Leadership Board of the
Amazing Grace Community Church
| President.................... | John Hewkin | | Secretary.................... | Paula Herrell | | Treasurer.................... | Jacquie Keene | | Members.................... | Brad Austin
| | | Josh Brown | | | Alex Steiger | | |
Brad Austin
My name is Brad Austin. My wife, Rachelle, and I have been attending Amazing Grace Community Church since the fall of 2007.
My walk with Jesus began after a youth visit to a funeral parlor. After the visit the pastor was sharing the different emotions and reasons that led to our visit. He wanted us to understand that earthly death is just that, earthly. But when we accept Jesus into our lives, the fear of death or mortality should fall away and our everlasting soul will forever be with Him who saved us. The pastor asked the question of each of us if we were afraid to die. My cousin and I answered no, either out of Holy Spirit conviction or teenage bravado. I’d like to think that the Spirit moved us both that day. The next Sunday, we went forward and then baptized after discussing things further with our pastor and parents. Like most people, I have had times of turning away from my relationship with God and then desperately running back to the peace and safety of His protective arms.
"I feel those arms at Amazing Grace with the congregation and staff. The different backgrounds that are represented make us a more rounded and better informed church."
Term expires 2010
Josh Brown
Josh Brown, wife, Shannon, and children, Tucker, Kennedy, have been involved with Amazing Grace since its inception. "Our story of God’s Amazing Grace in our own lives is one that I will gladly tell for hours if I can find save one person who will listen, but I will try to keep it short.
"Shannon and I ended our journey as prodigals when we returned to our Father’s house Thanksgiving of 2005. After a short stint as pew sitters we caved under the pressure of God’s calling and accepted Jesus Chris as Lord of our lives. We were baptized as a family on January 28, 2007. In April of the same year I accepted the position of Worship Arts Minister here at AGCC.
"My family and I have enjoyed serving at AGCC in whatever way possible and have grown in our faith and love for the Lord because of it. I look forward to serving at AGCC for many years to come and in whatever way the Lord leads me."
Term expires 2012
Paula Herrell
Paula Herrell and husband, Tucker, have been married for twenty-seven years. "God has blessed us with three children, Chris, Corey and Cameron, one daughter-in-law, Stephanie, and one enjoyable grandson, Brody."
Paula was raised in the Assembly of God Church in DeSoto, Missouri, where she accepted Jesus into her heart as her personal Lord and Savior around the age of twelve years old. She was surrounded by several different denominations throughout her life. Her mother’s side was Church of God, her father’s side was Baptist, and Tucker’s family was all Catholic.
In the first nine years of their marriage, they attended Steelville Assembly of God and Calvary Assembly of God in Cuba. For the next seventeen years they attended and were members of Trinity Chapel Presbyterian Church where Paula served on the Session for almost two years.
"I’ve been involved with Amazing Grace EFC from the beginning. I am on the Choir Praise Team, teach Sunday school and Tucker is on the building committee. I believe we all want the same thing, which is a Bible based church to worship and to be pleasing in God’s eyes. I was able to be part of a Purpose Driven Life Class at Trinity and the one thing that God truly laid on my heart was that our purpose here on Earth is to bring “that one more soul” closer to Jesus and let the Holy Spirit be our guide. I believe in God the Father, Jesus his son, who was sent by God for our sins so that we have salvation, if we have the Holy Spirit in our heart! I feel God has great plans for this church and our community. Through God, all things are possible and I believe that this church is a great example of that!"
Term expires 2011
John Hewkin
John Wayne Hewkin and his wife, Patricia Lynne (Medows) Hewkin, were married August 1st, 1981. They have been blessed with four wonderful children, Stephanie age 23, Michelle age 20, Shannon age 18 and Ryan age 15, all of which have been raised in the church.
John was raised by Christian parents who made sure he was in Sunday school at an early age. He was read Bible Stories as a child and the stories of Samson were always his favorites. He says he does not remember a time when he did not know Jesus. He made his profession of faith and accepted Jesus as his savior when he was 12 years old in the Cuba First Presbyterian Church. He was an elder at First Presbyterian and later an elder at Trinity Presbyterian Church.
"It seemed like it took me a long time to realize what grace was and it was Pastor Murdoch McRae who finally opened my eyes to the wonderful gift we have all been given. I have felt and seen God’s hand at work in my life. I have grown spiritually closer to Christ in the past year, and yet I still have so far to go in my walk with him to become more Christ-like in everything I do. I have seen my wife grow closer to the Lord in the past year and I have found it to be a blessing to serve on the Planting Board of Amazing Grace Community Church. I feel God has great things ahead for our church. I am honored to serve Christ and the congregation on the new board."
Term expires 2011
Jacquie Keene
Jacquie Keene has been married to her husband, Clyde for almost 19 years. They have 4 daughters and a son and have resided in the Cuba area for about 19 years.
"I have been a Christian all my life but my walk was not always what it should have been. About 12 years ago, the Lord decided it was time for me to return to him and he presented me with a situation that brought me to my knees. He works in mighty ways that you sometimes don’t understand until later, but it was all His plan. I started searching for a church home and found Trinity. I attended there until last year."
While at Trinity, Jacquie served as Elder for several years. She helped with the youth programs and Clyde and Jacquie mentored the 20 something group for a year. They also attended several Bible studies while attending there. Since being with Amazing Grace, she has substituted teaching the youth, and is currently facilitating an adult Sunday school class. She also facilitated another small adult group study that was held last winter.
Term expires 2012
Alex Steiger
Alex Steiger and his wife, Shelly, have been married for 17 years and live south of Cuba. Shelly is the art teacher at Cuba High School and Alex is in management at the Wal-Mart Distribution Center in St. James. They have two daughters, Kate is a Sophomore at Cuba High School. Grace is in the 5th grade.
Currently Alex serves on the Crawford County R-2 Board of Education and as a Board of Trustee member for Boys and Girls Town of Missouri. He also served on our new church planting board.
"For me it has truly been an awesome experience and I am proud of the progress that we made. It was not easy and required a lot of work and prayer by the entire board. I am excited about the future of Amazing Grace Community Church."
Term expires 2010
