At an early age, Bishop Rouse answered the call of Jesus Christ, with his conversion taking place at the Emmanuel Church of Christ-Disciples of Christ. Upon examination by his peers, Bishop Rouse was licensed and ordained into Gospel Ministry at The New Hope Baptist Church in October 2001 and November 2002, respectively.   The call to the pastorate took place in August 2006, and since then, he has been the Servant-Leader of the Pleasant Grove Baptist Church in Newark, NJ, where the vision is to “Build Hearts and Minds to Follow Jesus Christ, Through Learning, Love, and Liberation.”

Pleasant Grove affectionately known as "Grove Nation" is blessed to have this servant of God. The church has witnessed exponential growth spiritually, numerically and financially. Programmatic additions under his leadership include but are not limited too: “Dare to be Different” Youth Ministry, Men’s Ministry, Motivational Monday for Men, expansion of the Music Ministry and Golden Age Ministry, enhancement to the Christian Education Department, continuous development of the Food Pantry and Community Feeding Ministry (which feeds 100’s of people every month!), remodeling of the Sanctuary, formulating of an Administrative team, development of our Shepherd Staff--which includes 5 ordained elders by which Bishop Rouse has had the honor of ordaining three of the five. Since 2006, twelve individuals have committed to gospel ministry through licensure and three others through ordination.  Additionally, seven faithful men accepted the call to service and were ordained to the Office of Deacon, two of whom are now licensed to preach.