New preacher welcomed at Cape Church of Christ

Cape Church of Christ's congregation has welcomed Jared Scaggs to be their new preacher. Scaggs, with his wife, Crystal, and their three children, moved to Cape Girardeau from Georgia, where he said he'd been preaching for the last five years.

Scaggs said he's a third generation preacher for Church of Christ. However, he was an auto mechanic for most of his career, and only started preaching in 2016. Scaggs said he'd been "turning wrenches" since he was 13, but preaching was in his blood.

He said he grew up in West Plains, Missouri, and joined the U.S. Navy after high school, where he oversaw the refueling of jets. Later, he ran his own auto shop in Jacksonville, Florida, for three years before telling his wife he wanted to go in a completely different direction.

"I told Crystal, 'I'm the happiest I've ever been, doing what I love to do, but I still want to preach,'" Scaggs said. "She said, 'We better do that then.' She's been very supportive of me every step of the way."

Scaggs, who graduated from the Memphis School of Preaching in 2016, said he's happy to be back in Missouri and back in the church of his father and grandfather who were both preachers at several Church of Christ congregations in Missouri.

According to its website, Cape Church of Christ was formed in 1940 out of a tent meeting held at Themis and Lorimier streets, across from the former Common Pleas Courthouse, in Cape Girardeau. With 10 members, the church began regular meetings. By November of 1949 the church had 85 members and began construction on a new home at the corner of South West End Boulevard and Bloomfield Street, where the congregation, grown to more than 300 members, still meets today.

Scaggs said Church of Christ is a little different from other Christian denominations.

"We're nondenominational; each church is autonomous," Scaggs said. "Some people find that appealing because they don't like having a big national conference making decisions about what their church is going to do or accept. We just go by what the Bible says."

Another difference, Scaggs pointed out, was that services are noninstrumental; all the music is a cappella.

"Also, I'm not a pastor, I'm a preacher," Scaggs said. "We find that the word 'pastor,' in the Bible, was a term for elders or overseers, so we use the term pastor for our elders. I'm just a Gospel preacher."

Scaggs said a motto members live by at Church of Christ is, "Speak where the Bible speaks, and be silent where the Bible is silent."

For years, Cape Church of Christ has ministered to students at Southeast Missouri State University, and Scaggs said they also want to focus on young families with children.

"My family and I are excited to be here in Cape," Scaggs said. "The congregation is ready to grow and anyone that would like to come will be welcomed in like family."

Cape Church of Christ services are held at 10 a.m. and 6 p.m. Sundays, 7 p.m. Wednesdays at 328 S. West End Blvd.; and online via the church's Facebook page at www.facebook.com/CapeChurchofChrist.