Father of Soul and the Band

Tom Skiles, Joe Skiles Sr, John Skiles, and Bob Kelley

By Solid Rock Family Church
Soul. Sole: These words sound the same, but they have two different connotations. Soul, S-O-U-L, represents a human being. Sole, S-O-L-E, represents a base or foundation (from dictionary.com). For two words that represent two different things, they coexist with one another in relation to the Great Commission. When Jesus said, “Go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit” (Matthew 28:19, N LT), He’s saying, in summary, “Go win lost souls.” To win souls we need to set a “sole” foundation in which we choose to live a life like Jesus.

Debuting in their first performance, I introduce you to Father Soul and the Band.

OK. You caught me. There is no such band known as Father Soul and the Band, but metaphorically speaking, we know them as Joe Skiles Sr. and his Band of Brothers: Bob Kelley, Tom Skiles, Mark Skiles, John Skiles, and Guy Provencal.

For the past ten years, Pastor Joe Skiles Sr. of Solid Rock Family Church in Jefferson City, MO has been establishing a sole foundation for his church to plant churches where they need to be to win souls. Pastor Skiles: “I have never considered myself a church planter, but I was always interested in it to the degree that I wanted our ministry to do that.”

Pastor Skiles has been the sole foundation (also known as the “mother church”) for three established church plants: LifeRock Church in Columbia, MO (pastored by Bob and Debbie Kelley), SOS Church in St. Louis, MO (pastored by Tom and Darla Skiles), and Solid Rock at the Lake (pastored by Mark and Julia Skiles). In addition, the church has two church plants underway: one in Destin, FL (soon to be pastored by John and Sula Skiles), and the other in Tucson, AZ (soon to be pastored by Guy and Catherine Provencal).

Some pastors desire their leaders to go through a Church Planting Program before being released to go plant a church. “There’s never been a particular program where we train church planters. I understand that way and the significance for it, but for me it’s always been praying, asking God, and keeping it in front of the people who someday will plant the churches. For me it had to be the Who? Where? When?” explains Pastor Skiles.

All of the Church Plants Pastor Skiles has released have been God-given, where he becomes their Sole Father, the foundational church, to fully support what they are doing. It was Pastor Skiles’ every intention to support his church-planting pastors financially and spiritually as they begin or began the process of planting their churches until they were fully established financially.

There is no right way to start a church plant. “We really don’t have a model; we just go with the individual. We begin to pray for when it is going to start, where we are going, and how much we can do. That’s what they come to us with, and then we begin to pray and ask the Holy Spirit for direction. It’s like when the Holy Spirit said to send Paul and Barnabus to different places. It’s the Holy Spirit who leads the individual to plant a church, rather than a church-led program,” stated Pastor Skiles. This is what Pastor Bob, Pastor Tom, Pastor Mark did and what Pastor John and Guy are beginning to do.

There is no question that church plants have had its number of success and failure stories. It all draws back to you, the leader, being called by the Holy Spirit to be a church planter to win lost souls, all with the support of your Sole Father. “All of the church plants mentioned are successes. They are doing awesome things and endeavoring to plant other churches.” When you see success, you are inspired to do more. Pastor Skiles laid the foundation of church planting, and that seed took root and is growing in the church plants he supported to grow beyond themselves. A chain reaction has begun!

Each church plant is different. For these pastors they have all branched from the “mother church,” Solid Rock Family Church. “Having that mother church is significant. Church plants have a high rate of success when a mother church is involved,” explained Pastor Skiles. Church plants are something special. As they were founded on the foundation of their mother church, they are becoming a sole foundation as they begin to grow, raise leaders, and win souls through their ministry. The fruit of Pastor Skiles’ support shows through the church plants he has helped establish. Pastor Tom now runs 500+ in attendance, Pastor Bob 200+, and Pastor Mark 100+, and they continue to grow.

“We’re all in this together. You cannot have the mindset that ‘this is my territory and you can’t have anything in my territory.’ If it’s a God thing, it doesn’t matter. You release people to do ministry. You can’t control them, but you send them with God’s blessings and with the Holy Spirit through wisdom and direction. When you train up a leader, you allow yourself to succeed in the areas where God puts you. Our involvement has been in trying to give a little bit of oversight in finances, not to the point of taking away their independence. It is a matter of trusting them, but with some accountability, knowing what they are doing, and staying in touch with them.”

