Leadership

• Saved by Grace through Faith at 20 years old
• Baptized and Called weeks later
• Served as a student pastor at Bay Leaf Baptist, Raleigh, NC, and at Englewood Baptist, Rocky Mt, NC
• MDIV, Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary 2000
• Lead Pastor/Church planter, West End Baptist
• NAMB Missionary
• IMB Missionary to Central Asia
• Missions, Leadership Development, & Small Groups Pastor, Parkway Moseley
• Church Planting Lead Pastor, New Life Church, Powhatan 

Let His Kingdom come, and His will be done, on earth as it is in heaven! God is moving, and we are following his lead to plant a new church in Powhatan, Virginia. This is a new work to us, but it is the old story of our Sovereign God advancing His Kingdom through the church. 

The Story for a Near Culture Church Plant 

When I was 20 years old and life was spinning out of control, God saved my soul and put me on a path of loving and serving Him. It became clear that my exit from the Marine Corps was the pathway to serving in the plans the Lord had for me. As Ephesians 2:8-10 teaches us, I was saved by grace through faith to walk in the plans that He had prepared beforehand for me to walk in. I was baptized about 2 weeks after salvation, and God showed me my life was His to be used in whatever way He leads. I was blessed to be discipled and was quickly given opportunities to share my faith, lead, teach, preach, and shepherd others. I didn’t fully understand, but it was evident that God had given me a new life to be a Pastor / Preacher / Shepherd / Teacher with a missionary heart. 

In 2001, after several years serving in North Carolina at Bay Leaf Baptist and Englewood Baptist in student ministries, God called Megan and I to plant West End Baptist Church in Henrico, VA. God gave us the simple vision for church: loving God, loving people, and making disciples. The West End was a “close culture” to us because we spoke the same language, but we were still in many ways cross-cultural from how we had grown up. After 11 years with our West End Church Family, God moved us again to serve and engage, but this time in a “far culture.” We moved to Kazakhstan in 2012 to work with and lead an IMB church planting team. Our call was to engage those who had never been told of Him. (Rom 15:14-21) While serving there, we came alongside one of the Father’s small, fledgling churches where I was again called to pastor, teach, lead, and shepherd. 

In 2020, God brought us into fellowship with Parkway Baptist, Moseley, VA, where I have been serving for the past 4 1/2 years. Parkway has been a great place for us to serve while we have renewed & refreshed with the body of Christ. Praise God for the body of Christ! We love Parkway & see God’s kindness and sovereign plans in uniting us with a loving and missional church. It is no accident that God brought us to serve with a church that loves sending out laborers into the harvest fields through church planting. (Lk 10:02) 

In this season of serving with the Parkway Family, God has given us His vision & call to partner & push forward again, to be sent out from Parkway with a launch team, and to plant New Life Church Powhatan in a “near culture” people. Powhatan is the next county over from where Parkway resides and is in the growth corridor of Hwy 60. The county is projected to grow by 20-25% over the next 5 years, with a 10-year projection of over 50% growth. There are simply not enough God-loving, Bible-teaching, evangelical, missions-minded churches in Powhatan for the current and future population. 

These are the plans the Lord has for us along with a launch team of nearly 45 adults gathered from Parkway and Powhatan. God has made me a lead Shepherd, Preacher, Leader, Teacher with a heart to raise up and send out. We have served in “close cultures,” “far cultures,” and now we believe God is leading us to plant a new church in a “near culture,” Powhatan, VA. God has affirmed this in so many ways with the Holy Spirit’s leading, multiple Scriptures, including the book of Ezekiel, with a united Parkway pastoral team, with SBCV leadership affirmation, and with a now 45+ gathered called out ones forming the New Life Church launch team. 

• Saved by God’s grace through faith in Jesus Christ at 14 years old
• Baptized a month later
• Called to be a pastor at 18 years old
• Undergraduate studies in Human Service Counseling and Special Education, Old Dominion University
• Graduate studies in Biblical Counseling, Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary
• More than 25 years of ministry in student, children’s, family, discipleship, counseling, and church leadership
• Served at Western Branch Baptist Church, Smith Memorial Baptist Church, Nansemond River Baptist Church, and Alexander Baptist Church

The Lord continues to teach me that discipleship is a lifelong journey of knowing Christ, following His Word, and helping others do the same. I believe God transforms lives through His Word, the work of Holy Spirit, and the fellowship of His Church. As He continues to shape my life, my desire is to faithfully invest in others, equipping them to grow in their faith and become disciples who make disciples.

The Story of a Life Being Discipled 

God graciously drew me to Himself when I was fourteen years old during a Bailey Smith crusade held in my high school gym. That evening, the Gospel was preached from Matthew 13. Although I had grown up in church and knew a great deal about God, God used a simple question from the preacher to expose what I had never realized before: although I knew many truths about Jesus, I had never had a personal relationship with Him. The question was, “Do you know, that you know, that you know?”  In that moment, the Holy Spirit opened my eyes to see the difference between simply knowing about Jesus and truly knowing Him personally. I realized I was still a sinner separated from God.  In September of 1994, I repented of my sin and placed my faith and trust in Jesus Christ as my Savior and Lord. The following month, I publicly professed my faith through believer’s baptism by immersion at Bethany Baptist Church.

Since that day, the Lord has faithfully guided every step of my journey. Through every season of life and ministry, He has continued to teach me through His Word, strengthen me by His Spirit, and deepen my love for His Church. My greatest desire is to know Christ more fully and to use what He teaches me to serve Him and those around me wherever He leads.

For more than twenty-five years, God has graciously allowed me to serve in student ministry, children’s ministry, family ministry, biblical counseling, church administration, and leadership development. While the opportunities have varied over the years, His calling has remained the same - equip believers to know Christ, love His Word, and faithfully invest in the lives of others.

It is a joy and privilege to serve as Executive Pastor of Discipleship at New Life Church. My prayer is that every person who calls New Life home would experience the transforming grace of Jesus Christ, grow in authentic biblical community, and discover the joy of using their God-given gifts to build up His Church. I look forward to seeing how God will continue to advance His Kingdom as we follow Him together, seeking to glorify Him, enjoy Him forever, and make disciples who make disciples.