10th Pastoral Anniversary Litany The Reverend Dr. B. Soaries, Jr. – Guest Preacher ………………………….…...…7

St. Paul’s Baptist Church Celebrating and Thanking God for Our Pastor The Reverend Dr. Wayne E. Croft, Sr.

The Leader: Eternal God, we praise You for Your infinite Your wisdom in gifting the Church with pastors and we thank You for giving us Pastor Croft, a pastor after Your own heart.

People: Thank You for our Pastor.

Leader: We thank You God for providing us with a pastor who, with dignity and grace guides us with discernment, integrity, and wisdom as he instructs and counsels us to be obedient and faithful to Your Holy Word. As he prepares us for works of service, continue to bestow upon him Your vision for the church and instill in each of us a profound longing to be the people you desire us to be.

People: Thank you for our Pastor, and for the provision of Your man servant who guides and leads us in Your truth.

Leader: We honor You God for our Pastor, who labors and lives in Your Word to preach and teach, rightly dividing the Word of truth, remaining diligent in preaching, and steadfast in teaching the Word in season and out of season so that we might no longer be gullible concerning the strange teachings of this world, and thus, draw closer to You.

People: Thank You for our pastor’s faithfulness to Your Word.

Leader: Truly a pastor’s work is great, and many times it is beyond our own comprehension, but You God have told us in Your Holy Word to honor those who work hard for You, giving spiritual guidance to Your people. Dr. Croft, you have led us and fed us spiritually for ten years, through unprecedented times: through horrendous acts of violence against Black and Brown bodies, through mind-numbing, divisive rhetoric major mass shootings and through a world-wide pandemic. Through it all, you Pastor Croft, gathered your sheep Sunday after Sunday, ensuring that our church would hear and know and hold on to the truth concerning our faith in Jesus Christ. We are grateful to God for your leadership in the tumultuous storms. And we are calling on God, in the matchless name of Jesus to help us to acknowledge, appreciate, respect, and overwhelm you, Pastor Croft with love and lovingkindness for the sake of caring for this branch of Zion in building God’s Kingdom and strengthening God’s people.

All: We thank You God for the privilege of loving our Pastor. We pray for God’s protection over Pastor Croft, Dr. Lisa, Darlene, Wayne, Candace, and our entire first family- spiritually, physically, mentally, and emotionally. As Pastor Croft preaches, teaches, counsels, witnesses, and encourages others, refresh, restore, and replenish his soul, guard, and protect his time. We thank You God for providing us with a pastor who understands the trappings of this world and seeks with authentic love, genuine grace, and devoted care and concern, to uplift up Your people. 6

Pastor Cro/,t's lOtJiAnni.versary, Gue.st Preacher The Reverend Dr. DeForest Soaries, Jr.

Dr. DeForest B. Soaries, Jr. is the President of Corporate Community Connections, Inc., former Senior Pastor of First Baptist Church of Lincoln Gardens in Somerset, New Jersey, former New Jersey Secretary of State, and the author of the books "Say Yes to No Debt: 12 Steps to Financial Freedom", "Meditations for Financial Freedom -Volumes 1&2" and "Say Yes When Life Says No."

Dr. Soaries is the creator of dfree® - a financial freedom movement in use by thousands of churches and organizations across the country. dfree® has been featured by CNN in a 90-minute Black in America documentary entitled, "Almighty Debt." His work has also been featured in several publications, including the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, and Black Enterprise.

Dr. Soaries is currently a member of the Board of Directors at Ocwen Financial Corp. (NYSE: OCN), Independence Realty Trust (NYSE: IRT) and Federal Home Loan Bank of New York. He serves as the Compensation Chair on all three boards. 7