My name is Bob Hayton. I was raised a conservative (KJV-Only, no pants on women, strict music, etc.) independent fundamental Baptist. I graduated from Fairhaven Baptist College in Chesterton, IN (BA Pastoral Theology, ’01; MA Bible, ’02), and married Carolyn (Barnard) from SD, whom I met & courted in college. We moved to the San Francisco area to teach in a church/school, as conservative as Fairhaven. There, God further convinced me of the need for careful Biblical exegesis and expository preaching. God used the influence of my younger brother Dave (who graduated from Northland Bible College, Dunbar, WI), various books and some circumstances to alter my thinking gradually concerning theology/ministry.
We later moved to MN, where our reform came to a head. We ended up leaving independent Baptist fundamentalism altogether, and joining John Piper’s church (Bethlehem Baptist, Minneapolis) where we sensed both an embracing of the fundamentals of the faith/conservative theology and an emphasis on treasuring Christ.
After five years as members of Bethlehem, we joined a new church plant in St. Paul, closer to where we currently live. We are both involved in many aspects of the ministry with Beacon of Hope Church, and also are focused on raising our four (soon to be five) daughters for Jesus.
Blogging has become a ministry for me in many ways, as people contact me almost every week blessed by my story. I do still hope to pastor a church, by God’s grace, in the near future. Our time at Beacon of Hope is preparing us for that end we trust.
For more on my blog, go here. For my full (and very long) story, along with a critique of fundamentalism and defense of my positions, go here.
About My Family
Carolyn and I (Bob) are blessed to have come from families where virtually every immediate family member for two or three generations back profess Christ as Savior. More than that, both sets of our parents raised us in loving and thoroughly Christian homes.
Carolyn grew up in Yankton, SD where her family attends an IFB church faithfully. I grew up in the Detroit area, but spent my last year of high school in Zambia, Africa (where my parents have been IFB missionaries now for 11 years).
Our sisters, both graduated from Pensacola Christian College. My brother, after graduating from Northland Bible College (Dunbar, WI) has served as a pastor, and now a missionary. He and his wife have three children.
Carolyn and I have been blessed with four darling daughters: Emily Grace (6), Megan Faith (5), Amber Joy (4), and Rachel Charity (2) [ages current as of February 2010 
]. We have one more girl on the way. We are truly blessed with healthy and happy children, and we also recognize the responsibility to raise them for Christ.
Bob works at Boston Scientific, providing advanced technical support for patients on home monitoring devices for defibrillators. We hope to enter full time ministry at some point in the future, after paying off bills and finding God’s direction.
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