Cliff came to Mountain Grove from Florida in 1986 and in 25+ years of service, has led the church to baptize over 2000 believers and experience a 500% growth, as well as build a modern, multi-use facility that seats over 1700 persons. He was educated at Florida Baptist University and Luther Rice Seminary (DMIN). Cliff has authored four books: “The Reality of the Kingdom of Demons,” “The Reality of the Holy Spirit,” “The Reality of Intimacy,” and “The Study of Joshua.” Cliff and his wife, Linda, have three children and six grandchildren and one great grandchild.

Jeff Burkhimer came to Mountain Grove in January of 1999 from New Life Baptist Church where he served as Youth Pastor. Jeff assumed his new responsibility as Executive Pastor in March 2009, wherein he will be responsible for office, staff, and ministry issues. He received has an A.A. in Business form Caldwell Community College, a B.A. in Biblical Studies from Luther Rice Seminary, and an M.B.A. in Leadership from Liberty University. He is married to Tammy and they have two sons and a daughter.

Jack serves as Minister of Restoration & Pastoral Counseling. He oversees Pastoral Counseling Ministries, offers both individual and marriage pastoral counseling, and coordinates the training and use of lay-counselors in the ministry roles of counseling and discipleship. He is also responsible for the church’s website and service recording and archiving, as well as keeping the church’s computers running. Jack is a graduate of Western Piedmont Community College, Appalachian State University, Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary (MDIV), and Eastern Baptist Theological Seminary (DMIN in Marriage and Family Counseling). Jack has certifications through ACME (Association of Couples for Marriage Enrichment) and AACC (American Association of Christian Counselors). He and his wife, Shawn, served as IMB missionaries in Gaza and Israel for 15 years prior to coming to Mountain Grove. They have three grown children, Daniel, Joshua, and Lydia and two granddaughters, Braelynn and Wake.

Mrs. Chester came to Mountain Grove in March of 1987. Jan is certified in financial counseling from Christian Financial Concepts Inc. and Christian counseling from American Association of Christian Counselors. She has an Associates degree in Sacred Literature from Covington Theological Seminary where she graduated Magna Cum Laude. Jan and her husband, Keith, have one son and two grandchildren. Jan serves as Pastor of Adult Ministries—which includes, Life Groups, Connection Groups, and Marriage Ministries.

Jason has been a musician his entire life. He first played the piano in church at age 6 and hasn’t stopped since. He holds a B.A. in Music Education from Charleston Southern University and an M.A. in Church Music from Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary. He has been married to JoAnn since 1994 and they have two awesome kids, Mackenzie and Brigman. Jason attributes his love of music to his mom and a strong work ethic from his dad. His favorite book in the Bible is Romans and his passions in life are leading worship, his family, the UNC Tarheels, and still believes that professional rasslin’ is real.

Josh is the paterfamilias of the Clark home. He and his wife Annamarie have 4 children, a dog, a cat, 11 chickens and about 5000 bees (which technically qualifies him to be called an apiarist). Josh joined the staff of Mountain Grove in 2009 after more than 8 years of volunteering in children’s ministry. His hobbies include photography, baseball and Twitter (jianclark). His favorite way to spend his time? Watching the sun go down by his fire-pit, with Annamarie sitting beside him, watching his kids play in the yard. He hates brussel sprouts.

Annamarie is currently the matriarch of a multi-child family, as well as coordinator of our Tiny Town Nursery. At home her duties include chauffeuring, cooking, cleaning, clothing and educating her four children as well as her husband Josh. At Mountain Grove…she ensures that every child who enters is safe, loved and cared for as they start a journey to learn how much God loves them! Her hobbies include Scramble, Pinterest, Zumba and hanging out with the family. Oysters make her gag.

Ken currently serves as Student Ministries Pastor for Middle through High School students. He and his wife Cindy have worked together in youth ministry since their marriage in 1990. They have been members of Mountain Grove since 2002 and began full time ministry in August of 2009. Ken holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Theology and is currently enrolled at Liberty University, working towards a Master of Arts Degree in Religion with emphasis in youth ministry. Ken and Cindy have two sons, Jonathan and Bailey.