Rev. J. Paul Rose
Rev. J. Paul Rose
The Rev. J. Paul Rose, also a native of the Mount Olive area, attended Mount Olive High School and in 1964 he graduated from North Duplin High School. In 1968, he married his sweetheart, Betty Sue Pridgen, a registered nurse employed as a school health nurse with the Duplin County School System. They have two children, John M. Rose and Jennifer R. Barwick, and two grandchildren, Allen Rose and Emma Rose Barwick.
Paul received an associate degree in business from Wayne Community College in Goldsboro and has attended Lenoir Community College in Kinston as well as Mount Olive College. Ordained as a Southern Baptist minister in 1968, he has pastored Albertson Baptist, New Hope Baptist in Turkey, Newton Grove Baptist, Penderlea Baptist in Pender County, and presently he is nearing his 15th year as pastor of Faison Baptist Church in neighboring Faison.
Raised on a Duplin County farm, he has always loved automobiles and in past years, he was an vehicle salesman. He continues to farm on a part-time basis, also assists in his son's business, while serving as a full-time pastor. In 1989, he became a staff member of Tyndall Funeral Home, assisting as needed on a part-time basis, and continues to be available to the funeral home even today despite all his other obligations and duties. He also serves as chaplain of the Duplin County Sheriff's Department.
A well-known and well-loved friend and neighbor to all, he knows just what to say and is often called upon to officiate at services for those to whom a local minister is not known.