Steve Gaines credits ‘miracles, medicine’ amid cancer treatment

The former head of the largest Protestant denomination in the United States has shared a positive update on his cancer diagnosis while acknowledging that health problems still linger. 

Steve Gaines, the senior pastor of Bellevue Baptist Church in Cordova, Tennessee, provided an update on the status of his health in a video posted on the church’s YouTube account Friday. Gaines, the former President of the Southern Baptist Convention who served from 2016-2018, announced he had cancer back in November. 

In the video, Gaines informed his congregation that “the Lord has done a great thing in our lives” after telling them, “I’m so grateful for your prayers.” He noted that “the last PET scan that I had showed that there were no more polyps of cancer in my lungs.” By contrast, he said, the previous PET scan revealed “multiple polyps” in his lungs. 

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“They’ve all gone, and we’re grateful for that,” Gaines proclaimed. “Also, I had cancer in my rib on the left side. It also has diminished. It’s gone as well.” 

Gaines said the cancer in his kidney has also “gone down significantly.”

He added, “I still have cancer, but it’s really, really going away, and I’m grateful to God for miracles and medicine.”

“One thing that’s happened though is my myasthenia gravis, which literally means grave or severe muscular weakness, has been re-enacted,” he added. “I’ve had this for 24 years and it’s not lethal, but because my immune system has gone up so much, which is a great thing, because of the immunotherapy and the targeted drugs, that’s good for my cancer but it’s rough on my myasthenia.”

Gaines explained that as a result of the re-emergence of his myasthenia gravis, “some of my muscles are weak.” He identified his neck as “the place where it has primarily hit this time.”

The Mayo Clinic defines myasthenia gravis as a condition that “causes muscles under your voluntary control to feel weak and get tired quickly.” It has no cure, but treatments can help with symptoms such as “weakness of arm or leg muscles, double vision, drooping eyelids, and problems with speaking, chewing, swallowing and breathing.” 

Gaines’ symptoms specifically affect the neck, and therefore, his “weak neck muscles make it hard to hold up the head.” 

Gaines concluded the video by urging his congregation to “keep praying for that,” describing his myasthenia gravis as “more of a nuisance than anything else.”

He added that he planned to preach on Sunday, “I’m so grateful to God for the young men who have been preaching for us the past few weeks.” Praising the men for doing “such a fantastic job,” he remarked, “I’m just so thankful for all six of these men and how they just poured their hearts out.” 

The Bellevue Baptist Church’s website details Gaines’ history in ministry as well as his personal life. Gaines has served as pastor of Bellevue Baptist Church for nearly two decades. His career as a pastor goes back to 1983, and he has led churches in Texas, Alabama and Tennessee. He is married with four daughters and 18 grandchildren.