As the number of church plants increase, it’s important for the pastor to fit into the area where he or she has been called to win lost souls— culturally, socially, and spiritually. For Guy it was the hot air of Tucson, AZ; for Pastor John, it’s the white, sandy beaches of Destin, Florida; for Pastor Bob, it is the college town of Columbia, MO; for Pastor Tom, it is the metropolitan area of St. Louis, MO; and Pastor Mark, the tourist town of Lake of the Ozarks, MO. Each person has his own cultural atmosphere he’s attracted to that allows him to fulfill the calling of God in his life.

As the Soul Father releases the leaders to reach their area, they each have a different approach on how to start. For some, it’s taking time to develop a team and build their church through their team, as was the case for Pastor Tom. For others, their style may be just to start providing services to the community and build from there, as was the case with Pastor Bob and Pastor Mark. “There is no set formula for how to develop a church plant. It all depends on the individual and their personality, along with the Word of God as their foundation.”

Church Plants birthed from a mother church is trending across the world. There may come a day when an individual comes to you, the Sole Father, and tells you he/ she have been called to plant a church. “Be open-minded to the Holy Spirit and open-minded to release people to go minister to the world. One of the biggest struggles for the PCG is releasing people to go do ministry,” Pastor Skiles said. When you release someone to do ministry for God’s kingdom, God WILL bless your church. “Every time we have released somebody into the ministry, God has always blessed our church both financially and numerically. It’s the result of sowing seed.”

Don’t be afraid to release leaders. That is what the Great Commission is all about. That is what discipleship is. “If we can’t look over our shoulders and ask ‘Who can take this?’ or ‘Who can do what I’m doing?’ then we are not doing our jobs. Be open to the purpose and the Will of God. Always get God’s answer to the Who, Where, and When. If it’s God’s “who,” and the who is aligned with the “where,” the Holy Spirit has led them. “When” is also significant with your planning. When you have those three aligned together, then you will be blessed.”

“If we are going to grow as an organization, WE MUST PLANT CHURCHES.” We have an obligation to win souls. We are in this together.

Joe Skiles Sr. has been a sole foundation for many leaders, who have been released to win souls for their kingdom, whether it is to plant churches, lead church camps, pastor a church, etc. He has brought together a band of leaders who represent God, but also the fruit of his labor. Altogether they are doing some mighty things.

Here to change the world one church at a time, Father Soul and the Band.

Women with a Mission

In the city of Poptun, Guatemala, approximately 70 percent of girls between the ages of 10 and 19 have been molested by a friend or family member. Many of these girls are forced to live on the streets, some of them pregnant due to the molestation by family members. All of these girls were abandoned by those who should care for them. Seeing this travesty happening in their community, an amazing couple from a Pentecostal Church of God named Cony and Luis Paredes accepted their mission and opened their hearts and small home to these young girls. The mission became known as the Ahikam Girl’s Home.


In June of 2011 the Women of the Pentecostal Church of God accepted their mission to partner with Ahikam Girls Home by building a facility to house these young girls whose lives had known only abuse and abandonment. By August of 2012 we had raised close to $50,000 to complete that Mission! Ahikam has now expanded its reach to all children regardless of gender due to the tremendous need in the area. Children are now being sent to Ahikam from the Guatemalan Court System with absolutely NO FUNDING from the government.


The building project has faced several delays and set-backs, but under the leadership of our missionaries, Les and Charlene Melton, we are hopeful that the Ahikam Children’s Home will be officially occupied in the near future. We will complete the mission!


On August of 2012 our mission brought a team of women and a few brave men from across the United States to Poptun and were met by missionaries Les and Charlene Melton and daughter Rosalie. While there, we worked at the construction site and ministered to the children in their current rented facility. We ministered to Momma Cony and Papa Luis, giving them some much deserved time off; for Momma Cony, a day at the beauty shop. While in Guatemala we conducted workshops to teach the children various crafts, and we purchased much needed appliances, food, and supplies to care for their physical needs. We shared the love of Christ with each precious child and ministered to them both physically and spiritually. Our time in Guatemala concluded with a powerful communitywide dedication service at the construction site of the new Ahikam Children’s Home. At the end of the service, the children displayed a table of the items they had made. Many items were purchased by those in attendance. I wish you could have seen their faces as people began to purchase these items!


Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to provide your love, prayers, and continued financial support for these precious children of Ahikam. Join the mission; get connected to Empowered Women’s Ministries.