Pastor Wade Leonard
Senior Pastor
Wade is originally from Atlanta and spent his first 10 years of full-time ministry doing campus ministry. He is a graduate of Mercer University and the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary.
He enjoys basketball, fishing and spending time with his wife, Elizabeth and all their animals on their farm including dogs, cats, and horses.
Howie Ohman
Worship Pastor
Howie was born in Zion, Ill., raised in Arizona, and graduated from high school in western PA. He is graduate of Arizona College of the Bible, the University of Houston and is presently pursuing his doctorate in worship from the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary.
Howie married his best friend, Dawnie, shortly after completing Bible college. Howie and Dawnie have 3 adult kids and a new son-in-law. He brings experience as a worship pastor from both Southern Baptist and Bible church backgrounds in the South and Midwest. He is a people-oriented leader with an eye for detail. Howie has a passion for putting God at the forefront in our worship experiences and shepherding choir and worship teams toward that goal. His bucket list includes writing a book on worship while pursuing his hobbies of golf and travel.
Tory J. Almond
Youth Pastor
Born and raised in Greenville, I graduated from North Greenville University with a BA in Youth Ministry. Later I received my M. Div. from Tyndale Theological Seminary in Badhoevedorp, The Netherlands. Along with these degrees, I also studied Elementary Education and Film and Video Production at Bob Jones University.
Since an early teen, I have had a passion and heart for kids and families. As paid or volunteer staff, I have assisted with children’s churches, led middle and high school, small groups, done media for camps in the United States and Portugal, assisted various ministries and churches in South Africa for six months, and recently spent nine years doing student/business as missions in The Netherlands. During that time my ministry was to the international/ex-pat youth and families in Amsterdam and Den Haag with XRDS International Church.
For me, it’s all about creating fun, safe, loving environments for youth to find community, have a relationship with God, and follow God’s plan for ...
Paula Southwell
Preschool and Children’s Pastor
Paula and the rest of the Southwell clan, Joe, Lucy, Ben, and Gracie, moved to Greenville from Alabama in 2001. They began worshipping at Mauldin First in June and joined the family in January of 2002. After a couple of years serving as a member, Paula came on staff as Preschool Coordinator in 2004 and since then has also served as MCA director and Children’s Pastor. She is passionate about discipling young children and equipping young parents to disciple in the home.
In her spare time, Paula enjoys family outings with her adult children, home groups with young families, costuming for a local theater, playing with her dog Rudy, and Netflix.
You will keep in perfect peace all who trust in you, all whose thoughts are fixed on you! Isaiah 26:3