Pastors

The English term “pastor” appears only once in the New Testament (Ephesians 4:11). The root Greek word though appears almost thirty times, and has as its core meaning to “shepherd.” While this is one of the elder functions, congregations traditionally have associated the term with those who serve the Lord vocationally. The central purpose given to pastors in Ephesians 4 is to “equip the saints for the work of service.” Biblically speaking, it is not the job of pastors to do all the work of the church. Rather, it is their job to prepare all believers to serve the Lord as He has gifted them. At Woodland Park, we believe that pastors must be called of the Lord, and must fulfill the Biblical qualifications for an elder. They are supported financially so as to devote themselves fully to the work of the Lord.

Steve Corley – Children and Family Ministry

Steve has been a part of Woodland Park Baptist Church for almost 20 years. Over those years he has served in voluntary positions in many areas of the Children’s Ministry. Steve was in the first class of SALT (Servant Approach Leadership Training) and has been a Sunday School teacher, an elementary coordinator, an AWANA leader, as well as being a Children’s Ministry deacon. He graduated from the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga with a BS in Physics. He and his wife, Lisa, were married in 1981 and are parents of five sons.

Larry Frick – Mission Ministry

Larry Frick came to Woodland Park as Missions Pastor in 1993 after serving with his family for 2 years in Jamaica with the Caribbean Christian Center for the Deaf. As Missions Pastor, Larry shepherds an ever-growing family of more than 80 missionaries and keeps a busy schedule of short-term trips every year. Along with the 12-member Mission Council, he oversees the annual missions budget, missions conference, counseling, and shepherding of new individuals God is calling to serve in missions. Two of Larry’s passions in life are seeing the Lord bringing more and more people into the reality and joy of the Lord Jesus Christ and to worship the living Lord with brothers and sisters around the world. He and his wife, Catherine reside in Harrison and have three children.

Chris Gaither – Student Ministry

Chris joined the pastoral staff of Woodland Park in May of 2004. Chris was raised in Chattanooga, schooled at UTC, and then went to Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. He served in Desert Storm, and returned to work in youth ministry in Alabama and Georgia before moving to Maryville, and then, most recently to First Baptist Church, Concord, in Knoxville, TN. Chris is a veteran student pastor with a unique blend of maturity, experience, and ministry philosophy who desires to bring people to a closer and fuller walk with Jesus so they will share in the joy of leaning on Him. Chris and his wife, Shan, reside in Chattanooga and have two children.

Steve McCary – Administration

Steve came on the pastoral staff team in 1990 as Associate Pastor after a 20 year career in business management. Since coming to WPBC, he has served in several roles including Family Ministries and Biblical Counseling. His most recent role as Administrator fits him well because of his passion to see the church function with excellence and full of integrity. He oversees the general operations of the church giving leadership to the financial department, support staff, facilities management and information technology. Steve and his wife, Pam, reside in East Brainerd and have two children.

Ken Pierce – Outreach and Connection

Ken was raised in the Chattanooga area and moved to the Midwest to attend college. He has a B.A. in Religion/Philosophy and Masters in Theology from Fuller Seminary. He served as a college pastor in the Midwest with InterVarsity Christian Fellowship for 13 years, and then served in a large church in Pella, Iowa for 3 years. Upon moving back to Chattanooga he worked for the Sports Barn for nearly 4 years before joining the Woodland Park staff team in 2007. Ken’s primary role is Director of Outreach and Connection. “I have a desire to see people connect and use their natural and spiritual giftedness. I’m also quite passionate about equipping our body to be a witness. Not all of us have the gifts of an evangelist, but we are all called to be a witness.” Ken resides in Ringgold, GA with his wife (of Indonesian descent) Aisyah and they have two grown children: Joshua and Hannah.

Eddie Rasnake – Discipleship

Eddie joined the staff of Woodland Park in 1989 after serving seven years on the staff of Campus Crusade for Christ. He is responsible for the School of Discipleship (planning, recruiting leadership and involving the body); the SALT Institute, decision counseling during worship services, and leadership summits. He and his wife, Michele, reside in Chattanooga and have four children.