Leadership

 
Pat Cogan, Deacon (with wife, Kathi)

Pat is a native of Cleveland, Ohio, moving to Georgia in 1975 — he’s one of those Yankees who came here and stayed. Pat and his wife, Kathi, are empty-nesters, with one grown daughter, two grown sons, and a grandson.

Pat enjoys most sports, but has found that as the aging process goes, so goes his participation. While he enjoys football, hockey, softball, and especially golf, he’s concerned that he’ll soon be limited to just checkers at the Cracker Barrel.

Pat says, “One of my greatest joys is being able to serve in the music ministry and to serve the wonderful brothers and sisters at Grace Bible Church. The Lord truly has blessed me by allowing my wife, Kathi, and I the privilege of serving. My beautiful wife and I are so blessed by the Lord in this way. We are in awe of the grace and mercy of the Lord. We love being members of His body, used by Him as instruments of righteousness and the furthering of His gospel.”

Mike Bailey, Elder (with wife, Lynn, and daughter, Kayla)

Mike does not have an official title yet, but is the elder who is responsible for many of the administrative things at Grace Bible Church. He organizes the finances and handles church membership. He tries to ease Jeff’s load so that Jeff can focus his time on prayer and study. Mike enjoys teaching some of the adult Bible studies and loves preaching when Jeff lets him! Mike also leads the student ministry.

Mike is thankful for the men at our church that desire to live in a way pleasing to the Lord. He likes to see the guys encouraging one another before and after a service or on the golf course. Mike invites, “If there is anything I can do for you, please don’t hesitate to contact me.”

Jeff Jackson, Elder, with wife, Suzanne, and children, Christopher, AnnaKate, and Jared

Jeff is our teaching/preaching elder. He has many, many other talents, abilities, and virtues far, far too numerous to recount here, but his friends will tell you this is so. He followed God’s call to ministry in the early 80’s while living in Arizona. Jeff was ordained to gospel ministry in 1994 at the Centerville Baptist Church in Centerville Georgia. He has degrees from Grand Canyon University (a Southern Baptist college), from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Fort Worth Texas, and he studied for two years at The Master’s Seminary in Sun Valley, California. He has other credentials which are classified.

Person he most admires and would like to emulate: Barney Fife.

As to his personal life, Jeff has been married to his wonderful, beautiful, totally awesome (she wrote this part) wife, Suzanne, for 24 years, and it seems like just 24 days (yep, she wrote that, too). They have 3 incredibly gifted and beautiful children. Beyond this, Jeff has no personal life.

Jeff has a steel plate in his head from an accident when he was growing up. When he preaches, it causes him to lean to the left. He’s pretty sensitive about it. So, in order to keep him from feeling so self-conscious, the congregation leans to their right through his entire sermon. To Jeff, they all look straight. These people really love their pastor.