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ELDERS

God’s Word established an office of the church called Elder, and charged these men with the responsibility of leading the church. Elders are servants of Christ and the church and view their tasks as spiritual ministries for the Lord. The elders manage and shepherd the church by teaching biblical truth (Titus 1:9); modeling Christ-like behavior (1 Timothy 3:2); maintaining doctrinal purity (Acts 20:29-30); disciplining unrepentant believers (Galatians 6:1); praying for those who are ill  (James 5:13-15); attending to the spiritual, physical, material and social needs of the congregation; developing future spiritual leaders (2 Timothy 2:2); promoting missions; seeking to discern God’s will concerning the vision and direction of the church; and overseeing financial matters (Acts 11:30).

As we seek to train and develop new leaders, we’ve developed an Elder Apprentice program. Each man invited to participate as an Elder Apprentice attends the meetings and is encouraged to participate in discussion, but he does not have a vote on the board. The Elder Apprentice program allows the church to both train and evaluate men that seem qualified and interested in the office of Elder. 

 

Zeke Bridges

Zeke Bridges

Zeke has been attending The Shepherd’s Church since 2004. His wife Grace started attending in 2000 while she was a student at NC State. They both became members soon after they married in 2004. Zeke has served as a light tech on the AVL team since 2006. He also served as a deacon, and he and his wife have been long-time members of the Church History foundation seminar class. Zeke also attends the Wednesday morning Men’s Bible Study, Quest. He is a graduate of the University of Georgia and Campbell University School of Law. He and Grace have two children.

Dave Burggraff

Dave Burggraff

Dave and his wife Lucy were introduced to The Shepherd’s Church in 2007 when he came as a Summer Series speaker. In 2009 he joined the staff as the Executive Pastor and served in that role through 2022. Dave currently serves as the director of DMin studies, professor of theology and as the chaplain of Shepherds Theological Seminary.  Dave and Lucy grew up in Minnesota; he graduated from the University of Minnesota (and still cheers for the “Golden Gophers”); received his seminary degrees in Pennsylvania; and received his doctoral degree from Dallas Theological Seminary. Dave and Lucy have three sons and five grandchildren.

Jimmy Carter

Jimmy Carter

Jimmy and Andrea (Andi) came to The Shepherd’s Church in 2019 after having been the Assistant Director of The WEST Institute, a Shepherds Seminary (STS) teaching site in Laramie, WY. Jimmy now directs Shepherds Institute in Cary and serves as Pastor of Family Ministry at our church where he oversees our Children’s Ministry, Adult Bible Fellowships, Men’s and Women’s Ministries, and Senior Adult Ministry. He is a graduate of the Univ. of Wyoming and Shepherds Seminary. Jimmy & Andi enjoy hiking, camping, fishing, and spending time with their two sons.

Caleb Cruse

Caleb Cruse

Caleb joined the staff at Shepherd’s in January 2017. He currently serves as the Student Ministry Pastor and is passionate about equipping the next generation of servant leaders. Caleb is pursuing a doctoral degree at Dallas Theological Seminary. When he’s not reading a book, Caleb enjoys rooting for the Tar Heels, eating good BBQ, and spending time with his wife, Brittany, and their three children.

Stephen Davey

Stephen Davey

Stephen is the Founding Pastor, and the current Pastor/Teacher of The Shepherd’s Church.  Stephen also serves as the president of Shepherds Theological Seminary, and serves as the principal Bible teacher for the global radio and resource ministry, Wisdom International. Stephen and Marsha have been married over 40 years and enjoy spending time with their grown children and perfect grandchildren!

Learn more about Stephen and our history as a church HERE.

Elmer Dixon

Elmer Dixon

Elmer and his wife Linda have been attending The Shepherd’s Church since 1990. God has blessed them with two children and seven grandchildren. Elmer is a residential building contractor. He has served at the church in the Adult Choir, Carpenters for Christ, and as a Deacon. He is currently involved in the Quest Bible Study and Life Spring ABF. He enjoys spending time with his wife Linda, his sons, their wives and all of the grandchildren. He also enjoys cycling. 

Scott Dixon

Scott Dixon

Scott and his wife Amy joined The Shepherd’s Church in 1997.  He is a graduate of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and is a partner in a Raleigh-based land development company.   Scott and Amy met in college, and they have a son, Josh, and two daughters, Katie and Caroline.  Scott began attending our church during its early years while in college in 1989.  He has served in the church as a Deacon, in AWANA, and in the Sports Ministry.  Scott also coaches high school basketball and enjoys spending time with his family. 

