Courtney Krueger Biography

Courtney Krueger Biography

Courtney Krueger was born in Charleston, S.C. and grew up in Rock Hill, S.C. He graduated from Rock Hill High School in 1985 and enrolled in Furman University.

He graduated from Furman in 1989 with a BA in Philosophy, enrolled in Duke Divinity School and married Lea (pronounced Lee) his college sweetheart in the span of six months.

Has it really been nearly 20 years???

Courtney was the first paid employee of the Baptist House of Studies at Duke Divinity School serving as its Intern from 1991-1992. He graduated from Duke Divinity School in 1992 with a Master of Divinity degree.

He was called as pastor to the Elm City Baptist Church (N.C.) in 1992, serving there for nearly five years.

Courtney was ordained on March 22, 1992. Exactly one year later on March 22, 1993, a boy named David was born in Greenville, NC. Nine days later he would become Lea and Courtney’s first foster child (they had 12 foster children – mostly short-term - over a three year period). Nearly three years later Courtney and Lea would adopt David.

David Krueger in 2008

In 1996, Courtney accepted a call to the First Baptist Church of Pendleton, SC. They began their ministry in Pendleton on November 24, 1996, with Lea eight months pregnant. On December 24, 1996, Sarah Krueger was born.

Courtney is currently the third longest serving pastor in First Baptist Pendleton’s 167 year history.

Courtney on a youth retreat (left)

and a mission trip in Bayou La Batre, Alabama after Hurricane Katrina (right)

Courtney acting in his one-person Biblical drama: Daniel

In 2003, Courtney earned a Doctor of Ministry degree in the field of Christian Spirituality from Columbia Theological Seminary in Decatur, GA. His dissertation was on Sabbath Keeping which led to many jokes during his studies about “working on the Sabbath.”

In 2008, he was awarded First Place in the Baptist History and Heritage Society’s Preaching Contest (you can hear the sermon on our “sermons” webpage).

Courtney enjoys mountain biking and Lea enjoys horseback riding. The wonderful thing about these activities is that they are the only people they know who do them together! There are a number of multi-use trails in the Pendleton area that make this possible. It is a point of pride for Courtney to always arrive back at the truck ahead of the horse!

Courtney and Lea in 2007 outside of Helen, GA (about an hour before Courtney severely dislocated his shoulder requiring shoulder reconstruction surgery!)

Courtney also enjoys canoeing. In February of 2008, he paddled 60 miles of the Suwannee River in Florida on a four day trip. Another outdoor interest is backpacking. His greatest backpacking adventure was in 2006 when he and five others spent six days backpacking in the Grand Canyon.

Courtney paddling down the Suwannee River (2008) and participating in the "Muddy Buddy" Mountain Bike Race (2007)

In October of 2008 Courtney traveled to Romania to teach Gypsy pastors in the Gypsy Smith School in Bucharest.

Courtney baptizes his daughter Sarah on New Year's Eve of 2006

In 2009 Courtney was awarded a grant for a twelve week Sabbatical. As part of this Sabbatical, he spent 5 weeks in Greece with his family assisting CBF Missionaries Bob and Janice Newell in their ministry to Albanians living in Athens Greece.

One of Courtney's Christmas Eve traditions is to write a Christmas Eve story for the children of the congregation. He reads it at the Christmas Eve Candlelight and Communion Service. For 2008 he wrote a story called The Lamb. For 2009 He wrote a story called The Presents of Christ (click on a title to hear the story).