Reverend Jim D Cline is married to Mary Malinda (Miller) Cline. They have three children, Stacy (Nathan) Carroz, Katie (Jared) Goodwin, and Jason (Courtney Johnson) Cline. He graduated from Fort Zumwalt High School in O’Fallon Missouri and Missouri Baptist University with a Bachelor of Arts. He attended Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Kansas City and graduated with a Master of Divinity and Master of Religious Education. He was licensed in October 1973 and ordained in March 1975 at the First Baptist Church of St. Peters. He has been the pastor at Mineola Baptist Church since 1985. His testimony best tells the story of a lifelong dedication to serving the Lord:

 

"My parents are the late Reverend Duane Cline and my mother, Bernie Cline, is still living. Dad became a believer after he graduated from high school and was drafted into the Navy towards the end of WW2. After the war, he moved to Tulsa, Oklahoma, got a job as a welder and met and married my mom. A few years later they moved to Shawnee Oklahoma, so Dad could attend Oklahoma Baptist University.

 

I grew up in a family where the name Jesus was as common as Mom or Dad and where He was honored as the Savior and Lord of all mankind. Consequently, at a young age, I asked Jesus to take charge of my life and forgive me of my sin. A short time later, I was baptized at Calvary Baptist Church in Shawnee.

 

When I was about to enter fourth grade, we moved to Kansas City, so Dad could attend Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary and pastor the New Liberty Baptist Church, outside of Oak Grove, Missouri. During the 6 years we lived there, I was faithful to attend church, pray and read the Bible, but I was not living for Jesus. Before my high school sophomore year, we moved to St. Peters, Missouri where Dad was called to be the pastor of the First Baptist Church. I continued to be a secret agent Christian, absolutely believing in the Lord Jesus Christ, but living like the other kids I hung out with at Fort Zumwalt High School (the only Fort Zumwalt High School at that time!).

 

The year after I graduated high school, I was asked to teach a Sunday School class of 4th-6th grade boys. At the end of our class time, we gathered together with the director and girls' classes for a test about the lesson material. In a contest of boys (who were outnumbered by the girls 2 to 1) vs girls, the boys won almost every time. It blew my mind that the boys I taught were learning something!

 

God really used that class to convict my heart and get me back on track for Him. I made an appointment with my pastor (who just happened to be my Dad). I wasn’t sure if he was going to act like my Dad or my pastor, but when I confessed my sins, he simply said, "Jim let’s pray!" That next Sunday I publicly told my church that I was sorry for the way I had been living and wanted to rededicate my life to the Lord. I learned a major truth from that experience ~  if you won’t let Jesus be in control of your life and follow His teachings, then He can’t be the Lord of your life.

 

Amazingly I really started growing as a Christian, telling the Lord that whatever He wanted me to do with my life, I would do. Prior to that time, I'd told the Lord I would do anything in a local church ~ be a Sunday school teacher ~ lead the music ~ but I would never become a minister. It was roughly a year later, on a Sunday evening, when I felt sure God was calling me into the ministry. That evening at the end of the Sunday night worship service, I went before the church and publicly surrendered to that call."