First Seventh-day Adventist Church of Montclair
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About Our Pastor
Pastor Paula Olivier and her husband, Pastor Smith Olivier
While at Oakwood, Pastor Olivier spent four years studying Greek, Hebrew, Near Eastern history, Early Church history, Homiletics and Pastoral Practices. To better meet the needs of those she would minister to, Pastor Olivier augmented her Theological training by earning a Minor in Psychology. However, if you ask Pastor Olivier what she loved most about attending Oakwood, her response may surprise you. It would have nothing to do with the excellent academic preparation she received. It was the experience of worship. “Nothing can compare to the impact of watching over a thousand young people rushing to worship every Friday evening. People usually like to come to A.Y. after song service. Not at Oakwood. The youth would rush to get to song service. There we would sing for nearly an hour. In our worship, we were thanking God for bringing us through the week and for blessing us with His Holy Sabbath day. While attending Oakwood, I learned not only to keep the Sabbath, but to celebrate the Sabbath.”
After graduating from Oakwood College, Pastor Olivier went on to further her studies. She enrolled at Andrews University Theological Seminary. While at Andrews, God equipped her with more tools to better understand His Word. She graduated in August 2003 with a Master of Divinity degree. It was also here that God introduced to her the “love of her life,” Pastor Smith Olivier. The wedding took place August 15, 2004 in Miami, FL.
Pastor Olivier has been a youth pastor in Miami, FL. During her matriculation at Andrews University, she worked with Pastor Clifford Jones as the Associate Minister of Pastoral Care of New Life SDA Church. Just before joining the Church of the Oranges, she was pastoring in Baltimore, MD where she worked under Frederick Russell, Lead Pastor of Miracle Temple SDA church. She loves people, enjoys teaching and preaching and has a special burden on her heart for reaching young people. “A wise person learns from his mistakes. The wiser person learns from someone else’s. Young people do not have to go into to the world to get battered and bruised by sin. They can learn from the mistakes of others and avoid a tremendous amount of pain. Nevertheless, no matter how bad a mistake they make, I want them to know that Jesus is still in the business of saving souls.”
Her favorite Scripture text is found in Galatians 2:20 “I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.”