Rev. Dr. Darren Custer
Pastor Darren and his sweet wife Kathy.
Two very influential men in our Pastor’s life:
On the left: Pastor W. C. Gaither Jr. of Lyerly Evangelical Church in Rockwell, NC
On the Right: Bill Russell Lead Facilitator of DivorceCare Ministry at Trinity Church in Salisbury, NC
Pastor Darren earned his Doctorate of Sacred Studies from Christian Life School of Theology in April of 2024.
Our Pastor Darren Custer was born in Salem, Ohio and lived in the small town of West Point, Ohio until the age of 8 when his family moved to North Carolina. He grew up in the small community of Rimer, or known to some as Rimertown. He attended and graduated from Mount Pleasant High School in 1994. While he was raised knowing about the Lord, yet he says “he never truly knew the Lord personally”.
In the Fall of 2014, he had a direct personal experience with the Lord and accepted Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. Up to that point, he was a mess, but as he will testify “Even though I was a mess, God was working all things for his good”. He attended Lyerly Evangelical Church in Rockwell, NC and in March of 2015 Darren was baptized by his Pastor, W.C.Gaither, Jr. or more commonly called “Junior”.
Later that year a good friend and brother of Darren’s, Dan Hughes, invited him to attend a DivorceCare group. Darren met Bill Russell, Group Facilitator at Trinity Church in Salisbury and went through the program and experienced healing from many buried issues from his past. In the summer of 2016 Darren was led to start a DivorceCare group at Lyerly and asked his Pastor about a good school for Christian Counseling Classes, Junior led him to Christian Life School of Theology Global (CLST).
What began as a study for Christian Counseling classes turned into a desire to learn more and at a deeper level about his Christian Faith and His Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Darren also met his now wife Kathy during this period of his life. The call to fill the pulpit came as Darren felt led to share the Gospel in a testimony type message in October of 2018, entitled “The 67th Book of the Bible”.
In September of 2021, Darren received a Master’s degree in Theology. He was then ordained and installed as Associate Pastor at Lyerly Evangelical Church. While serving as Associate Pastor at Lyerly, Darren also Guest Spoke and filled Pulpits in several churches around the area including Boger Reformed of Concord, Saint Luke’s of Granite Quarry, Mount Hope of Salisbury, Pine Grove Methodist of Albemarle, Rockwell Methodist, Liberty Methodist, Piney Grove, Pleasant Grove, and Cid Methodist churches all of Davidson County. Darren knew in his spirit that the Lord didn’t bring him into ministry to stay where he was. As dear to him as Lyerly was, he began the process of looking for a church to serve as Pastor.
In January 2024, Darren began a journey connecting with the Global Methodist Church. While serving, he started classes at Wesley Biblical Seminary to take denominational History and Polity classes in relation to the Global Methodist Church course of study. He also continued class at CLST as he was moving toward completion of his Doctorate of Sacred Studies.
With school and all the various things going on in Darren’s life, in March of 2024, Presiding Elder Charlie Curtis of the Statesville District of the NC Global Methodist Church introduced Darren to Cool Spring Community Church through the opportunity to fill their pulpit as a guest speaker for the month of April. Two weeks into April, the church asked if he would like to stay through the Month of May.
The church felt led to call Darren to be their Pastor, and Darren felt the calling to become Pastor. Darren accepted the Pastoral call, accepting a two-point charge with our church, Cool Spring Community Church, and Shiloh Methodist Church beginning June 1st 2024!
Our Pastor received his Doctoral Degree in Sacred Studies from CLST in July 2024 and is continuing to pursue Course of Study with the Global Methodist Church. He will be ordained as a deacon this coming December and has intention to continue his pursuit to become an Elder in the Global Methodist church within the next 2 years!!
Pastor Darren says he really doesn’t have a life verse from the bible, however has a life passage. Romans 5:1-5 the bible says……
1 Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, 2 through whom also we have access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God. 3 And not only that, but we also glory in tribulations, knowing that tribulation produces perseverance; 4 and perseverance, character; and character, hope. 5 Now hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us.