Bob grew up in a broken home and at an early age began running with the wrong crowd. He engaged in a life of drugs, alcohol and crime for several years. All of this was to mask the pain he felt in his heart. Life seemed hopeless to him until God brought an amazing young lady into his life. Bob and Michelle dated through high school and married shortly after. They have been married for 30 years and have two adult sons: Austin (wife Crystal), and Justin (wife) Jessie).
He has served as associate and lead pastor at various churches since 1997. As a shepherd of God's people, he holds deep within his heart, a passion to disciple and equip people to be lifelong followers of Jesus. He invests his ministry energy in guiding others in their spiritual transformation and journey to become active participants in the Kingdom mission, to go and make Christlike disciples. |
Karie has had the privilege of being part of two church worship teams over the years, the first of which she joined while in middle school. In 2005 a well-known traveling worship leader was invited to NBFC to hold a worship conference. He encouraged her to take a more active role in worship ministry by becoming the music director, a role that supported the current worship leader. In this role Karie began to grow in her spiritual gifting of leading worship as well as her desire to provide the space for others to enter into His presence. After having a vision during worship on a Sunday morning in 2010, God called her into the full-time worship leader role. Even though she was nervous about this transitiion she knew the timing was right because God had been preparing her.
Her hearts desire is to set the atmosphere through music and prayer so His people can experience His goodness, His mercy, His love and His peace. "This is the day the Lord has made, I will rejoice and be glad in it." -Psalm 118:24 Karie is a life long resident of Decatur. She and her husband, Derek, have four children and together they own and operate the local coffee shop downtown. |
Jerry and his wife Rita are longtime residents of Decatur. Jerry has owned and operated several businesses and Rita, a homemaker, has worked as a volunteer with many local organizations. In March of 1980, Jerry recommitted his life to the Lord Jesus Christ and began working in the local church.
From 1993-95, Rita and Jerry attended and graduated from Rhema Bible Training Center in Tulsa Oklahoma. Over the years they have made several trips to the former Soviet Union to share the Gospel. They have also ministered in South Africa, the Philippines and Jamaica. In 2003, the Lord began to impress on Jerry a need to pioneer a church and that's when New Beginnings Faith Center began. For the first 7 months, services were held at a local hotel with 17 people full of passion and a desire to see Jesus demonstrated in an authentic way in Decatur and the surrounding areas. Our motto was ‘Making a difference in the things that matter most.’ Pastor Jerry’s desire was to build a strong spiritual foundation in the lives of the people. In 2004, NBFC purchased the buildings that are being used today. By 2009, church attendance had grown to approximately 80 people. It was around this time that the Lord began to move on Pastor Jerry's heart about stepping aside and bringing in a new pastor for NBFC. After taking some time off, Pastor Jerry resumed his role as Senior Pastor in June of 2018. In June of 2020, Pastor Jerry retired from full time ministry and was honored with the title Pastor Emeritus. |