David Emmert – Senior Pastor

David is from Waverly, Tennessee and was raised in a wonderful Christian family that saw to it he was in church every time the doors were open! Thanks to his mom and dad, David can’t remember a time in his life that he didn’t know about the amazing grace extended to him because of the ministry of Jesus Christ. Accepting God’s gracious invitation to become His child at the age of 8 years old was the most natural thing in the world.

A graduate of Cumberland College in Williamsburg, Kentucky, David also has his Master’s degree from New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary and completed two years of Doctoral studies at United Theological Seminary in Dayton, Ohio.

Prior to coming to Celebration, David had a great time serving as the Associate Pastor of Outreach at Pleasant Valley Baptist Church in Kansas City, MO. He has also served for 10 years with the International Mission Board in Zambia and Ethiopia.

David and Pam have been married since 1982. Pam has a master’s degree in Curriculum Development and has a passion for children. They have a daughter, Jessi, and a son, CJ.

If David isn’t working you’ll find him hanging out with his family, enjoying a long run, fishing or hunting!
 

John Buck – Administrative Pastor

 John Buck was born in Kansas City, Missouri and raised in a twice a year church home where he was exposed to Catholic Mass on Easter and Christmas each year. Through the encouragement of neighborhood friends, he began attending the local Baptist church where he attended lock-ins, youth group, choir practices, and any other event aimed at young teens. During a revival when he was 13, John accepted the Lord as his savior and began his walk with Christ.

John left home for Germany for a tour with the Army. He returned to the US, earned a degree in Business and entered the financial industry. He met a beautiful girl while working for Kemper Financial! John and Marilyn were married in 1991. Marilyn has a business degree and is also a registered dietitian.

After getting married, John completed his masters degree in Management and went to work for a large publishing company where he supervised 3 teams of employees in two states and managed a budget of nearly seven million dollars.

Prior to coming to Celebration, The Bucks were active members at Pleasant Valley Baptist Church in Kansas City, Missouri. Marilyn directed the AWANA program of 350 children and John served as the Missions Committee chairman and as a member of the executive board. They have two beautiful daughters; Abigail and Laura.

Warren Halstrom – Worship and Creative Arts Pastor

Warren was raised in the Pacific Northwest in Vancouver, B.C. His family had no church affiliation whatsoever. He lived his first 17 years completely unaware of the truth about creation, the existence of God, and the way of salvation. Fortunately, God chose to reach him at a crucial time in his young life. He was drawn to a large evangelistic church across from the high school and found a place where people loved one another and loved God with tremendous passion. Warren was skeptical at first but could not help but recognize that the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross and His resurrection was more than enough for him to give his heart to Christ.

Warren has been with Celebration since July of 2006. His passion is to lead people in wholehearted worship and praise and use the arts to proclaim the Glory of God and creatively communicate the Gospel. Warren and his wife, Shelly, have four children; Jesse, Alyssa-Dawn, Casey-Marie, and Angelina.

Warren has a Masters degree in Choral Conducting. As a recording artist in the 1990s, Warren released two projects with Word Records and had international radio and television exposure. Warren was an affiliate artist with Campus Crusade for Christ and traveled throughout much of Eastern and Western Europe as a member of short term mission teams. He has served on the faculty of two colleges teaching worship leadership, music theory and vocal performance. Warren was able to participate as a worship team leader with the Promise Keepers during major rallies in Canada and has led worship for events with the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association.

Since 1993, Warren has served the body of Christ as a local worship pastor in both Canada and the United States. Warren feels that Celebration Baptist Church is an outstanding environment for creative liberty and opportunity for artistic ministry of all kinds.
 

Tommy Hendricks – Children’s Pastor

Tommy grew up in a Christian home and at the age of eleven accepted Jesus Christ as his Savior. It was during a Vacation Bible School program when he realized that he needed a personal relationship with Jesus. He was baptized at First Osage Baptist in Fairfax, OK, and has had a growing relationship with the Lord since that time.

Tommy joined the Celebration Ministry team in August of 2006. He completed his undergraduate degree at the University of Central Oklahoma and in 2001 he completed his Master of Arts in Christian Education from The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. Tommy served for three years with the North American Mission Board as a creative arts minister. During his final year with NAMB he met his wife Jo. They moved to Cincinnati where he served for six years at First Baptist Mt. Healthy as minister to families with children. They next moved to Morristown, TN, where he served for four years at Alpha Baptist Church as minister of recreation and activities. 

Throughout Tommy’s ministry he has used his creative talents which include juggling, gospel illusion, puppets, clowning, drama and music to share the gospel. Tommy believes the Word is alive and should be sung and taught in ways that bring it to life. Tommy and Jo have five children; Joey, Alena, Alex, Jonah and Alivia.

Doug Bedgood – Pastor of Christian Living

 Doug grew up in Pensacola, Florida.  His father, grandfather, and grandmother were founding members of the East Brent Baptist Church, Pensacola, Florida. He was always involved in the life of the church as a baby, child, youth and young adult.  At age seven, God led Doug to Himself as He revealed to him his need for Jesus as his only hope for salvation.  Doug made a profession of faith and was baptized. 

At age sixteen He obeyed God’s call to the ministry that was focused on making authentic followers of Christ through discipleship.  At age seventeen, God again blessed him by letting him meet his future wife, Jana, at a Christian club he had organized with a friend at Pine Forest High School.  Five years later, Doug and Jana married in May of 1984.  They are blessed with a son, Samuel who was born in December of 1993, and a daughter, Lindsey who was born in April of 1997. They love to do things together as a family outdoors: biking, camping, hiking, and fishing.

He received his education at Pensacola Junior College, the University of West Florida and the New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary from which he received his Master of Religious Education degree in 1986.  Since graduating, God has used Doug in three unique roles in the life of the church.  First he served as Associate Pastor in Education & Growth at Locust Grove Baptist Church, in Smyrna, Georgia for nine years.  Then as Pastor of New Life Baptist Church, in Milton, Florida for five years.  Most recently, Doug has served for almost eight years as Equipping Pastor of Mount Vernon Church in Columbus, Mississippi. 

 Doug's calling and passion is to see the community and world be impacted by the church organized to make fully devoted followers of Jesus Christ through biblical community.  He sees the potential in his church family at Celebration, in the local community and in the surrounding region to be great and grow His kingdom through discipling small groups.

Aaron Sheffield- Student Pastor

Aaron is originally from Winter Haven, FL. He is the son of two awesome Christian parents whose love for Christ and for music inspired in him a passion to see kids come to know Jesus and to use their gifts for God’s glory.  After accepting Jesus at the age of six, Aaron began to study the Bible in eighth grade and felt a call into student ministry in ninth grade.

Before coming to Celebration, Aaron was the Youth Minister at Woodrun Baptist Church in Tallahassee and the Associate Pastor to Students at Calvary Baptist Church in Clearwater, FL.