Wichita Falls pastor celebrates 50 years of service

Mount Pleasant Baptist Church members celebrated one of their own, the Rev. Robert M. Castle, at the Wichita Falls Museum of Art at MSU Texas.

Castle has served as a pastor at Mount Pleasant Baptist Church for 50 years now.

"Tonight we want to just give thanksgiving back to him and his family and let them know that we love them and appreciate them for all the teaching and the preaching and caring that he has done for us," Wanda Norwood, Mount Pleasant Baptist Church member, said.

The evening started off with light piano music as guests entered the room, followed by an invocation from the Rev. Carl Brewer and a welcome speech from Virginia Rose.

The Voices of Mount Pleasant sang before dinner was served by Texas Roadhouse. Castle was then surprised with a "50 years of service" slideshow presentation comprised of the church members giving their thanks.

"He has had a great effect because of the word of God that he has preached," Norwood said.

Castle has touched many lives and had a large impact on his church congregation and the local community, and the event was their way of saying thanks. He began pastoring the church on Mother's Day 1974

Castle, a proud father, has six children. He is married to Michelle Castle.

He has a long list of accomplishments, honors and recognition of his service, including a holding a doctorate of divinity from the Oklahoma Baptist School of Religion in Langston, Oklahoma and induction into the Elite News Religious Hall of Fame and into the Martin Luther King Jr. International Board of Preachers of Morehouse College in Atlanta, Georgia, according to the church's website .

Besides bringing the word of God to the local community, Castle has preached in churches around the country and held many revivals across the nation.

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This article originally appeared on Wichita Falls Times Record News: Wichita Falls pastor celebrates 50 years of service