Meet our Pastor

Tom and Raschelle Johnston

Pastor Tom is grateful to be Interim Pastor of Cornerstone Baptist Church in Thief River Falls. He began preaching at Cornerstone in January of 2022. On March 12, 2023, Cornerstone members voted for Tom to be their Interim Pastor. Pastor Tom comes to Cornerstone with years of experience in pastoral ministry in Quebec, Manitoba, Minnesota, and Iowa. He served as Interim Pastor of four churches in the Kansas City area, while he was Professor of Evangelism at Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary (MBTS).

Tom and Raschelle moved from Kansas City, Missouri, to Bemidji in the Fall of 2020 to care for Raschelle’s aging parents. Tom and Raschelle have three married children, nine grandchildren and a tenth on the way: Katie and Mike Hunter, Grace, Micah, and Gabe; Jon and Andrea, Jackson and Emmett; and Josh and Libby, Vaughn, Lucy, Francie, Dolly, and .

Tom received his Doctor of Philosophy at the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, his Master of Divinity at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School, and his Bachelor of Arts in Bible at Wheaton College. He began teaching at MBTS in 2001, where he now serves online as Senior Professor of Evangelism.

Raschelle earned the B.A. in Psychology from Trinity International University, and is nearing completion of a Master of Arts in Theological Studies at MBTS. Raschelle has taught in the Women’s Ministry program at MBTS and has been involved as a leader and speaker at various local church women’s ministries.