South Tampa Fellowship Staff

Senior Staff

Meet Gary Taylor and his family On Wednesday, August 6th, our church unanimously voted to have Gary Taylor join us as our Singles Pastor. With twenty years of experience in leading individuals and groups in church, para-church, and professional business settings, Gary Taylor is committed to developing devoted followers of Christ. He earned his master’s degree in Christian Education at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, and has developed his role as a communicator/teacher utilizing strong oral and written communication skills. As for the rest of the family, Gary “got this great girl named Beth” to marry him just over 7 years ago. They have two kids; Jack is 5, and Calleigh 3. As native St. Louisans, they value family time—whether it’s at the St. Louis Zoo, watching the Cardinals or reading books on the couch. They look forward to adding “trips to the beach” to their list of fun family things to do. As they look for a home, they are praying for one that has a front door that opens wide enough to welcome many new friends who will enjoy Beth’s culinary magic and gift of hospitality. Jack and Calleigh promise to be best friends with anyone who has a pool. When Gary’s not eating, he enjoys a good book at Starbucks and a hard workout at a nearby gym. The Taylor’s can’t wait to complete their move and begin meeting their new church family!

 

Craig Rees
Senior Pastor

On Wednesday, November 14th, 2007, the church approved the Search Committee’s recommendation for Senior Pastor. Craig Rees, 38, has been Senior Pastor of International Baptist Church of Hamburg, Germany since 2001. In that time, the church has grown from under 100 with a solo pastor to over 500 with a multi-staff team. In June, the church moved to a new facility offering enough space to grow to nearly 1000 adults.

International Baptist Church, an English speaking church, draws people from over 50 nations reflecting various Christian traditions and socio-economic groups. This community of believers is united through their common focus on Jesus Christ. The church uses their cultural diversity as a vehicle for growth with ‘mother tongue’ ministries and small groups.

Craig’s previous experience includes serving as the Youth and Children’s Coordinator for five years at Surbiton Community Church in London, England. He has been extremely active in the mission field, leading over 300 young people on three week long outreach mission trips throughout Europe. In addition, he has authored or co-authored articles and workbooks on vision development and identifying strategic competencies as an integral part of the execution of a church’s overall mission.

Craig has also held multiple leadership positions with the International Baptist Convention including a term as President which ended in October 2007. He ensured that the Convention vision was known and strategic plans followed. Craig has also worked to assist Convention churches in their educational objectives through planning, promoting leadership training programs, and encouraging theological education, church leadership and discipleship training.

Born in Bridgend,Wales, Craig holds a Diploma in Evangelism, Bachelor of Arts in Theology (with Honors) and a Master of Theology Degree from the London School of Theology, formerly London Bible College.

He has been married to wife Wibke (vib´kä) for 14 years. They have one daughter: Allysa, 12, and three sons: Alec, 9; Jonas, 8; Jordan, 2. In their spare time, Craig enjoys sports, reading and cycling and Wibke enjoys running and riding horses. All of the children enjoy sports, especially soccer. He and his entire family are so excited to see how God will use them here at South Tampa Fellowship.

Todd Roberts
Associate Pastor of Ministries

Todd was born in Lubbock, Texas but lived in Oklahoma most of his life. He accepted Christ while in high school and attended a youth camp where he had a radical life change. For the first time, he understood what it meant to have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. The rough and rowdy teen became a new creation, sharing his faith, and God's incredible grace and love with other students.

As Todd's faith grew, he responded to God's call to the ministry. He attended Oklahoma Baptist University and graduated from Mobile College. Over the years he has worked with great communicators such as Kelly Green and Jay Strack. Todd has been a regular speaker at many college and singles Bible studies and has had numerous opportunities to speak in high school & middle school assemblies about life choices.

Todd is co-author of FISH, a campus strategy used in thousands of high schools and middle schools throughout the United States, which trains students to share their faith with their peers. He has worked with thousands of youth ministers, from many denom-inations, to help enhance their ministry to students.

Todd and his wife Shanon, have three children, daughter Bailey, and sons Jake and Cade.

Don Jones
Worship Pastor
Associate Pastor of Administration

Don was born and raised in Illinois. He received his degree in Music from Lee University in Cleveland, Tennessee.

