INTRODUCING DR. ARTHUR MARICLE
Arthur William Maricle was born September 7, 1956. At the age of 5, his dad was led to Christ by a man who was a coworker in Omaha, Nebraska. This dear man was actively involved in the Navigators evangelistic and discipleship ministry. Having been born again, Vernie Maricle led his family to begin attending a Baptist church in Council Bluffs, Iowa. Arthur was 5 years old.
Following an evangelistic service in that same church, a teenager approached 7-year-old Arthur and timidly inquired, “Have you ever asked Jesus to come into your heart.” Arthur replied, “No.” The teenager: “Would you like to?” “Yes.” So the teen took the little boy to a man who, in a side room, led Arthur to saving faith in Jesus Christ!
When Arthur was 9, the family moved to West Des Moines, Iowa, and attended a Baptist church in Des Moines. Arthur grew up attending Sunday School, church services, revivals and other special meetings, as well as summer Bible camps and winter retreats.
When he was a young teen, Arthur’s family moved to San Diego, California, and joined a Grace Brethren church in the area. While attending a government high school, Arthur’s heart gradually drifted away from the Lord and into rebellion. He married his high school sweetheart, Laura, while they were both 19 years old, and they had their first baby one year later. They alternated between attending Arthur’s Grace Brethren church (where the pastor had begun personally discipling Arthur and saved him from descending into total apostasy) and Laura’s Lutheran church.
After a couple years of marriage, and the birth of a second child, the couple was not faring well together. Arthur’s mother invited them to join her in attending a Jerry Falwell meeting in San Diego.
During the invitation, a female Bible college student led Laura to true, saving faith in Jesus Christ!
Not long thereafter, Arthur’s employer transferred him to Phoenix, where they continued attending a Grace Brethren church. Six months later, he was transferred to San Francisco. On Sunday mornings, the couple faithfully attended a Grace Brethren church that was an hour away. Craving more church involvement, they searched around their home in Redwood City and happened into Redwood Baptist Church, which had become a red-hot spiritual powerhouse under the leadership of her founding pastor, Dwight Tomlinson. They had found a spiritual home! It wasn’t long before Arthur and Laura trashed their recently purchased New American Standard Versions, and adopted the King James Bible as God’s preserved Word. Many other changes in their lives took place in rapid succession. Arthur says, “It was like being born again again!” To both sets of their parents (this being the time frame of Jim Jones and the Peoples’ Temple fiasco, so much of which occurred in San Francisco) there were grave concerns that their offspring had joined a cult. In reality, Arthur and Laura were having the time of their lives hearing true preaching for the first time, being challenged to grow into greater Christlikeness, and being trained to be soulwinners.
The Maricles joined Redwood Baptist in January of 1979. On August 2 of that same year, Arthur felt that God was calling him to preach. Within 2 weeks, Pastor Tomlinson — desperate for someone to take the church’s school as it entered its second year — invited Arthur to join his staff. Suddenly, “Brother Maricle” (as he has been fondly known by many in the subsequent years) was in full-time Christian service! He has been actively, faithfully serving the Lord ever since.
Arthur and Laura served on staff at Redwood Baptist Church for 5 years; after the departure of Pastor Tomlinson, they moved to the South Bay region and served in non-staff positions at North Valley Baptist Church of Santa Clara, California (Pastor Jack Trieber), for 2 years. Moving to the East Bay, they served under Pastor (later Evangelist) Wally Davis for a year. Arthur then accepted the call to pastor International Baptist Church (later Peninsula Baptist Church) of San Bruno, just south of San Francisco. They continued there for 2½ years, then returned to San Diego, where they joined Lighthouse Baptist Church.
While at the Lighthouse, Arthur and Laura served in a variety of capacities. Pastor Doug Fisher invited Arthur to join his staff on a volunteer basis, then hired Arthur and Laura to teach in the church’s school. Arthur then became an associate pastor. They served Pastor Fisher at the Lighthouse for 13 years. While there, besides leading several ministries and building an adult Bible class to an average attendance of 135, Arthur graduated from the church’s 3-year Bible institute, then attended the San Diego Baptist Bible Institute and Theological Seminary (defunct) under Dr. Tom Cassidy, pastor of a nearby independent Baptist church whose original doctorate was in nuclear engineering, supplemented by 2 theological doctorates. Over the next few years, Arthur earned his bachelor of Biblical studies degree, master of Biblical studies degree, and doctor of ministry degree under the tutelage of Dr. Cassidy.
With the guidance of Pastor Fisher, Arthur accepted the call to pastor New Hope Baptist Church of Santa Rosa, in Sonoma County, California (about an hour north of San Francisco). In the 19 years of his pastorate, the church grew from about 30 attendees to a high of 175, moving from a dilapidated old building in Petaluma to a nice facility in a Santa Rosa business park. Attendance drifted down to about 125 pre-Covid, then to about 85 post-Covid — still a notable achievement in that extremely liberal area.
After Laura suffered a minor stroke in June, 2021, it became clear that she needed to be relieved of the constant pressures of her husband’s pastorate. Arthur made the extremely difficult decision to vacate his position. By God’s grace, the Maricles’ son, William — a successful missionary to China who was unable to return to that country following the onslaught of the Coronavirus — accepted the call to pastor the church. Arthur Maricle’s pastorate ended on January 30, 2022, while William Maricle’s pastorate began that same night.
During that same time frame, Arthur’s mother was diagnosed with lung cancer, and also had to have an artificial knee removed due to infection. Being without other pressing duties, Arthur and Laura returned once more to the San Diego area to care for her.
Arthur immediately began an itinerant ministry as “The Pastor’s Friend”, circulating among the 16 good (that is to say, Scripturally conservative) independent Baptist churches within the substantial confines of San Diego County. When not booked to preach nor attending a conference outside the area, Arthur visits the 16 churches in circuit, seeking to encourage both pastor and people.
Dr. Maricle is available to provide pulpit supply and to speak at special meetings as God opens doors in San Diego County and beyond. He is also writing helpful materials for pastors and their congregations. Dr. Joe Carson of New Testament Ministries International is publishing Dr. Maricle’s materials in the Philippines for distribution in Asia. This website makes Dr. Maricle’s rich array of sermons, booklets, pamphlets, and articles available to you.