About Me
My Education & Experience
I graduated Maryville College in 2002 with a Bachelor or Arts degree in Writing/Communications. During college I spent two summers working in a church as a Student Ministry Intern. I also attended the Focus on the Family Institute in Fall 2001.
Then I spent my first 7 years after college working at Summit Ministries, a Christian Worldview parachurch ministry in Colorado Springs, CO.
In 2008, I moved to Chattanooga, TN, got married, started attending New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary, and was hired on staff at Johnson Ferry Baptist Church in Marietta, GA. I graduated with an MDiv from New Orleans in 2012 and served at Johnson Ferry until Dec. 2013 when I became the Discipleship Pastor at Bayside Baptist Church in Harrison, TN. I left Bayside in Feb. 2018 and have been serving as the On-Site Director for Summit Ministries TN & GA Summer Student Conferences from 2018-2021.
Ever since I began college I‘ve been teaching God’s Word and making disciples in contexts from the parachurch to the local church both nationally and internationally. I have experience making disciples and teaching God’s Word to people one on one, in small groups, in large adult classes, and church-wide. My desire is to be a lead pastor of a local church and shepherd that gathering to embrace her privilege as God’s chosen, Spirit-filled method of displaying His image to the world and bringing Glory to Himself
My Passion
I am passionate about making disciples, teaching/preaching God’s Word, and equipping the church to make disciples. My calling is to be a pastor/elder/overseer in a local church.
My heart’s desire and passion is to see the local church be the people of God and live as the body of Jesus Christ! I believe the Scripture teaches that the local church is God’s “program” for Discipleship.
The church is to prayerfully speak God’s Word in total dependance on the Holy Spirit to people (one another in the church and to our neighbors) and to engage people in relationship with persevering love over time. As we do this then God is faithful to both transfer people into the Kingdom of His beloved Son and transform them into His image.
I desperately desire to see God do this work in and through a local church who is submitted to Him in prayer and humble dependence on nothing but His Word and His Spirit.
My Family
I was born and raised in East Tennessee. All of my family still lives in Maryville and Alcoa. I moved to Colorado in 2002 and that’s where by God’s sovereign grace I met Elizabeth Whittinghill.
It was 2007 when we met and at the time she was a High School Bible Teacher at Silverdale Baptist Academy in Chattanoga, TN. Elizabeth is a woman of God and loves Jesus and His Word. She’s been teaching the Bible and discipling girls/women since she was a little girl. I knew when I met her that I’d found a partner in life and ministry.
We dated for a little over 10 months and were married March 15th, 2008. God blessed us with our first daughter, Caris in 2010, our son Caleb in 2011, our second daughter Elliana in 2014, and our second son Josiah in 2019.
Elizabeth has been homeschooling Caris, Caleb, and Elliana the past few years. We love to read together, hike, and play on the lake. I’ve taken up Stand-up Paddleboarding as a hobby and competed in the Chattajack (a 32 mile endurance race) in 2016, 2018, 2019, 2020, & 2021. Elizabeth and I both take seriously our responsibility to disciple our children and point them each to Jesus.