My name is Mike Wheeler, Canton is my hometown, however, I have been away from Canton for 35 years. Growing up in Haywood County, as a young man, I was exposed continuously to preaching about eternity and the fact we were going to spend eternity somewhere, it weighed heavy on my heart.

When I was around the age of fifteen, my Grandaddy was preaching at a family gathering, but I was paying no attention. I remember, as if it were just now, something said to me, “If you don’t get saved today you will go to hell!”

I do not think God spoke to me audibly, but he spoke to my spirit and dealt with me about something I had heard all my life. Honestly, I have no idea what my Grandaddy was preaching, but I knew I had to get saved. When he finished preaching, I walked up to him and said, “I need to be saved”. I dropped right there on my knees and prayed to God, and I believe it was at that moment that I trusted Jesus Christ as my Saviour.

At that time I had no one to lead me in the bible. I was very confused on some of the things I was taught as a young man. We grew up going to church, and at least we acted like a Christian family. There was no spiritual influence in my life. I struggled with what to do next. The only thing I knew was that I had gotten saved and I didn’t know anything past that.

In 1984 I married Karen Allen, and we moved away from Haywood County, NC due to my job. Karen was saved at the age of eight, after being led to the Lord by her Grandmother. Ending up in Fort Payne, Alabama, we were not living right, not going to church, nor even thinking about God in our lives.

While living in Fort Payne, Alabama, we were invited to church and decided to go.

We sat under Bro. Dennis Phillips ministry for three years, and he taught us the Bible. It was amazing to find out there was something else in the Bible besides your eternity. I remember one service he said we should read our Bibles, and that is the first time I ever remember someone telling me I needed to read that book. So, I went home that night and begin to fall in love with the bible. I was ordained to be a deacon in that church, and I was called to preach in that church. We moved from Ft. Payne Al. to Pensacola Florida, to attend the Pensacola Bible Institute. My wife and I graduated in 1993. From there we went to Erie, Kansas, where I pastored the First Baptist Church of Erie, for four years. We moved back to North Carolina in 1998 to help Dr. James A. Lince, the pastor of Bridgeport Baptist Church, and Founder of the Blue Ridge Bible Institute. We stayed with him until his homegoing in 2005. I pastored the Bridgeport Baptist Church for the next eleven years, for a total of eighteen years at Bridgeport.
Our oldest daughter Jordan went home to be with the Lord in 2014, after the birth of her son.
This event in our lives proved to be very trying. I was trying to minister to the people but quickly realized I needed help as well. After much prayer and counsel, we left Bridgeport in 2016.
We have been attending Calvary’s Cross Baptist Church in Lawndale, N.C. ever since. The Pastor, Bro. Billy Boone and the congregation have been so kind to us and have helped us to heal and get our legs under us again.
The Lord began dealing with me about starting a church in Canton in September of 2018 and had already started to open doors for us. We are taking this one step at a time hoping that God will continue to open doors so we can be a help to the people of Canton, N.C.

Please join us for any of our services. It would be our honor to have you.