I have been in the cool sunshine of Winter Park for thirteen years. The great thing about Central Florida is that there are people from everywhere all over the place. And we have a chance to show them how much the Lord loves them. I was born in Memphis, TN. I have two great parents, James and Jo. I have an older sister, Liane and a younger brother, John. I’m a first-born middle son. That means, in the birth order psychologically, I can lead or you can lead, but I am only happy when we are going somewhere.

I grew up in a small house in the Graceland area. I went to Graceland church, and went to Graceland school. In the summers, I went to Graceland pool, and in the Fall I would “trick or treat” at Elvis’ Graceland mansion.

At the age of nine, and until I went off to college, I had my own business and paid for three academic degrees. I met my wonderful wife, Pam, in high school. I humorously like to say the she was a “stalker” and I’m glad of it. Pam is the love of my life. There are three sports that I love: road bike cycling, coaching, and reading 5 books at one time. There is a fourth sport I love to work on: things that matter to people.

I have pastored for over 35 years. The greatest thing about pastoring is that we get to hang out with people in all kinds of communities. That means I get to love on all kinds of people, and most often, get to rescue people who are hurting by moving the family of God into a position to heal and to help the hurting.

One more thing about pastoring is that I love speaking the creativity and love of God’s Word into people’s lives. It is my hope that people, while I speak, can feel free to laugh a lot, cry some, and walk out feeling loved by God.

The greatest things Pam and I have are our two kids and our grandson. Lauren is our daughter, and we are so proud of her. She works in the city schools of Nashville, loving on kids and teaching the physical education and coaching. AJ, our son, graduated from the University of Alabama and works as an area manager for Aldi. He is married to Leslie, who teaches school, and they have a toddler son named James Henry.

I was born and raised in Memphis, TN, and lived there until 2001, when my wife and I moved to Winter Park. Linda is also a native Memphian. We met at Memphis State University where we were cast opposite each other in the leading roles in “Beauty and the Beast.” Our first kiss was on stage, and it cast a spell over me from which I’ve never recovered. We both received Bachelor’s degrees in music, and I later received a Master’s degree in sacred music from the same institution.

I served three churches in the Memphis area and also taught vocal music for 13 years at Briarcrest Christian High School which, at that time, was the largest Christian school system in America. Linda and I have two wonderful children, Robin and Stephen, as well as five adorable grandchildren. Pastor Walter and I previously served together for six years at Hickory Ridge Baptist Church in Memphis in the ‘80’s and ‘90’s.

Although I was born in the great state of Texas, we only lived in Dallas for about nine months before my parents, Jim and Helen, moved to Florida. My husband, Clayton, and I met while working our way through the University of Central Florida. We both worked at Walt Disney World as trainers on Space Mountain. We also worked together at Lockheed Martin, and I taught elementary school before I was blessed to be a stay-at-home mom with our three wonderful children, Amanda, Aric and Adelyn. Amanda and her husband, Andrew live here in Central Florida and she teaches high school and he works in software support. My son, Aric and his wife, Brittany, live here as well with jobs as a technical writer and payroll support, and they have a toddler son, Finley. Our youngest daughter, Adelyn, finisher her degree in Hospitality/Management and works for ADP.

I have been on the church staff for over 20 years, and always say that it’s the job I felt “called” to do. My favorite activities are singing with the choir, when time permits, and being able to interact and love on the children and families of our church.

Brett came to First Baptist Winter Park in November of 2019 to serve as the Student Pastor for middle school and high school. Before coming to Winter Park, Brett was the Managing Director of Camp BlueSky in Kenya, where he and his wife, Bronwyn, ran a Christian Camp that served students from all over the world. Originally from Memphis, Brett worked as a Reginal Childcare Director for the YMCA, where he oversaw programming in three states that included before and after-school programs, summer camps, and a large teen program, to which Bronwyn brought leadership. 
 
Bronwyn’s education background is health and fitness. She worked for the YMCA for 17 years before leaving for Kenya but has always served in ministry since their marriage in 1999. Brett also served many years with Youth for Christ as well as a Christian organization in Memphis called JIFF, that worked primarily with high risk, court-referred youth. While with this organization, he and Bronwyn also launched a program called Deep Woods Camping, where they took students on 5-7-night backpacking trips.  

He and Bronwyn love the outdoors, and even hiked the entirety of the Appalachian Trail through the North American Mission Board. They believe that relational evangelism and discipleship are the keys to a successful youth ministry. They feel incredibly blessed to be a part of such a wonderful, loving church and can’t wait to see what God has planned for them and for the Power House student ministry.