LINO LAKES (AP) — When Pastor Bob Merritt took the pulpit in 1991 of what would become Eagle Brook Church, the Minnesota Twins had just won the World Series and the U.S.S.R. had fallen, ending the Cold War.

A pastor’s kid from Neshannock Township, Pennsylvania, fresh out of Penn State University with a doctorate in speech communications, Merritt was wondering if he’d made a mistake accepting the job. At that point, the congregation of the then First Baptist Church of White Bear Lake was a mere 300.

“To me, it felt bigger being in an urban setting,” he said. “I just felt intimidated, didn’t think I was up to it. Neither did my three staff. They all left,” he said. “That first year here in 1991 was really hard. I wasn’t sure I was going to make it. But, I just put my head down and came to work every day, did my very best. The second year, we started to take off.”

The church grew so fast and so consistently that it became the largest Protestant church in Minnesota, with 90,000 tuning in to the Christmas message in December across the nine campuses and online broadcast, the St. Paul Pioneer Press reported.

Now, with the church being “in the best shape it’s ever been,” Merritt, 62, said he will be stepping down as lead pastor on his birthday, March 1, turning the pulpit over to Pastor Jason Strand.

“Gang, I can tell you, it’s time,” he told his congregation Sept. 22, who responded with a standing ovation. “I’ve been running the race so hard for so long, I’m going to need some time alone with God, time alone with my family. I’m going to need at least six months for my head to clear and my soul to restore and then trust that God’s going to show me whatís next.”

Merritt never set out to build a megachurch.

“That was not my focus. It’s still not my focus,” he said, dismissing notions that the church size was part of a grand plan or life goal.

“My focus was to be a church where anybody could come and hear a message that was relatable to everyday life, hear music that was inspiring, to reach as many people as you can with the great news that God loves you and wants a relationship with you. For whatever reason, God wanted us to do that in a big way.”

The third-born child to Calvin and Barbara Merritt, Bob Merritt grew up with his four brothers and sisters watching his parents lead the First Baptist Church in Neshannock Township.

“I had a great experience growing up,” he said. “My dad lived what he taught. I saw authenticity. I saw a person who didn’t just speak about God’s truth but also tried to live right. I saw a man who loved God deeply.”

His dad was also an outdoorsman, something Bob Merritt loved, too, so much in fact that he thought he might be a forest ranger when he grew up.