Pastor Gerald Harder
September 15, 1951 – December 15, 2018
Precious in the sight of the LORD is the death of his saints.
As a church, we rejoice to know that our pastor for the past 32 years is now in the presence of the Lord. He graduated to glory surrounded by family on December 15. Pastor Gerald Harder was our pastor, our friend, our confidante, our mentor, our guide, and a great example of faith to us. We are so grateful that he set a path for us to follow in Spirit-filled, grace-enabled living. As a church, we miss his sweet spirit, his sincere love for all men, his great desire to please the Lord, and his faithful preaching.
Please pray for the Harder family. Pastor Harder loved his family, his wife, his boys, and his grandchildren. They grieve his departure and look forward to that day when they will be reunited with him.
When Pastor Harder brought his family to Vacaville in 1986 to shepherd Elmira Baptist Church, it was just a small congregation with a building that needed a new roof. The building did not even have indoor plumbing. When the Lord called him to his eternal home, Elmira Baptist Church was a thriving family of believers with a newly poured foundation on which to build the chapel of the future. He left us with a vision of reaching Solano county with the love of Jesus Christ.
