How many years have you been at Free Chapel?
I started at Free Chapel and Kingdom Connection in December of 2005, which means I have been here 14 years and 5 months in May.
Where did the name, “The Eagle” come from and what does it mean?
While I am not 100% positive about where the name came from, I believe it was given to me by either Courteny Bence or Jason Vernon. I am assuming it was a term of endearment like a soaring eagle, high in the sky as opposed to some old bird just sitting on a perch. Some days I feel more like a turkey than an eagle.
What did you do before you came to Free Chapel?
I was the Creative Director at an advertising agency in Jacksonville, Florida called Affiliated Media. We worked with people like Joel Osteen, David Jeremiah, and Creflo Dollar.
Tell us about your family.
I have been married to my wife Cheryl for 27 years and we have two children: Dillon, 23 and Riley, 18.
What brought you to Free Chapel?
I had been praying about a next step and was introduced to Pastor Franklin. He was looking for a very specialized skill that I had and that opened the door to everything that would follow.
What are some of your most notable achievements since working at Free Chapel?
I think that I am most proud of our work in Haiti following the earthquake of 2010. Pastor Franklin sent me down there to assess the work of a missionary couple, Bobby and Sherry Burnette. I came back with a report that stated this was an excellent work and that we should join in. Today, there is a compound that provides food to thousands, over 100 new homes and a marketplace that is thriving. Our goal was sustainability and that was achieved.
Other notable achievements include:
- Moving us through the change from analog to digital and from SD to HD.
- Moving the FORWARD conference from the church sanctuary to the Gwinnett Arena, now called the Infinite Energy Arena, and seeing that grow into a national and even international event.
- Moving us from one individual campus to several campuses nationwide, and still growing.
- Incorporating Free Chapel College into our mix of people and training.
What are some of your best memories since working at Free Chapel?
- Haiti – all that has been done, the millions that have been raised, and all that continues there today.
- Winterfest – We used to travel all over the nation every winter doing illustrated sermons with Pastor Franklin for the Church of God Youth Conferences. We would take a team of about 25-30 of us from Free Chapel (dancers, actors, music, tech and production) and it would be amazing.
- Going to Hillsong with many of the Pastors and teams from here.
- OC Campus in the earlier days.
Where are we now as a ministry?
Media is becoming more and more important and even vital to communicating the gospel today. Additionally, there are so many ways to get the message out that either didn’t exist or were not as prevalent as they are today. Social Media has taken staying connected and being relevant to a whole new level and requires a greater level of expertise and understanding than ever before. It’s not just posting and hoping—it’s algorithms and likes and shares and clicks. To add to that, the security that is now required just to keep the bad actors from crashing everything and the ministry side of things requires many more people at the table and in the conversation.
We’ve also experienced tremendous growth in the area of publishing, be that Pastor Franklin’s major book launches or the many different mini-books and written resources we produce for web content to put resources in people’s hands.
Our greatest blessing in all of this is a Senior Pastor who believes in excellence and quality. That translates into state-of-the-art equipment and people who have the ability to utilize the equipment for maximum impact.
2018 was our best year financially in the history of our media ministry (JFM and KC). Additionally, we are reaching more people than we have ever reached ( 249 countries and 20 stations)
Lastly, we are having an impact on people’s lives at unprecedented levels. Haiti, Los Angeles Dream Center, Holocaust survivors in Israel, housing for children in Virginia, New Beginnings, Three Dimensional and so much more are all happening right now and it’s not slowing down any time soon. It’s all hard work that requires a devoted and committed team of staff and volunteers across all campuses and all week long.
Where are we going?
First, we take everything we are doing now and make sure we are doing everything with excellence. Second, we begin to really develop and expand the online experience for thousands that call this ministry their home church. For many, especially in places like Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Turkey, China, the Sudan and other countries that have proven to be hostile to Christians, we are their only connection they have to “church.” I would like to see us begin to disciple our online church family.
I believe that the publishing arm of all we do will continue to grow and become central to our discipleship efforts for our online and television audiences. This will also require talented volunteers that have a different skill set than our typical production volunteer.
Campuses will continue to be added which means there is tremendous opportunity for people to invest their time and talents.
Tell us about your vision and heart for volunteers.
I also want to see us, as a staff, continue to serve each other. We are in the soul care business and I want to be sure that we keep this as the heartbeat of this ministry. As we continue to grow as a church and as a media ministry we will have to recruit, train, and release our volunteers into every role we have on every campus and it is critical that they have our DNA. With every single person that the Lord sends us, it will be our job as a ministry to be sure that soul care stays central to all we do and how we interact with each other.