Pastor opens door for new church

From protective angel of the planes in the sky to a shepherd tending his flock, Jim Hantz heard the call just out of college and followed the path to becoming a pastor. Decades later, Montana Southern Baptist Convention in Billings welcomed Hantz’s Open Door Baptist Church to the fold this month, and the Thompson Falls pastor is extending an invitation to any seekers to join the congregation on their path to salvation.

“The church is called ‘Open Door’ because we want people to understand that all are welcome,” said Hantz, noting that a secret knock or password is not between them and a relationship with their Creator and Savior. “We have a great group of people meeting each Sabbath for services, as well as some youth gaining strength through Sunday school.”

The church meets Sundays at the Senior Center on Silcox Road, 9:45 a.m. for Sunday school and 11 a.m. for services.

Hantz began his adult life out of college in the air traffic control industry, moving fairly often as the job required him to guide aircraft through the friendly skies for safe departures and landings – now he is doing the same for the congregation as they navigate through life before reaching their final destination. He joked that becoming a pastor was “never on his radar,” but when the prompting came he began the journey to complete seminary. Since then he has become comfortable in the role and hopes to pass the feeling of comfort on to those who want to be on the same path. “Due to the ways of the modern world, we need Christ in our lives more than ever,” explained Hantz. “There is a remedy for all the chaos and worldliness we are in – there is peace and joy to be had in the midst of the storm.”

The call he heard to evangelize is something he likens to a burning building. “If you were walking by a structure in flames, could you just pass on by without stopping to help? I could not. I would need to make every effort to try to help,” he said, adding that his purpose is along the same lines of the great commission outlined in John 3:16.

Hantz noted that the Senior Center meeting place is temporary. As the congregation grows, he hopes the church will be able to purchase property or a building to call home.

Until then, he will be sharing the news with members about the doctrine outlined in the Bible and the importance of adherence to The Word. “We can just look at recent tragedies like the shooting in Las Vegas,” said Hantz as an example. “Without Christ man devolves into a hideous creature. We must be a source of light in the darkness, we can reach out to a lost world.”

Hantz and his wife Esther met in the Air Force in New Mexico during a church softball game. Married for 37 years, the couple has three grown sons in Montana.

For more information about Open Door Southern Baptist Church or to borrow the ear of a pastor for advice, call 827-1585 or 750-8379.