Church Staff

Our church staff is a group of men and women who are dedicated
to furthering God's kingdom.  To contact a staff member, click on their name.

Pastoral Staff
	Craig Cummings, Senior Pastor Pastor Craig is a native Knoxvillian and graduated from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville and Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary, Wake Forest, NC. He and Jennifer have been married since 1991 and they have two precious daughters, Anna and Rachel. He has been Pastor of Union since April 2000. (A complete bio can be found here.)
	Mike Pursiful, Associate Pastor of Worship and Prayer  Mike began his ministry here in May 2009.  His primary responsibilities are overseeing all aspects of the Worship and Prayer Ministries.  He and his wife Betsy have two children, Alex and Abby.
	Thane Daniels, Associate Pastor of Students and Outreach Thane has served in this capacity since 2003. His primary responsibilities include overseeing all aspects of Middle and High school ministries as well as churchwide outreach  endeavors.. He and his wife Lisa have been married since 1980 and have two children, Bettina and Ethan.
	John Thomerson, Minister of Pastoral Care John serves as our Minister of Pastoral Care. He and Patti Sue have been married over 45 years and have two grown children and 3 grandchildren.
Support Staff	Sarah Thompson, Executive Assistant to Pastor Sarah has been with UBC since August 2008.  She is a graduate of the University of Tennessee, where she majored in Public Relations and minored in Business.  Sarah's areas of responsibilities include communication, membership and guiding the Office of the Pastor. Fran Scalf, Assistant to the Pastor: Finances Fran serves as financial coordinator for the entire church operations. Fran and her husband Bob enjoy spending time with their grandchildren. Jackie Barnard, Nursery Coordinator Jackie has been with UBC since February 2008.  She is married to Jeff and they have two sons, Gary and Zachary.  She is the owner and director of "Helping Hands Kid's Korner" an after school daycare at Ritta Elementary. Gary Barnard, Pianist Gary serves as our church pianist and has been with Union since May 2006.  Currently, Gary is attending Carson Newman College where he is majoring in Music.     Jennifer Burress, Doorkeeper Jennifer serves as our doorkeeper, helping to keep our facilities both accessible and secure.  She also leads and directs our Children's Choir.  Jennifer is employed by Printer's Printer.

Church Staff Principles

Office Mission Statement: The administrative staff shall be the connection of information and ministry to Union Baptist Church through quality communication and timely coordination with a christian attitude.

Staff Purpose Statement: The purpose of the church staff is to equip people to carry out the mission of Union Baptist Church by building relationships and modeling servant leadership as defined in Ephesians 4:11-12:

"He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ."  - Ephesians 4:11-12

Our Deacons are servants of Jesus Christ.  They work closely with the Pastor to meet the spiritual and physical needs of Union Baptist Church.

Deacons are ordained lay ministers selected by the church for service to the church family. The word deacon (Gr. diakonos) is the same word for “minister” or “servant.” Their function is to assist the pastor in the work of ministry, to see to the physical and spiritual needs of the congregation, and to function in such a way so as to free the pastor to devote the better part of his time to the ministry of the Word and prayer (Acts 6).

Deacons should be proven, tested leaders in the church, having demonstrated their faithfulness and service prior to being set apart in an official capacity by the church family. The qualifications for deacons (1Timothy 3) are similar to those of pastors. The deacons of Union Baptist Church are men who love the Lord and faithfully serve Him and their church family.

A list of our deacons and their spouses can be found below:

Harry Brooks (Spouse: Mary)
Gene Bryant (Spouse: Louise)
James Chesney (Spouse: Sue)
Earnest Mouser (Spouse: Bettie)
Jim Salley (Spouse: Joyce)
Mark Stoutt (Spouse: Kathy)
Richard Tilley (Spouse: Susie)
Kent Whitt (Spouse: Kim)
Mike Woodard (Spouse: Laura)