Pastor Peter Doseck

Pastor Peter Doseck had but one mission in this life: to preach the gospel of Jesus Christ wherever he went. Nothing gave him more joy than to watch the Spirit of God draw the lost to repentance. He enjoyed that more than golfing, hunting, and fishing –and if you knew Pastor, that’s saying a lot!

Pastor Doseck was born on September 5th, 1950, at Wilson Memorial Hospital in Sidney, Ohio, to parents Howard C. and Janice L. “Boseman” Doseck. He married his wife of 52 years, Phyllis “Williams” Doseck, on January 16th, 1971, at the Nazarene Church in Quincy, Ohio. A little over a year later, they welcomed their one and only child, Nicole “Doseck” Waters.

The Dosecks’ lived as most young couples do: in love, creating a home, and growing a family. Everything seemed perfect. However, Pastor often shared how he became discontent with the life they were building and found himself in a vicious cycle of making decisions he deeply regretted. Pastor often said, “Amazingly, my wife stuck it out with me. She wanted to divorce me, but she didn’t carry it out because she became a Christian.” During this downward spiral, Phyllis was praying for her husband.

Pastor began to feel drawn to God. He read Romans 10:9-11. He heard about what it means to be a Christian and have a new life. “I wanted this,” he said. “I wanted to be saved, but I was living the life of a chameleon. I showed interest in God, but I wasn’t interested enough to make a full commitment. This is a struggle we all go through.” He learned the blood of Jesus was shed for him on the cross, and it was able to wash away all of his sins. He said, “I decided it was time to be all in or all out, so I did a bold thing, and I knelt beside my closet door. I prayed a prayer of repentance the only way I knew how.” From that moment, Pastor was “all in” for Jesus and never looked back. Soon after, Pastor felt called to ministry.

On Palm Sunday, March 28th, 1982, the Dosecks held the inaugural service of Only Believe Church in their living room. One person joined them for worship, and a new church was born. On Mother’s Day of the same year, the church moved into a 16’ x 32’ storefront building on State Street in downtown Botkins. It was a new beginning, and over the decades that followed, Only Believe Church made several more moves until the purchase of nearly 47 acres on Botkins Road, and the undertaking of three building projects that now seat over 4,000. Since the completion of the church building, Only Believe Church has birthed three church satellites in the cities of Kenton (February 2011), Urbana (February 2014), and Dayton (February 2016).

As God brought increase and blessing to Only Believe Church in Botkins, Pastor found himself unsatisfied with church growth that did not include a move of the Holy Spirit and the miraculous. He began to pray for the demonstration of the Holy Spirit to become evident in his personal life and ministry. He cancelled all appointments for 18 months and arrived at the church at 5 am each day to pray, study, and seek the Lord. At the end of that time, he had a personal encounter with Jesus and was empowered to demonstrate the miraculous and evangelize the nations.

Pastor immediately planned a mission trip with the only pastor he knew in the Philippines. There were a little less than 2,000 people in attendance at his first crusade, but when he prayed for miracles to happen, hundreds of people came to the platform to share their miracle testimonies! The blind saw, the deaf heard, the crippled walked for the first time, and the tumors on people's bodies disappeared immediately! This was the start of Peter Doseck Ministries, an international evangelistic ministry that calls the lost, disciples the believer, equips the minister, and leaves an indelible mark in every reached city and community.

As an evangelist, Pastor ministered to more than 250 million people in person and on worldwide television. He won over 8 million souls for Christ. He taught and trained 114,000 pastors and ministers to do the work of the ministry with greater excellence and understanding. He funded the digging of water wells, building of churches, and establishment of orphanages.

On June 25th, 2017, Pastor Doseck received a Doctorate of Theology from Covenant Theological Seminary in Greenville, North Carolina.

One of Pastor’s most remarkable endeavors later in life was raising up an army of next-generation evangelists and pastors who are now empowered and equipped to travel the world preaching the gospel and winning souls to Christ. Many new ministries were birthed through his call to build Kingdom leaders, and they are actively drawing the lost to repentance and disciplining believers on six continents.

Pastor Peter Doseck stepped into eternity from his home on the morning of Thursday, October 12th, 2023. He is survived by the love of his life, Phyllis, his daughter, Nicole Waters (husband Randy Waters of Shawnee, Ohio), and grandchildren, or as he lovingly called them, “rugrats,” Alexis Waters of Shawnee, Ohio, Lincoln and Grace Waters of St. Marys, Ohio, and Quinten Waters of Shawnee, Ohio, as well as 7 brothers, 6 sisters, and numerous nieces and nephews.

His legacy of faith will continue through the many men and women he developed as Kingdom leaders and inspired to “only believe.” Pastor paved the way, the goal and purpose for Only Believe Church will remain. We will always win the lost, disciple new believers, and impact our communities.

We will honor Pastor Doseck’s legacy on Friday, October 20th, 2023, at Only Believe Church, Botkins, Ohio. Calling hours are 11–1 pm and 2–5 pm. The funeral service will begin at 5 pm.  If so desired, contributions may be made to PDM Ministries where the Legacy of Salvation will continue.

A final note from Pastor Doseck:

“If you are like most people, you believe in God, but you may not know how to serve Him or seek Him, and you may not even know that you should. You may be the kind of person I was, believing but not really committing to what you believe.

I would ask you this: What have you got to lose? Is it pride that keeps you from surrendering your life to Jesus? Is it fear of the unknown that makes you hold onto the reins of your life? I can tell you, I have never considered going back to the life I once led because it was a life void of direction, hope, and destiny.

All who call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. This is a Bible promise, and I can guarantee you that it’s true. You don’t need flowery words to surrender your life to Jesus, and you don’t need to understand everything about the Bible to repent because to repent just means to turn away from your old life and turn toward God.

Don’t think about religion; think about yourself. Think about your children because they will probably follow you. Think about your spouse. Think about your grandchildren. Life is real, death is real, Hell is real, and so is Heaven. The choice is yours. You have a purpose in life that only you can discover through receiving Jesus Christ as your personal Savior.

It’s not hard. You can pray simply and honestly and ask Jesus to be the Lord of your life from this day forward. I encourage you to do it now rather than later because we are not promised later.”

Pastor Peter Doseck

September 5, 1950 – October 12, 2023