Battery Park Baptist Church
Meet The Pastor
NO GOD     --     NO PEACE

KNOW GOD     --     KNOW PEACE
C. ALAN HOGGE
    After a Congregational vote the last Sunday of March,
2000, the church decided to take a chance and call a
rookie to his first pastorate.  He had already agreed to fill
the pulpit for the month of April so it would have been
awkward if the vote had gone the other way.  But it didn’t
and he accepted.  God had cleared the path and hearts
for this to take place.  And how it has grown us.
     C. Alan Hogge originally hails from Gloucester, VA but left in 1986 for Danville, VA
and Averett University.  While at Averett, a small Baptist university, he met a bunch
of folks who were not from around here and most importantly Janet, his dear wife.  
Janet and Alan married June 11, 1988 after Janet graduated with her degree in
church ministries.  She was following in her Pastor father’s footsteps to work for God
in his house.  Janet had answered the call to ministry to youth and children.  
     After marriage, came jobs and more college for Alan - Lots more as it was just not
that important anymore.  2 more years of full time school and a job and marriage and
then there was just this one class to finish up.  Well, he’ll get to that in a couple years.  
Alan worked for a residential treatment facility with the worst of the worst children.  
Kids who had been thrown out of every other program and had no other options.  
They lived at Hughes Memorial and some succeeded and went to yet another group
home and some failed and went to jail.  Janet took a position as Minster of Youth at a
local church and he just was there to support her and learn.  
GOD WAS JUST WAITING!
    He felt pretty righteous being a “helper.”  Hey, God should surely be satisfied
with all this.  They even moved to the small town where the church was.  And Alan
really liked that old house they had to leave even it didn’t have insulation.
GOD WAS JUST WAITING!
GOD WAS JUST WAITING!
GOD WAS JUST WAITING!
     Alan and Janet quit their jobs – sounds foolish huh? – to become “House Parents” for Patrick Henry
Boys and Girl’s Plantation, a Christian home for pre-delinquent youth.  Here children are placed by their
parents for a variety of reasons, none of which are great but probably necessary, to live in a home with a
different couple, the “House Parents” who serve as their “pretend” parents.  We did everything parents
were expected to do from laundry, homework, cooking, wiping snotty noses and all the rest to 10 or so
boys from age 7 up to 17.  We lived in the house with the boys and tried to teach them what it was like to
have a loving Christ-filled family.  While here at Patrick Henry, our oldest son, Corin was born in 1993.  
    Wow!  They gave up jobs to go do work in a Christian group home.  God has got to be
impressed with that!  God was still waiting.  He is so patient.
     When Corin was 1 ½ years old, they left Patrick Henry – 3 years of 24 hour days with
other people’s kids was enough – and relocated to Hampton Roads.  Janet’s father had
accepted a pastorate in Chesapeake and we moved in temporarily with them.  Alan took a
job with the Chesapeake Community Services Board working with Adults with severe mental
retardation and Janet started working again as Minister of Youth while staying home.  
     Alan was helping in church - Working with needy persons – Youth were stopping by
like they owned the house - what more could God want??  By this time God was probably
getting a little testy but well, Alan was clueless.  
    One Saturday afternoon, I went to Janet’s office to get some material for her and her
father, my father-in-law, our pastor said, “I just want you to know there are people here
praying for you.”  I thought, “Well isn’t that nice of them.  There must be some catch,
though.”  God began to speak so much more clearly. What else could God want?  He only
asks for one thing.  He asks for my whole life and here I was thinking that if I did just
enough to appease Him things would be all good.
    That next Sunday things were not all good, the sermon was on Jonah running from
God to Nineveh and my grip was not strong enough.  I answered the call to the
Pastorate.  God didn’t have to wait anymore, He just had to lead.
     I started filling the pulpit at my home church.  I wouldn’t call it preaching because I think
a sermon has to be longer than 8 minutes to be valid.  But God was still leading.  I entered
Seminary and started taking classes.  Oh yeah, I did finish college back at Patrick Henry.  
Anywhere there was an empty pulpit that needed filling I was willing to go, especially if it
was somewhere new as I didn’t have too many sermons.  
    I was called as long term interim to a church on the Eastern Shore and stayed there
for 14 months.  I came to Battery Park Baptist to preach one Sunday as another
church was interested and wanted to hear me preach before inviting me to their
church.  Battery Park invited me to preach and it was half way between there and the
Eastern Shore.  Each time, a church would call; Janet would say what about Battery
Park.  Scofflaw, what about them?  I’ve always wanted to use that word.
    On the very night that this other church called to present their final financial package and
to say that they were not willing to increase their offer by $1200 a year, (They didn’t have
the faith that they would be able to have the offering to cover an extra $100 per month and I
wasn’t willing to make my wife work at a fast food joint because they didn’t have faith.  I
questioned, “Well then what do you have if not faith?  I’m sorry but I won’t be able to come
be with you.”)  The chairman of the Pastor Search Committee from Battery Park called.  After
I fussed at him for calling, (It is in poor taste to call a prospective pastor who is in serious
discussions with another church) I informed him that we had ended our discussion about 20
minutes earlier.  We met that Thursday and the rest, I guess is part of church history.
    We have been here since 2001 now and our overall numbers haven’t changed much
but our faithfulness has grown exponentially.  We as a church, have supported 2
mission trips by the pastor to the Ukraine, 2 other members also went with church
support.  In 2005 and 2006, our family hosted a child from the Ukraine for 6 weeks.  
The church was there with love and financial support.  The church regularly exceeds its
lofty goals for mission’s offerings as well as involves itself in various mission’s endeavors.
    Again this year, we will be offering financial support for a re-organized church in Chernigiv,
Ukraine – Tolstoy Street Baptist Church.  They have as many people in church each Sunday as we
do but God has blessed us with the resources to make an impact on God’s Kingdom and He has
called us to be faithful.  My prayer is that He will find us faithful above all.
That is how I would describe Battery Park

"FAITHFUL"  

"AND - FAMILY"

A faithful family of believers joining to worship a
gracious and merciful Savior.  

What a great place to be!

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