Celebration Covenant Church Pastor Wants To Help By Molding Others.
By RICK MANN
Staff Writer-Frisco Enterprise
11/03/2002

For most of his life Keith Craft has been a minister. For most of his life Keith Craft has had a dream to share his beliefs and visions with others. The number of those hearing his message is growing every day.

The pastor of Celebration Covenant Church is seeing his congregation grow by leaps and bounds, and he is seeing the members of his church pass on the message he is passing to them.

I knew since I was 9 years old that I was called to the ministry,” Craft said. “I’ve known it my whole life. The question was how to do it and how to be the most effective.”

“I could not see myself being the typical pastor. There was something else I was drawn to. What developed was a sense of relevance. I believe the church should be the most creative place in the universe and I wanted a place where people could learn to be the best people they could possibly be.”

Part of the ministry Craft shares with his congregation and the groups he speaks before, is a leadership doctrine that he believes is critical to the population today, both in the church and in the secular world.

“We want to help people become effective leaders,” he said. “Whether they are employers or employees, it makes no difference. Everyone can have and enjoy leadership skills that will direct others down a path that will make everyone happy, productive and at peace.”

“The first step in that leadership is to understand that God is the center of the wheel and everything revolves around him. Once that understanding is made then everything else becomes easier. There are core values that should exist in every church and from the church to the congregation.”

“With those core values and with God in the center people are able to determine what matters most to them and then live the most of what matters. With all of that comes peace and happiness.”

Craft said his church emphasizes setting goals and working toward the completion of the goals.

“Less than 3 percent of the people in this country set goals and even less than that actually write those goals down,” he said. “It’s critical that people establish goals, list them and read them regularly. By doing that there is a great understanding and a sense of purpose and great accomplishment when those goals are reached.”

“Most people don’t live that deliberately, however. It’s more happenstance. But by establishing goals and understanding your values you don’t waste your time on things of less value.”

Craft has shared his message internationally, and has shared the stage with former presidents such as Bill Clinton, George Bush, and Gerald Ford. He wants to continue to get to the public a message he believes is important.

“I established a list of values when I was younger and have maintained these values throughout my adult life. They have seen me through a lot. It’s something I recommend to everyone.”

The values Craft set were:
• God First
• Good relationship with spouse.
• A close relationship with one’s children
• Maintaining good health. (“You can’t do much in life without good health.”)
• To contribute time, knowledge, and money to those whom I have influence.
• As long as you start off with God as the most important value...accomplishing the others becomes easier.”

Craft will be ministering in a new building soon. He said the only thing his church needs is the building permit for construction to start at the corner of Main Street and Teel in Frisco. Currently the congregation meets at Wilma Fisher Elementary.

“Our church is different. We’re more nondenominational. Who we are is not determined by our denominations but by our heart and how we help the people around us.”

“We don’t want to just meet the needs of those in need, which we certainly try to do, but also to equip people to meet those needs. By helping develop leadership skills in others we can then set out to help more people.

Developing leaders in our country is very important and more people will be helped if we do.”

”Our internal ministry was to help bring denominations together and to help churches become more effective.

We have established this church to do something significant and we are working hard to provide help, assistance and leadership to others.”

RM