Pastor Celebration

By Karen L. Willoughby

OGDEN, Utah – Charles Petty received two standing ovations when Ogden Mayor Ben Nadolski honored him July 20.

The first came when the mayor proclaimed July 20, 2025, “Pastor Charles Petty Day” in the city of Ogden, 37 miles north of Salt Lake City. The unexpected honor came during Petty’s last day after 40 years as pastor of Ogden’s Second Baptist Church.

“Pastor Petty represents the very best of Ogden,” Nadolski told the congregation. “His influence can be felt in every corner of this city, from the pulpit to the street corner. This proclamation is a small gesture of thanks for a lifetime of meaningful service.”

The official civic document started with seven “Whereas” statements, including those noting that Petty and his wife Donna “spearheaded numerous initiatives that uplifted and empowered the Ogden community, including the construction of a new church building, outreach programs for incarcerated individuals, youth retreats, food and clothing drives, college support ministries, and Spanish-language services,” and “Pastor Petty has been a cornerstone of moral leadership and community unity, demonstrating commitment to justice, compassion and inclusion,” among others. See attached document.

“His leadership extended far beyond the church walls, touching lives across neighborhoods, city programs, and local schools,” according to an online news report.

Among Petty’s accomplishments, an 11,000 square-foot building for Second Baptist completed in 1999, the first church built specifically for Blacks in Ogden since 1944, though today the congregational is multicultural.  In 2018, the church added 4,000 square feet for its young people, plus additional bathrooms.

Second Baptist bought property in 2004 now known as Touch of Paradise Family and Youth Center, located nine miles south of Logan. Ever since, church members have been adding to and maintaining the 20-acre property that has grown to include six bunkhouses, two cabins, an ingathering building, oversized kitchen, heat and air conditioning throughout the buildings, and much more.

A spring runs through the property in use from May to October as a ministry for people “from the cradle to the grave,” Petty told UI Connections. Youth, children, and family groups from several churches make the most use of the camp.

The Second Baptist pastor worked with other pastors in 2012 for a city-wide revival that drew 250 people. He’d hoped for 1,000, but the three-day event also showcased the city’s 20 helping agencies and how working together brought unity to the community that grew from about 70,000 in the 1970s to about 90,000 today.

Petty in January 2015 led in what has become quarterly meetings of the leaders of those helping agencies, so that each entity knows what each of the others are doing to keep the community safe and unified. Each meeting starts with a two-minute presentation of each entity’s recent activity.

“It’s so everyone can do their part better,” Petty said. “We started with minority clergy. Now it’s expanded to Jews and other churches” in the meeting with leaders from the city’s service agencies.

Petty suggested this gathering – which takes place in the Ogden police chief’s conference room – to forestall a situation akin to Ferguson, Missouri’s civic unrest in August through November 2014.

The church’s food ministry started when the Covid pandemic hit in 2020 and continues to this day. This ministry reaches at least 240 families twice a month. During Covid it reached 444 families.

Petty has started numerous initiatives to reach young people before they get into trouble, to make families stronger, and to support those incarcerated who’ve made unwise choices. One of the ways he’s done this at Second Baptist is by inviting police officers many times to interact with older children and teens.

To start at the beginning, Petty, an Arkansas native, moved to Ogden in the 1970s to work as a civilian at Hill Air Force Base. He and his family joined Second Baptist, and he became the church’s bivocational pastor in 1985, when 27 people were attending services. Today it’s closer to 150, in a congregation of about 450.

“God had His hand in [my employment] the full time,” Petty said. “I was blessed with grit and determination. I’d get up at 4:00am to go to the hospital and at lunch. I had 12 years of Civil Service time in already, and I figured if I could make it to the minimum age to retire, that’s what I would do.”

It helped that he had a “great employer,” Petty said, and a four-day work week that enabled him to have quality time with his family.

“We put God first in everything,” the seasoned pastor said. “God was number one, and then family.”

A Civil Service employee for 36 years, Petty was the Resource Management Flight Chief and CFO for 25 years when he retired in 2010 and became the fulltime pastor at Second Baptist.

Since then, in addition to focusing on the community as well as the church, he’s been on the UISBC Executive Board for three terms, with a break between his first and second term. His third ends in 2026.

“I appreciate the love of other pastors for the mission of the convention as well as how we get things done by working together,” Petty said.

At least 18 men have been called into the gospel ministry during Petty’s 40 years in ministry. He’s mentored, licensed and ordained each of them, and the first thing he tells them is, “If you can prevent going into it, don’t do it.”

The pastorate is not a job. “It’s a calling from God,” Petty said he tells them. “It’s not what you see on Sundays. It’s something you need to put your life on the line for.”

Among the hardships, “Being able to see people [fail who] you have poured yourself into. You ask yourself, ‘What else could I have done?’”

Among things he’s learned that Petty passes on to the men he mentors: “Family has got to be first, after God, who is [to be] first in our lives. God knew you had a family when He called you.”

About sin: “Rebellion comes from being neglected. God is able to take care of whatever habits you might have; take them to God. If He calls you, He is able to take care of you. If Christ is your Lord and Savior, serve Him.”

About pulpiteering: “I have made it an intentional practice to not say anything about Mormons or Jehovah’s Witnesses in my sermons. I don’t want anyone to turn away from Christ’s life, burial and resurrection because of something I’ve said.

“God’s word is God’s word. We preach from the Bible. We preach what the Bible says.”

About knowing the will of God: “Am I sure it’s what God wants? If it’s God’s will, it will be done with me or without me.”

About the hard times: Petty looks at the poster called “Footprints in the Sand” nailed to his office wall, and is reminded that he’s as close as ever to God, because God is carrying him.

He asks those who come to him questioning their faith, “Do you see anybody worse off than you are? Sometimes God is correcting us. Sometimes He’s simply perfecting us.”

Second Baptist Church in Ogden now is being pastored by David McKinley of California, though the church’s mission stays the same: Reaching people for Christ, maturing people in Christ, and mobilizing people through Christ.

Petty, while remaining a member at Second Baptist, plans to spend the next year with his wife Donna visiting pastors and churches across Utah and Idaho. His second standing ovation came as the July 20 service came to its conclusion.

“Rev. Charles Petty is a blessing to the Utah-Idaho Southern Baptist Convention,” Executive Director Rob Lee told UI Connections. “He has served on our Executive Board several times, preached at annual meetings, pastors’ conferences, and evangelism conferences over the past 40 years.  He has led Second Baptist Church to host meetings, conferences, and training sessions in their church as well as attend meetings in our other churches. 

“When Rev. Petty has spoken at the annual meetings and at the Executive Board, he has given wise biblical advice that has led to decisions benefiting our joint ministries,” Lee continued. “I look forward to his continued service on the Executive Board, currently, and to his encouragement of our bivocational ministers over the next year.”