SOUTH POINT — The career paths Brian Malott has taken seem disparate — entrepreneur and minister. But for Malott, there has always been a single constant — a life dedicated to following Christ — that has been his north star.

As Malott and his wife, Heather, get ready to take over the reins of the Sunrise Church of the Nazarene in South Point, he shares how he shifted from successful businessman to man of the cloth.

A native of Circleville, Malott started college at the Mt. Vernon Nazarene University studying business management.

However, after one year there, he went into the military serving three combat tours in the first Iraqi war. After that he spent several years handling government contract work for the military, going from West Point to Fort Campbell to Fort Knox.

Then he returned to Circleville to start his own carpentry and home repair company.

“When I first started running my company, my wife and I spent time in prayer. We wanted to be where God wanted us. We didn’t want to just follow Christ, but follow him the way he wanted.”

For Malott, faith has always permeated every aspect of his life. When he had his company, he openly shared his faith with his employees having Bible studies and prayer throughout the day.

“I saw God do amazing things with my workers. Christ used the company to reach several workers,” he said. “We would pray in the morning that God would give us the opportunity to reach our customers. Our workers or I got to share testimony with our customers. God did some phenomenal things.”

A couple of years ago, Malott felt the call to the ministry and went back to Mt. Vernon to study for his ministerial license.

“It was overwhelming,” he recalled. “It took me a while to come to grasp with it.”

He discovered his vocation during a time when he was driving by himself.

“Whenever I am alone in the car, I like to pray and focus on God,” he said. “I felt a definite shift on where God wanted me to be. It was to preach the Gospel.”

But as he was preparing for this call, he still had his business to run and eventually dispose of. His major criteria were that the new owner be a Christian and run the company as a ministry, just as Malott had.

“This last spring I met all the requirements for licensing and one of my primary employees bought the company from me,” he said. “It is in the contract he has to run the business as a ministry. I had been praying to God to bring me a Christian owner.”

On Sunday Malott’s new church will conduct a welcoming celebration and installation ceremony starting at 10:30. He looks at his new assignment with excitement and anticipates becoming involved with the South Point community.

“It is a spiritually mature church,” Malott said. “I am so impressed with their love of God,” he said. “They are really following God, not just serving God on their terms, but on God’s terms.

“I don’t know what God is going to do, but I know he is in it.”

For more information on Sunday’s service or the Sunrise Church, contact Malott at (740) 474-2258.