Hazelwood Baptist Church Leadership
Hazelwood Baptist Church is blessed to have a leadership team who are truly dedicated to Christ and accomplishing His will. Following are brief bio's of our leadership team and their qualifications for ministry.
Pastor Steve Gorton
Senior Pastor
Pastor Stephen Gorton is the Senior Pastor of Hazelwood Baptist Church. He was born and raised in Kalamazoo, MI. He received his ungraduated degree from Pensacola Christian College with a B.S. in Bible. He later went on to receive his M. A. in Religious Education from West Coast Baptist College. He is now pursuing his doctorate in Biblical Counseling from Andersonville Theological Seminary.
While at Pensacola he met his wife, Angie and upon graduation became the Youth Pastor at First Baptist Church of Lock Haven, PA. Then in 2005 the Lord called Steve to be the Pastor of Bible Baptist Church of West Bend, WI. He also ministered at East Mesa Baptist Church in 2020. Pastor Gorton has four lovely children: David, Abigail, Jonathan and Gabriel. The Gorton’s have a real desire to see the lost saved, the church discipled, the community reached, and are honored to continue the work that has been started here.Steve & Debbie Bavetz
Youth Ministry Leaders
Steve & Debbie Bavetz are the youth leaders at Hazelwood Baptist Church.
Their passion is to see children and teens come to know Jesus as their Savior and to help them grow in their walk with the Lord.
The serve as the directors of the AWANA program as well as the juniors and youth departments.
Steve and Debbie have 4 children and have served with Hazelwood Baptist for over 10 years.
Steve Rich
Pastor Emeritus
Pastor Steve and Shelly Rich served Hazelwood Baptist Church faithfully for 36 years. They retired from the Senior Pastor position in September of 2023 but are still attending Hazelwood and serving in whatever capacity they are needed.