Our New Pastor

Nick Clark accepted the church's call to pastor New Beginnings in July of 2025, and started serving in the role just about a month later in September after serving as the pastor of Wilmington First Baptist Church since the Summer of 2021.

Nick has a family of 5 (and 2 dogs). He has been married to his wife, Katie, for 12 years. And they have fostered to adopt 3 children from Northern Ohio: Maya, Emmett, & Brielle.

Born & Raised As A Missionary Kid On The Field in Brazil

Neither Nick nor Katie are originally from Xenia. Katie was born and raised in Northeastern Indiana until moving away for college. Nick was born and raised in Southeastern Brazil to church-planting missionary parents, Cal & Carol Clark working with ABWE.

It was in Brazil that Nick committed his life in service to God. It is also where he learned a lot about the Church by watching his parents serve. He also developed a huge heart for hospitality and community building by experiencing the Christ-like love and passion of his fellow Brazilian brothers and sisters in Christ.

Met Wife At Cedarville University (2009-2013)

Nick loved growing up in Brazil (and still misses it very much), but also sensed that God was calling him to serve as a bridge between cultures. So he followed in several family members' footsteps of attending Cedarville University. He didn't know that God was calling him to church ministry yet, so he studied History.

He also was blessed to meet his future wife Katie at Cedarville during their freshman year. It wasn't love at first sight (Nick was dressed up as "Papa Elf" and Katie as a the Train Conductor from The Polar Express when they first met). The 2nd semester of college they began taking some classes together, studying, and hanging out within the same friend groups.

By the Fall of 2010, Katie and Nick realized that God was bringing them together. So they started dating, got engaged 2 years later, and then married in July of 2013. Just over two weeks later they were flying down to the Dominican Republic.

Served As Missionary Teachers In The D.R. (2013)

Katie was an English Education major at Cedarville who really wanted to teach English as a 2nd language. So she had accepted an opportunity to student teach at a bilingual Christian school in the D.R. during their final semester at Cedarville. That opportunity turned into Nick and Katie saying yes to the Spirit's prompting to quickly raise support and serve as the high school History and English teachers after graduating and getting married.

While it was a challenging 3 years of ministry, they enjoyed getting to invest in several of their students at Doulos Discovery School. But they believed that it was time to return to the States, but not without being able to convince and help one of their high school students to come back with them to attend Cedarville University!

Moved To Xenia (2016)

Katie ended up getting an ESL job in Beavercreek City Schools and Nick worked as substitute teacher while studying to earn a Masters in Ministry. They ended up living in Xenia though, and it didn't take long for them to fall in love with its unique character and funny quirks.

Nick and Katie got involved in New Community Church's House Church ministry while Nick also served as the youth intern from 2017-2019. They loved getting to build relationships with other believers by inviting each other in their homes, studying God's Word, and serving together.

Started Our Adoption Journey

Nick and Katie both individually knew back in high school before they had ever met that they wanted to adopt someday. They thought they'd adopt internationally at first, but through friends at New Community were introduced to the option of adopting waiting children. They went through what seemed like an eternity of classes and waiting to be matched with a child before they got to bring home their youngest, Brielle, at the end of 2018.

Just a little over a year later during the height of COVID in 2020, Nick and Katie were able to move their older two kids in. While it wasn't always an easy journey, they trusted God to bring these different family origins together as one. Through the challenging times as well as the good, Katie started to share their story of adoption.

Katie started a YouTube channel that started out with just a few people watching in 2020. Over the past 5 years it grew beyond her expectations into a part-time ministry opportunity she named Adopt Informed. Now she gets to share her experience with adoption online, coach people in preparation, share her faith, and raise awareness about this path to adoption!

Began First Pastorate At Wilmington First Baptist Church (2021)

Nick finished his Masters of Ministry in 2020, but it wasn't clear where he'd get to serve. After almost giving up on serving full-time in ministry after a year of searching, he learned of a small, historic church in Wilmington Ohio who needed a pastor in a bi-vocational role. He started in the role about a month after losing his father to a year long battle with pancreatic cancer.

The next 4 years were some of the most challenging and yet rewarding times of Nick & Katie's lives personally and vocationally, but WFBC served as an excellent place for Nick to grow as a pastor. The congregation loved and served their family so well and along with that, revitalization starting taking place too.

In late 2024, Nick and Katie sensed the Spirit stirring. WFBC was finally healthy and headed in the right direction, but they believed God was calling them back to Xenia. Nick notified the church in early 2025 without knowing with certainty what new ministry God was calling him too. After several months trusting that God knew what He was doing, Nick found an online posting for New Beginnings Baptist Church.

Accepted New Beginnings' Call To Pastor

Several great conversations, interviews, and months later, Nick and his family are now serving at New Beginnings. They are so excited to be able to serve in the very community they've lived in since 2016 and now have such a big heart for! It is their hope that God will keep them serving at New Beginnings for the next decade plus to see God transform this small church revitalization effort into a healthier, growing, and Gospel obedient community that impacts the Greater Dayton region for generations to come!