East Texas Pastor Celebrates 30 year Milestone in Kilgore

KILGORE — An East Texas pastor celebrated a milestone on Sunday at the Kilgore Forest Home Baptist Church. Rev. Earl Buddy Duggins, has been pastoring 55 years, and celebrated 30 years at the Kilgore church. According to our news partner KETK, before going into full-time ministry, Duggins served in the Marine Corps. He said while the church has helped shape the community in positive ways, ultimately God deserves the credit for all their success.

Over the last 3 decades the church has saw both spiritual and physical growth. “I want to be remembered as loving the people and preaching Jesus Christ, and how he can change your life for the better. We have been so blessed here, baptized many many people, have seen the church grow, from sort of a country church to a more suburbal, said Reverend Duggins. “We began with a 400 seat auditorium and now we seat about 1100, and we fill it up every now and then. God has blessed us and I’m thankful to be here.” He said the church supports both him and his family, especially with his wife battling an illness which he says he is forever grateful for.