Staff
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Kevin Pike, Lead Pastor
Kevins.Admin@eastlakeonline.com
Kevin has been the Lead Pastor at East Lake since 2002. With a B.A. from University of California at Irvine in Philosophy and as Master of Divinity from Regent College in British Columbia, Kevin served as an Associate Pastor for several years in Southern California and Seattle and moved to Columbia to become a senior pastor in 1997. His wife, Julie, and their four children, Josh, Andrew, Kate, and Nikki keep him very busy. Kevin is also the author of "Life With God".
- Favorite band: The Beatles
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Erik Ely, Executive Pastor
Erik@eastlakeonline.com
Erik Ely became the Executive Pastor at East Lake in March 2007. He received a B.A. in Bible from Appalachian Bible College. He is married to his wife Renee, and together they have three strapping young lads: Seth, Luke, and Micah.
- Favorite Movie: Anything with Tom Hanks
- Favorite Food: All
- Favorite Restaurant: See Above
- Favorite Place to be outside of work: Anywhere quiet with an occasional amusement park sprinkled in
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Greta Shealy, Executive Assistant / Congregational Health Nurse
Greta@eastlakeonline.com
Greta came to East Lake in 1999, and joined the Administrative staff in August 2007 as Kevin Pike’s Assistant. She received her Bachelor’s Degree in Nursing at MUSC in 1986, and has been the Congregational Health Nurse at East Lake since March 2005. Greta and her husband Jim have been married 24 years and have been blessed with four amazing children - David, Lauren, Andrew and Katie. Greta loves working (and playing) on the computer. You can find her at night on Facebook or watching a movie at home.
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Deborah Phipps, Pastor to Families and Small Groups
Deborah.phipps@eastlakeonline.com
As our Family Pastor, Deborah Phipps leads the staff of our preschool, elementary, junior and senior high ministries, as well as oversees all things having to do with small groups. Her passion is teaching and helping children and adults "get" the message God has for them in his Word. Her hobbies are telling students they can't skate without helmets and calling lights out at midnight at sleepovers. Her education includes a Masters Degree in Communication, but sometimes she thinks her TaeKwonDo training may be more useful! Deborah has been at East Lake since December 2002, but she really loves her job and would like to stay on staff until she retires some 20 years from now. She won't put her favorite movies on here (though she'll be glad to tell you in person if you ask her).
On Sunday afternoons you are likely to run into Deborah and her husband, Charles, and their three kids (Kathryn, Jonathan and Laura) at Sun Ming. If you see them there, please stop and introduce yourself; the kids always behave better when other people are around!
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Barry Russell, Senior High Youth Pastor
Barry@eastlakeonline.com
Barry has been the full-time youth pastor at East Lake since May of 2005. He graduated from Columbia International University with a B.S. degree in Youth Ministry and Bible, and with a minor in Outdoor Leadership. He is married to Nikki, who he says is "a righteous fox for a wife". They have two amazing sons named Isaac and Eli. Although he cannot decide on a favorite movie, he does know that it would have to be a surf movie. His favorite food, as well, seems too difficult to nail down; apparently there are so many incredible morsels to choose from. But if you decided to take him to Taco Bell, Hot Dog Heaven, or Outback, there would be no complaints. Among Barry's favorite activities are surfing, skating, playing disc-golf, and hanging out as much as possible with Nikki, Isaac, and Eli.
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Sam Pinelli, Children's Small Group Director
Pinelli@eastlakeonline.com
Sam Pinelli joined the East Lake family ministry team in Feb 2006. Her fantastic organizational skills and love for children make her a valuable part of this ministry.
Mrs. Sam is the "go to" person for all things elementary around East Lake. She and her husband, Tim, have a son, TJ, and daughter, Nicole. Sam's favorite books are anything by Nicolas Sparks; her favorite restaurant is Carrabbas; and her favorite place to be outside of work is spending time with her kids.
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Jan van Amerongen, Children's Pastor
Jan.Van@eastlakeonline.com
Jan joined the East Lake staff in October of 2007. He has a couple degrees you won’t find on most church staffs, having completed both his B.A. and M.A. in Theatre Arts. Jan is thrilled to have the opportunity to combine his passion for Christ with his gifts in the theatre as the Creative Director for Surge and FamJam.
Jan has an amazing wife, Lindsay, who works every bit as hard as he does, and three precious and unique kids who remind him that this life isn’t about him. He also has a special place in his heart for Shakespeare, Greek tragedies, and Arthur Miller, and soccer. He’s always on the hunt for great restaurants, so if you have ideas, let him know!
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Jennifer Sykes,
Administrative Assistant to Family Ministry
Feel.Free@eastlakeonline.com
Jennifer Sykes joined the administrative team at East Lake in January, 2007. She and her husband David have been married for over 30 years. They have two wonderful children: Brandon and Ashley, who has two beautiful daughters, Caleigh and Alona.
