By Morgan Mizell

The Natchez Democrat

NATCHEZ — When the Rev. Marcus Archer moved back to the Miss-Lou, the young pastor did not return home to be close to family or to renew old friendships. Archer said he came because of Jesus.

“I often tell people I don’t get to pick where I work,” he said. “I just go where my supervisor tells me to go.”

As the new minister of Crosspoint Church in Natchez, Archer said his supervisor is Christ.

Archer recently moved to the Miss-Lou with his wife Mallory to become the church’s new leader.

Archer grew up in the Miss-Lou and said he knew he was being called into ministry during his freshman year of college.

“I cannot imagine doing anything else,” Archer said. “If you are called, (the ministry) is the only thing that will fulfill you.”

Archer studied pastoral ministry and is currently pursuing a master of arts in apologetics from Wesley Biblical Seminary.

Archer’s ministry spans the middle part of the country. He served as a staff member at a teen challenge facility in Southeast Missouri; an executive director position of Young Faith in Christ organization in Farmington, Mo.; and most recently an associate pastor role in Rustic Hills Community Church in Sioux Falls, S.D., where he was the worship leader and youth pastor.

Archer said he has never picked any of the places he has worked and said if it had been up to him, solely, he probably never would have worked in any of them.

“(Christ’s) plan has been vastly different from what my own would have been,” Archer said. “But it has been better. Christ has used all the places I have been and all of the experiences I have had to equip me for the work He has for me at Crosspoint.”

Archer said he feels confident in his role as the minister of the church because it is what Christ has called him to do.

“If they have put their trust in me and God has called me here, I have every reason to be confident,” he said. “I am not confident, nor do I boast in myself; but rather I am confident and boast in Christ in me and what He has done in me to transform me into someone able to be a pastor.”

Archer said several pastors in his life have influenced him and his ministry.

“The Rev. Steve Pearson was definitely one of my mentors,” Archer said. “He is one of the best pastors I have ever known. There are many times when I wish I could call and ask him his advice today.”

Unlike some other denominations, Archer said his church does not move pastors around.

“I only go where and when God tells me to,” he said. “I could be here for 20 years or two. That depends on the leading of the Spirit, and I will be here until I have accomplished the mission God has for me here.”

While he has only been in the area for a few weeks, Archer says he is taking his time getting to know the people in his congregation and the history of the church. He has not made any definitive plans for the church at this time, but he says he hopes that the church will be students of the Bible and love the community in which God has placed them.

“My goal is not simply to make it to Heaven,” Archer said. “It is to bring as many people with me as possible.”

Marcus is the son of Marc and Tana Archer in Vidalia.