Cedar Hill church honors pastor, wife by paying off home mortgage

CEDAR HILL—Luke 16:10 says, “The one who is faithful in a very little thing is also faithful in much ….” Hillcrest Baptist Church feels their pastor, Mike Simmons, has been very faithful and recently showed their appreciation in a significant way.

At a banquet marking he and his wife, Beverly’s, 30 years of service to Hillcrest, church leaders honored the couple by paying off their home mortgage. Dr. Bruno Molina, representing the Southern Baptists of Texas Convention, had the honor of presenting Simmons with an appreciation plaque recognizing his work in the community.

Simmons has served as a trustee for the International Mission Board for nine years. He has also led Hillcrest in numerous endeavors to reach the lost and bring them to Christ. He emphasizes church planting and has led his church to being known as a grandfather of various churches that have, themselves, gone on to plant in Romania, Egypt, and Thailand.

Under his leadership, Hillcrest has sent 95 missionaries to spread the gospel globally, including throughout North America. Hillcrest has received various awards for being on the list of the top 100 churches honored for giving to the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering. Over the years, the generosity of Hillcrest has resulted in the giving of $650,000 to mission work via Lottie Moon and the Cooperative Program.

Hillcrest has been serving its community for more than 100 years (beginning in 1920) and is partnering with the Wyoming Baptist Convention to plant churches. Hillcrest is also planting a church in Southeast Asia among the Palaung people; has a growing Spanish-language fellowship which has an average attendance of over 100 people led by Associate Pastor Misael Rodriguez; and has a Chinese-language fellowship lead by pastor Eugene Zhang which is planting home churches all over the Metroplex.

Simmons has been faithful to God and to the members of the congregation he has been given. He has cared for the flock with love and integrity and has been an authentic shepherd, keeping track of the spiritual life of his sheep (Matthew 18:12). He is a continuous encouragement to the church by truly preaching the Word of God and urging church members to share the gospel, fast and pray, serve each other, give to missions, answer the call to missions, and send missionaries to the field. Simmons’ biggest burden is the urgency of calling the called.

“There is a shortage of pastors, the church needs revival, and we need to reach the lost because it is all about Christ,” he said.

The power behind all Simmons does is based on his love for Christ and his favorite Bible verse: “For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind” (2 Timothy 1:7).

Simmons has been married to Beverly for 40 years. They have three grown children (also serving the Lord in different capacities) and two grandchildren. Simmons said Beverly has been “an incredible pastor’s wife.” He said she teams with him in everything and is so devoted to the Lord that she made sure each of their children were in church the Sunday after their birth. She is a school teacher, plays the piano, sings in the choir, worked in the children ministry, and teaches Bible studies.

Simmons received a Master of Divinity from Southeastern Baptist Seminary and a Doctorate in Ministry from Newburg Theological Seminary and Bible College.