Devin Gallagher

Devin Gallagher

Devin has been serving in the Student Ministry since 2018 where he started and has since led a High School band to lead music during the Student Ministry ABF. He graduated from The College of Southeastern in 2019 with a bachelor’s in Worship Ministry, and he has recently obtained an MA in Christian Ministry from Shepherds Theological Seminary. He currently serves as Pastor, Student Ministries, as well as oversees our Homeschool ministries. He’s been happily married to his bride, Sarah, since 2020, and enjoys going to the beach, concerts, movies, and riding rollercoasters with her by his side.

Gary Hallquist

Gary Hallquist

Gary holds a Doctorate in Biblical Counseling from Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary and has been a Counseling and Care Pastor since 2017. In addition to his counseling responsibilities, Gary is an Assistant Professor of Practical Theology for Shepherds Seminary, with teaching responsibilities in Biblical Counseling and Worship Studies. Gary served as our church’s Music Pastor from 2011 to 2017. He holds a Masters in Theological Studies from Beeson Divinity School and a Doctor of Worship Studies from the Robert E. Webber Institute for Worship Studies. He and his wife Sherrell have 3 children and 9 grandchildren.

Bobby Higdon

Bobby Higdon

Bobby and his wife Corinne joined The Shepherd’s Church in 2002.  Since then Bobby has served in the Adult Choir, AWANA, as a Middle School group leader, along with Corinne, in the first grade Shepherd’s Kids class, and as a Deacon. He is also a member of our Mobilization Team and works closely with ministry opportunities in Eastern Europe and the Balkans.  Bobby is a graduate of Wake Forest University and the Wake Forest School of Law. He served as a federal prosecutor for nearly 30 years and is currently a partner in a large, international law firm.  He and Corinne have two sons, Clay and Matt. He enjoys spending time with his family, traveling, boating, and skiing.

Aaron Kilian

Aaron Kilian

Aaron joined the music staff at The Shepherd’s Church in 2014. He has served in churches in Minnesota, California and North Carolina. He has a bachelor’s and masters degree in music. Aaron and his wife Jill met when they were in middle school and have three children Audrianne, DJ and Jacob. Aaron loves spending time with his family, watching the Minnesota Vikings and golfing.

Charles Lee

Charles Lee

Charles and his wife Dee have been attending The Shephard’s Church since 1995. They met at Green Street Baptist Church in High Point, NC and have three children.  Charles has served as a Deacon, in AWANA, Sports and Children’s Ministry, and the Acts 6 Ministry. He is a retired US Army officer who worked full time for the NC National Guard specializing in logistics.  Charles and Dee are original members of the Devoted 2:42 ABF where Charles served as the Deacon Leader for many years.  They enjoy camping, hiking, cycling, and spending time with family.

Les Lofquist

Les Lofquist

In addition to his role serving as Executive Pastor, Les serves on the faculty of Shepherds Theological Seminary as Asst. Professor of Practical Theology. He’s been a church planter, Bible college professor, senior pastor, and Executive Director of IFCA International. He’s a graduate of Grand Rapids (MI) School of Bible & Music, Grace College, and Grace Theological Seminary. He and his wife Miriam have 5 children and 5 grandsons.  As an old church planter in Utah, he loves the strong emphasis on church planting here at our church. 

Damon Magee

Damon Magee

Damon lives in Holly Springs with his wife Jen and their four children Daniel, Luke, Abby, and Elizabeth. Jen and Damon were married in May of 2000 and have been members of The Shepherd’s Church since 2006. Over the years Damon has served as a deacon, Children’s Sunday morning leader, AWANA leader, Student’s Ministry leader, and in Sports ministries. He loves being a part of this church family. 

Rich Main

Rich Main

Rich and his wife Heidi have been attending The Shepherd’s Church since 2001. He has taught a number of Adult Bible Fellowship classes in the past including Church History and the Leadership Essentials class. Rich also participates in the Men’s Ministry. He is a graduate of the Duke University School of Engineering and earned an M.A. in Ministry from Shepherds Seminary. When he’s not serving at church, Rich likes to spend time with family and do home improvement and woodworking projects. His other interests include keeping up with technology trends, studying leadership development, and following Duke Basketball.