Originally, Don began serving as the Worship Pastor at South Tampa Fellowship Church on a volunteer basis. Don felt called by God into full-time ministry in 1998 and has served on the staff since that time. In January, 2006, he also became the Associate Pastor of Administration to oversee the finance and administrative operations of the church.

Don stated, "It has been amazing to watch how God created this church and continues to systematically put the pieces in place to build it. It has been a life-changing experience to be at a time when and a place where He is doing phenomenal things. I am still in awe of God's work here. His work at South Tampa Fellowship is the most exciting thing I've ever been around."

Don and his wife, Helen, have two daughters, Victoria and Stephanie.

Tom Sander
Support Ministries Pastor

Tom was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, attended Missouri Baptist College, St. Louis Missouri, and majored in music with voice concentration.

Tom served as Minister of Music/Youth from 1973-1994, at various Baptist churches in Wisconsin. In addition to his music ministry, Tom worked as Assistant to the Executive Director/Business Manager for the Wisconsin Voice of Christian Youth (WVCY-TV, WVCYU-FM, and VCY American) from 1986-1991. He served as Director of Stewardship/Public Relations for Heritage Christian School in West Allis, Wisconsin from January 1992-February 1994. Tom was also a soloist for the Wisconsin Voice of Christian Youth television and radio station, produced one solo album, and sang backup vocals for two professional recordings.

Tom comes to us from Ballast Point Baptist Church, Tampa, Florida, where he served as Minister of Music/Administration/Associate Pastor from 1994-March 2003.

Tom and his wife, Pam, have two children, daughter Kristin Sander-Chapman and son, Tommy.

Helen Jones
Children's Ministry Director

Helen was born in West Virginia and graduated from Lee University in Cleveland, Tennessee with a Bachelor of Music Education degree. She has taught private piano and voice lessons, as well as classroom and choral music education in public schools at the elementary, middle school and high school levels before “retiring” to be a full-time mom.

Her STF ministry began as the volunteer Children’s Choir coordinator in 1997. In 2002, Helen became a full-time staff member and is responsible for children’s Sunday morning bible study classes, VBS, Awana (beginning March, 2008), Autumn Fest, Great Escape Days, Preschool Ministries, and Kids Praise Children’s Choirs.

“I have the best job in the world! I’m so thankful that the Lord is allowing me to serve Him in such a FUN leadership role! Children’s ministry runs the gamut from scavenger hunts to full-scale musical productions; ice skating to learning how to manage your money. The most difficult part of my job is leaving it at the end of the day!”

Helen’s husband is Don Jones, STF’s Worship and Administration Pastor. They have two married daughters, Victoria and Stephanie, both STF members along with their husbands Bradley Hertenstein and Daniel Farmer; and three grandchildren—William, Sofia, and Madelyn---and three grand puppies!

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Support Staff

Missions

Jeff Sukup Director of Missions

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Church Administration

Artie McCall
Spiritual Growth Director

Frank Sivard
Finance and Administration Director

Anne Bresnahan
Finance Assistant

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Ministry Assistants

Gail English
Ministry Assistant

Teresa Ryan
Ministry Assistant

Lindsey Michaelson
Ministry Assistant

Chrissy Bennett
Receptionist

Stephanie Dey
Ministry Assistant

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Graphic Arts Department

Kelly Nielsen Graphic Arts Director

Teresa Nielsen
Graphic Arts Associate

Patty LeFevre
Graphic Arts Assistant

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Media Department

Tyler Johnston Media Director

Blake Conley
Media Assistant

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Food Service

April Sukup
Food Service Coordinator

Evelyn Rodriguez
Food Service Associate

Jan Barna
Food Service Support

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Celebrate Recovery Ministry

Grace Blake
Celebrate Recovery Coordinator

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Operations

Steve Hill
Operations Coordinator

John Corbitt
Operations Support

Rick Mayo
Operations Support

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Student Ministry

	David Moss High School and College Ministry Director
	Steve Holland Middle School Ministry Director

Jennifer Bishop
Student Ministry Associate

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Children's Ministry

Stephanie Dey
Ministry Assistant

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Worship Ministry

	Chad DeLoach Music Ministry Director
	Rick DePirro Contemporary Worship Director

Suzy McMullen
Worship Ministry Assistant

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Technical Services

James Ivey
Technical Director

Bryan Smith
Technical support

Brian Bennett
Technical support

Will Nance
Technical support

 

 

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