Erich P. McCandless, DMin, DD
SENIOR PASTOR
Pastor Erich McCandless was born on July 25, 1969, in Steamboat Springs, Colorado. He grew up in that area as a "country boy" without regular church attendance. In July 1982, circumstances led Pastor McCandless to spend the summer working for a camp in the highlands of the Rocky Mountains. There he heard the Gospel--the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ--and felt a deep conviction to receive Jesus Christ as his personal Saviour by repenting and putting his faith in Christ.
Immediately after receiving Christ as his Saviour, Pastor McCandless felt God leading him to preach to others about the peace he had just found. However, he struggled spiritually for the next five years before the Spirit of God led him to a Baptist church where he was baptized in 1987. Through his pastor's leadership, Pastor McCandless surrendered to the ministry and began to close down various secular aspects of his life including contracts for a successful snow removal business he co-owned.
During his early days of training for the ministry, he met his wife, then Jennifer Tottingham. They married at Empire Baptist Temple (EBT) in June 1990. The Lord blessed them with two sons (Joshua and E. Ronald) before moving them to Australia as missionaries.
Pastor McCandless served in various ways while church planting in Australia. He organized the first and successive Annual Pastor's Retreat which had nation-wide acceptance as a place where true Baptist pastors and missionaries came to "re-charge." He served on an Australian Army logistics base in a Chaplain's Corps with a lieutenant's commission. He also established an international Baptist newspaper, The South Pacific Anchor.
During his nearly ten years in Australia, the Lord blessed Pastor McCandless and his wife with three more "Aussie" children (Richard, Jessica, and Chevelyn). The ministry in Australia was very fulfilling for him.
In 2004, EBT asked Pastor McCandless to return to America to co-pastor with Pastor Tottingham in view of becoming the church's senior pastor. With the Lord's express leading, the McCandlesses moved back to South Dakota in March 2004, where he currently serves as senior pastor of EBT.
Pastor McCandless holds a BA, a MDiv, and an earned Doctorate of Ministries degree. He has served within EBT and other churches in various capacities--from full-time janitor to full-time pastor.
In 2007, he was appointed Chaplain for the Military Entrance Processing Station in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, as captain, and on November 1, 2008, he was promoted to major.
