based out of Seattle.
Rogers' cutter was involved in the Haitian and Cuban immigration crisis in 1994. His ship alone processed more than 3,000 Haitian immigrants and Rogers job was, of course, to feed them.
Rogers said that the experience was a transforming moment in his faith. He recalls the horrible conditions in which the immigrants were in and said that he was often moved to tears because of it.
Rogers was involved in leadership in ministry on his ship during his time in the Coast Guard. He said that many of his shipmates told him that he was wasting his time in the Coast Guard and that he should be preaching the word of God.
This caused quite a bit of conflict within Rogers.
“I argued with God about that. I just didn’t want anything to do with it,” explained Rogers.
Rogers said that while in a chapel on Kodiak Island, Alaska he prayed and told God every reason why he could not preach. He said that he was overcome with peacefulness, which he says told him that God would take care of him.
He later took a walk to think things through and said he asked God for a sign. He walked on top of a small mountain on the harbor and he saw some Bald Eagles soaring just below him, only 20-feet away.
“I took that as confirmation from God that he was gonna take care of me; he would bear me up on an Eagle’s wings,” said Rogers.
From there he applied to Seminary and later was honorably discharged from the Coast Guard.
Rogers attended Lexington Theological Seminary in Lexington, Ky., where he also served as a chaplain at the Lexington Veterans’ Hospital.
While in Seminary, Rogers served as pastor of Flour Creek Christian Church for almost two-years and Old Grassy Christian Church in the Appalachian Region of Kentucky.
Rogers describes coming to Artesia as a blessing for him and his wife of 11-years, Tonya, as well as for his two young children Celeste, 7, and Jacob, 3. The Rogers’ are preparing for the birth of their third child in November.
The First Christian Church had been without a minister for two and one-half years prior to Rogers’ arrival.
Former First Christian Minister, Glenn Ricketts was instrumental in bringing the Rogers family to town.
Ricketts encouraged Rogers’ to contact the congregation which ended in the Rogers’ family moving to Artesia.
“It has been reaffirmed ever since, that this is where God intended me to be,” said Rogers. “I am so blessed to be in the congregation, in this community, I can’t even put it into words. It’s one of the biggest blessings God has ever given me.”
Rogers said that Artesia is the place for him and his growing family.
“God willing, I’m gonna stay here 30-years,” said Rogers. “I don’t want to leave.”