Among others, Jennifer's favorite movie is It's a Wonderful Life. She adores hamburgers, so her favorite place at present to consume these delectable entrees is 5 Guys. She enjoys the beach, not only for its beauty, but also because she finds it to be a place where she can sit back and find rejuvenation. Her hobbies include reading, yard work (really), and working with power tools!
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Michelle Trayers, Administrative Assistant to Small Groups
Michelle.Trayers@eastlakeonline.com
Michelle moved with her family to Irmo from Ligonier, PA, in October, 2008. Michelle is also the Coach Coordinator for the new One to One Faith Coaching Ministry. While in Pennsylvania, she managed office and sales staff and owned her own business. After leaving the work force to be a full time parent, she remained active in ministry leading Bible studies and small groups, and as a MOPS (Mothers of Preschoolers) Coordinator.
• Favorite Music: Bob Seger , Elton John , Sara Groves, and Toby Mac.
• Favorite Books : Walking with God by John Eldredge, The Praying Life by Paul Miller and Parenting with Love & Logic by Cline & Fay.
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Jeff Coleman, Worship Arts Pastor
Jeff@eastlakeonline.com
Jeff joined the church staff in February of 2003. He is married to his wife Heather and they have three amazing young-uns: Josh, Jordan, and Jillian.
- Favorite Movie: Amadeus and Princess Bride
- Restaurant: Sun Ming, and Carrabas
- Place: Rocky Mountains
- Hobby: What's a hobby?
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Amy Ward, Administrative Assistant to Worship Arts
Amy@eastlakeonline.com | 803.606.4803
A member of East Lake since August of 2000, Amy serves as a vocalist on the praise team, a member of the Creative Team, and co-leader with husband Ken of a small group that meets on Sunday evenings. Amy has been on staff as an Administrative Assistant since August of 2006. Ken and Amy have two daughters, Lea and Lyn.
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Melissa Watson, Director of ACTS Metro
melissa@actsmetro.org
Melissa Watson joined our staff in June 2005. She is currently the Director of the ACTS Metro ministry. Melissa is originally from Irmo and has worked in ministry for the past nine years. She is married, and has a seventeen year old son. Melissa is passionate about her community and spends her spare time hanging out with friends, her family, helping others, and serving Jesus.
- Favorite Movie: Dramas or musicals
- Favorite Food: Seafood
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Mary Ann St. John, Pastoral Counselor
counseling@eastlakeonline.com
Mary Ann joined East Lake as their pastoral counselor in July 2007. A native of Central New York, she has a BA from William Smith College in Psychology/Sociology/Anthropology, and a MA in Pastoral Counseling and Spiritual Formation from Columbia International University. Married twenty-five years to Kevin, the love of her life, she has shared the pleasure of raising two amazing children, Jessica and Luke.
• Favorite destination: The Adirondack Mountains
• Favorite past-times: Camping/Canoeing/Gardening
• Favorite music: A loon's call
• Best advice: Laugh, rest, play, and love as best, and as much as possible!
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Rodney Coleman, Facilities
Rodney.Coleman@eastlakeonline.com
Rodney began working here in 2006, and joined our staff in May 2008 as the Facilities Coordinator. He was born and raised here in Columbia. When he is not caring for our facilities, he enjoys playing tennis, basketball and watching sports. Rodney has one daughter who is 21 years old.
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Leadership Structure
East Lake is overseen by our Oversight Team and led by our Staff Team.
The responsibility of the Oversight Team is to set and keep the vision of the church. The team directs the church through making decisions related to the direction, personnel, programs and strategy. Responsibilities of each member of this team include the following:
- To guide, direct, guard and protect members of the body; to provide a scriptural role model and set a pattern of orderly life.
- To see that the church body is fed through insightful biblical instruction and admonition.
- To refute those who contradict the truth.
- To oversee the life of the church with the assistance of other godly leaders.
- To pray for the spiritual well being of members of the church body.
- To handle issues of church discipline.
- To provide direct oversight to the Senior Pastor.
LEAD PASTOR
The Senior Pastor is the point person of staff and is a serving elder on our elder team. He is a primary teacher and ultimately has responsibility for the ministries of the church. He, along with the elders, is responsible for setting and keeping the church on course with the purpose and vision for which God has called us. His life should reflect that to which he is inviting others to pursue.
PASTORAL STAFF
The responsibility of the staff is to lead the ministries of the church in conjunction with the vision, purpose and goals of the church. The primary job of the staff is to equip the people of East Lake to carry out the ministries of the church - not to do the entire ministry themselves. The staff also has the equally important job of spiritually nurturing the leaders involved in their particular ministries. Ultimately the staff is responsible for the health and effectiveness of the individual ministries of the church.
ADMINISTRATIVE / FINANCE TEAM
While Scripture indicates that elders bear the ultimate responsibility for the spiritual watch-care of the church, the Administrative Team will be specifically delegated by the Oversight Team to oversee legal and financial matters and provide for the care and maintenance of any properties owned by East Lake Community Church.
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