Al Potter

Al Potter

Al came to The Shepherd’s Church in the fall of 2012 to serve as the Vice President of Advancement for Shepherds Theological Seminary.  Al has served as a college president, vice president, and has taught on the college and seminary level. Al’s pastoral ministry was defined as a church planter—planting churches in PA, NJ, NY, and CA.  He teaches the courses on church planting at STS and is the lead coach for the churches planted in the US through the Shepherds Network of The Shepherd’s Church.  He has two children and four grandchildren and enjoyed 48 years of marriage with his wife Patricia who is now with the Lord.

Stephen Pritchett

Stephen Pritchett

Stephen has been on staff since 2006 and is the Director of the Counseling and Care Ministry Department. He received his M. Div.  degree in Counseling from New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary and received his Doctorate degree in Biblical Counseling from Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary. Stephen has over 20 years of experience as a counseling pastor and in the ministry of caring and giving spiritual direction. He is a member of the Association of Biblical Counselors and is also certified as a Prepare/Enrich marriage counselor.  Stephen and his wife Kim have two children.

Paul Schirmer

Paul Schirmer

Paul moved to North Carolina from Colorado with his wife Kait in 2017, to pursue an MDiv degree with Shepherds Theological Seminary (STS). They officially joined The Shepherd’s Church as members in 2021, and Paul joined the staff as the College Pastor in 2022, shortly after graduating from STS. Paul is passionate about God’s Word, biblical languages, music, and anything outdoors. Paul and Kait have two children, Thomas and Eden, who are a consistent source of laughs, challenges, and joy.

Vince Smith

Vince Smith

Vince and his wife Cynthia joined The Shepherd’s Church in 1999. He has served as a Deacon and as the teacher of the Foundations of Faith class. He is currently teaching the Open Bible Adult Bible Fellowship. In May 2010, Vince graduated from Shepherds Theological Seminary with a Masters of Arts Degree in Biblical Literature. In his spare time, he enjoys reading, spending time with his wife Cynthia, exercising and playing with their dog Charlotte.

Steve Stadtmiller

Steve Stadtmiller

Steve and his wife Etta moved to NC in July 2016 to join our church. God has blessed them with four married children and ten grandchildren.  They lived in Togo, Africa, from 1996 to 2004.  Since their return to the USA, Steve has served as an assistant pastor and as the Mobilization Director for a mission agency – IBMGlobal.  He enjoys Michigan sports, playing golf, long walks with Etta, and spending as much time as possible with their children and grandchildren.

Kevin Welch

Kevin Welch

Kevin and his wife Renee have been attending The Shepherd’s Church since 2008. Kevin was born and raised in Cary. He is a CPA and a graduate of Wake Forest University. He has served at our church over the years as a Deacon, an AWANA leader, Sports Ministry coach, and an ABF teacher. He and Renee met in 5th grade and have two children, Hunter and Lilly. Kevin loves spending time with his family and enjoys household projects and watching sports. 

Scott Wilson

Scott Wilson

Scott and his wife Robyn came to The Shepherd’s Church in late 2010. Scott is from San Antonio, TX, and Robyn is from Winston-Salem, NC. They met while both were attending Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Fort Worth, TX, where Scott earned his Master of Divinity with Biblical Languages degree. He has served as a pastor in churches in AL and NC for over 15 years and during this time, earned his Doctorate of Ministry degree in expository preaching from Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary. He currently serves as the Senior Adult Pastor. 

Wayne Witt

Wayne Witt

Wayne spent much of his professional life as a custom home builder in the Triangle area and in Charleston, South Carolina. He later joined our staff as Facilities Director and led our church through a major building project.  He’s now retired, but continues to serve as an Elder, a role he’s had for many years.  Wayne enjoys the blessings of his two daughters and several grandchildren.  In September of 2021, Wayne’s wife Terry went to be with the Lord.

Scott Wylie

Scott Wylie

Scott joined the staff in 1995 and served in a variety of roles, including most recently as the former Family Pastor. Scott now serves as the Executive Director and host for the global radio and resource ministry, Wisdom International. He was born and raised in Michigan, and graduated from the Moody Bible Institute and from Trinity Evangelical Divinity School. Scott met his wife Lorie while they were both students at Moody. The Wylies live in Garner and have two sons, Chad and Eric. Scott enjoys camping, tackling home improvement projects and working in his yard.

ASK OUR ELDERS

Do you have a theological question or issue that you’ve been wrestling with and need help finding answers?  Our Elders would be happy to assist!  Send your questions or comments to asktheelders@shepherds.org.