Richard Greer of Newport
Newport teacher, pastor sees lives change through faith
Richard Greer of Newport is a teacher by trade, but his true passion is leading Seeds of Faith Fellowship in his hometown. In addition to pastoring his church with his wife of nine years, Nyesha, he is a master teacher at Augusta High School.
“God has to be first,” he said. “I don’t do anything haphazardly. When I’m on that campus, I give 100 percent.”
He grew up in Newport and Houston, Texas, but he spent most of his years in Newport.
“I graduated from high school [in Newport] and went to Ouachita Baptist University, where I played football,” Greer said.
He got his degree in business administration and marketing, but he wasn’t sure what direction his life was going to take.
“I just started praying about it,” Greer said. “I picked the major with the broadest field, and all of the things I learned, I can apply in the classroom.”
With title of master teacher at Augusta High School, he teaches two math classes in addition to assisting teachers and giving professional-development workshops each week.
But this job came after he spent a few years in a different field of work.
“My last day of college, I got hired by Murphy Oil, and I moved to Henderson, Texas,” Greer said.
When he moved to Texas, Greer said, he was pretty much on his own because he didn’t know anyone in his new home.
“When God separates you, that’s when he speaks the most,” he said. “I would give God my day.”
While he was working in Texas, Greer met people through church ministries, he said.
“I was always doing things in the youth group. I always knew I had a part in a church, but I didn’t know I would be preaching,” he said.
Dreams became a way for God to communicate with him, Greer said.
“I had a very powerful dream one night, and it changed the way I looked at things,” Greer said. “God was asking me if I was ready to start my work in the ministry.”
Greer said he didn’t think he was ready to start his own ministry, but he couldn’t sleep without seeing himself behind the pulpit in his dreams.
“I went about two days without sleep,” he said. “I told the people in my church about my dreams, and they said, ‘That’s great; now it’s up to you and God.’”
Greer received a master’s degree in biblical theology in 2009 from Andersonville Theological Seminary, an online Bible college.
He said an old friend then came to his mind in a dream. That friend just happened to be his future wife. This happened about three years after he and Nyesha had graduated from college, when she started calling him.
“Our parents were best friends for all of our lives,” he said. “She went to Henderson [State University], and we didn’t date until after college.”
She said she had been praying for a husband and decided she should call Greer.
“I was at a point where I was spending a lot of my free time reading and growing close to God,” Greer said. “I went to sleep that night, and I had a dream where [Nyesha and I] were holding hands.”
After that, he said, he prayed. But he wasn’t convinced that he was supposed to date Nyesha. He kept having dreams during which he and his future wife were together, he said.
This still didn’t sell Greer on the idea of dating someone he’d known for so long.
“But I had another dream, and she was wearing a wedding dress. Then I knew,” he said. “The next day, I sent her a courting-request email, and about a month later, I proposed.”
The two lived in Fort Worth, Texas, for four years after they married. They both served in a ministry called Trinity Harvest.
“It’s interesting when you have a God dream,” Greer said.
He said he began having dreams of coming back to his hometown to start his own ministry.
“The whole time we were in Fort Worth, we were both associate pastors, but God began to show us what we needed to do,” he said.
In his dreams he saw himself back in Newport starting a ministry of his own. He said he believes God had put him and his wife in Texas for a reason.
“He put me in a place where someone would teach me,” he said. The two were taught what they needed to learn to start their own ministry.
“It was very clear to me. God specifically called me to start a ministry,” Greer said.
When Greer and his family moved back to his hometown, he said he was unsure about where their church would be.
“God shows you the end product,” he said. “It was exhausting looking for a location, and we were at a point where it was hard knowing what we should do.”
Greer said the first service of Seeds of Faith Fellowship was held in a tax office in Newport.
“After that service, we got [the building we’re in now],” he said.
Though the ministry just started in March 2012, Greer said he is seeing the congregation grow every day, and it makes him happy.
“We started doing preview services at 3 p.m. [on Sundays], after people had already been to church for the day,” Greer said.
“We did that for a month or two; then we started doing 10:30 a.m. services, and God grew [the congregation] so quickly.”
There are currently about 50 members involved with Seeds of Faith Fellowship, Greer said.
“God’s done some amazing things,” he said.
The church currently rents a building, but Greer said the church is looking for a new location to accommodate its members.
“I like seeing lives change,” he said. “God opens doors, and there is nothing greater than that.”
Greer said he enjoys preaching at his church and is looking to keep at it.
“I like helping people, and it really means a lot when you see people’s lives turned around, or God does things in people’s lives,” Greer said. “I love being able to see God working.”