Pastor Steve Ward has led Victory Baptist Church since 1980. The church celebrates his 35th anniversary as pastor Sunday.

VALDOSTA — Victory Baptist was Steve Ward’s church long before he became its pastor.

He recalls becoming a Christian at Victory’s altar in 1972 when the Rev. Carlton Allen led the church. Ward, 65, recalls being called to the ministry in 1976 with Allen serving as his mentor.

In 1980, Ward became the church’s pastor.

On Sunday morning, Victory Baptist Church celebrates Ward’s 35 years as pastor.

“As a pastor for nearly 40 years, there will be ups and downs,” Ward said. “I’ve learned that you never let the highs get too high or the lows get too low.”

In 35 years, he’s been a steward for Victory’s earliest programs, seen others grow and initiated new ones.

The church has had a bus ministry for its 45 years. Using two buses and a van, church members pick up children for Sunday school and return them home each week.

For many years, Ward weekly drove one of the buses. It created an impression for the children to know their bus driver was also the man in the pulpit, he said. He still occasionally drives one of the buses.

In 1984, Victory Baptist opened a Christian school. It quietly enrolls 40-50 students, ranging from kindergarten to 12th graders each year, Ward said.

Victory Baptist students have become doctors, attorneys, pastors, nurses, and members of many professions, Ward said.

He’s mentored pastors who now preach in churches from Sleepy Rock, Pa., to Tampa, Fla.

The church sponsors Awana and Upward basketball youth programs.

Victory members travel on missions.

The church has grown into several buildings off of Madison Highway. The church owes nothing on its buildings or property, Ward said, which allows members to contribute to programs and missions.

Annually, the church donates more than $100,000 to missions. Ward said the church has raised more than $1 million in the past decade for missions.

“The congregation and ministry love outreach,” Ward said. “We’ve always been an outreach church.”

Each Sunday, stepping behind the pulpit, Ward speaks to about 300 people in the congregation.

Even after 35 years, he said he can still feel nervous some Sundays.

“I still get a little nervous when you realize you’re preparing lives for eternity,” Ward said.

As a youngster, Ward did not plan for a life in the ministry.

The son of the late South Georgia building contractor Orland Ward and the late Nina Ward, Steve grew up in Lowndes County. He graduated Lowndes High School in 1968.

He loved cars and working on cars. He attended Val Tech, which is now Wiregrass Georgia Technical College. He took classes at Valdosta State and Georgia Southern. From 1975-76, Ward taught auto-mechanics at Lowndes High.

In 1976, he said he felt the call to the ministry.

He attended Southeast Theological Seminary, where he eventually earned bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral degrees.

Though she became one of his biggest supporters as a pastor, Nina Ward was uncertain initially of her son’s decision to become a pastor.

“Mom said, ‘You’ll starve,’” Ward said. “There were days when I wasn’t sure if she was right or not.”

As a young pastor, Ward was assigned to a Lakeland church.

Ward and wife Debra had hit a financially tight spot. They had kids. They could have asked their parents for help, but they did not want to ask their families for aid.

The cupboards were bare as they left their house one Sunday morning for church. They didn’t know how they would feed their family that day. After the sermon, a woman invited the pastor and his family to have Sunday dinner at her house.

Tough times would follow, Ward said, but he had faith after that day everything would always turn out fine.

“That day assured me I made the right move becoming a pastor,” Ward said. “I was assured the Lord would always take care of us.”

He and Debra have been married 45 years. They have two daughters and sons-in-law, Tracy and Stephen Jones, and Marie and Andy Dukes.

They have four grandchildren and one great-grandchild: Spencer and wife Stephanie Jones who lead the church school, and have adopted daughter Nova; Brandon Dukes who preaches; Lauren Jones who is completing nursing school; Ivy Dukes who has started cosmetology school.

Though a pastor for nearly 40 years, he never left his original love for working on cars. His current project is the restoration of a 1970 Ford Mustang.

At 64, Ward has an assistant who helps him with his pastoring duties. Ward has been preparing the church for its future. He hopes to one day travel and do mission work.

But he has no plans to retire.

“When the Lord called me to pastor here, I had no idea I would still be here 35 years later,” Ward said. “The Lord put me here and I feel the Lord will tell me when it’s time to go. I don’t want to leave one day too early or one day too late.”