BY RUDY TAYLOR
rudy@taylornews.org

TYRO — A new face at the Tyro Christian Church has everybody wondering, “Could this possibly be the young minister who someday will replace David Bycroft?”

That comment brings a laugh from Nathan Boldt, 28, who is spending one year as an associate minister and intern at the church which has grown to become one of the largest churches in the area.

“I really don’t know about that,” Boldt says. “Right now, I’m just interested in learning everything I can from Dave Bycroft and other congregational leaders. They have a track record that everybody knows about — and I’m here to learn and serve.”

While the Tyro church has hosted many interns over the past 30 years, Boldt is definitely different. For one thing, he is a bit older than the typical college intern, plus he did not attend a Bible college for his pastoral learning. Instead, he went to Olney Central College in Illinois then transferred to Southern Illinois University on baseball and basketball scholarships, graduating with a degree in special education.

He was a standout player for the Southern Illinois Salukis, and for the past five years taught at two different high schools in Illinois and coached football, baseball and basketball.

Life was pretty good — until last year, that is. That’s when he became one of 25,000 teachers to be laid off in his home state.

“I was devastated,” said Boldt, “but I always knew God had other plans for me.”

During his college years and while teaching and coaching, Boldt preached at small congregations in the vicinity of his school and community. Add the fact that his father, Les Boldt, was a well-known minister in Mount Vernon, Ill., and the picture of his future started to add up.

Boldt said the mere fact that David Bycroft came to Mount Vernon to preach a revival last year must have been divinely arranged. That’s when the two first talked about coming to Tyro — even for a visit.

“I finally agreed to come out for a couple of weeks and see what was happening here,” Boldt said. “It happened that David Bycroft had to be gone the first Sunday I was here, so he asked me to fill in for him. And nothing has been the same since.”

Boldt believes spending a year at the active Tyro Christian Church will be a college education in itself.

The full version of this story is available in the Dec. 9, 2010, edition of the Montgomery County Chronicle. To subscribe, call (620) 336-2100 or (620) 879-2156.