Staff & Leaders
Pastor
Joe Tanner
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At age 19, Joe came to know the Lord and life completely changed. Within a few weeks of coming to know and trust Jesus as Lord and Savior, Joe knew he was called to serve the Lord with all of his life. In 1996 Joe was called to Bayleaf Baptist Church of Raleigh, NC to serve as student pastor for the Senior High School Students. While working at Bayleaf, Joe started his M-Div at South Eastern Baptist Theological Seminary. The summer of 1998 Joe’s dreams came true and God blessed him with marriage to Megan. That same year Englewood Baptist Church of Rocky Mount, NC called Joe to serve as the Student Pastor for the church. Over the next few years Joe would really grow and develop as a man of God through ministry and seminary side by side. 2001 was to be a year of changes. God brought Joe to the mission field in the West End of Richmond. Joe, Megan, and their son Joseph who was 5 months old, moved to Richmond in 2001. This was a definite following of the Lord’s leadership to plant West End Baptist Church. God added Lydia to the Tanner family in November of 2002 on the 1st anniversary of WEBC. Joshua came along in December of 2005. Joe loves being a husband and a daddy. He loves sharing his Savior with others, preaching, and shepherding the WEBC family. |
Hobbies and Interests:
- His wonderful wife
- Wrestling and playing with the kids
- Fly Fishing / Kayak Fishing / any kind of fishing
- Anything outdoors
"Therefore, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God. " 1 Corinthians 10:31 (NKJV)
"Jesus said to him, ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets.” Matthew 22:37-40 (NKJV)
Contact:
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804-938-4673
Elders
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Matt's journey with the Lord Jesus began at age 4, and he was baptized at 14. While attending a Christian college, God challenged Matt to take his faith to a deeper level. At age 19, after wrestling with doubts about his salvation, Matt made a firm decision to follow Christ and sealed that decision a few years later by being re-baptized. Matt began serving as the WEBC praise & worship leader in January 2002. He says it has been exciting to be involved in a new church plant almost from the start, and that God continues to enable him for the task, challenging him to love others more in the process. In 2002, Matt also married his “sweetie,” Jenny Schwartz. In 2006 they were blessed with a little girl, Darcy. Then in 2009, God gave them a son, Bennett. Both Matt and his wife have each lived in the Richmond area for over 30 years. During the week, Matt is a has been working in printing, marketing, and graphic design since 1994. |
Hobbies & Interests:
- Music -- listening, recording, writing, playing
- Computers -- if it's an Apple product
- Languages -- French, Spanish, Mandarin, Greek
- Photography -- mostly pictures of his kids
Philippians 2:5-11 (ISV)
In God's own form existed he, and shared with God equality
Deemed nothing needed grasping
Instead, poured out in emptiness, a servant's form did he possess
A mortal man becoming
In human form he chose to be, and lived in all humility
Death on a cross obeying
Now lifted up by God to heaven, a name above all others given
This matchless name possessing
And so, when Jesus' name is called, the knees of everyone should fall
Wherever they're residing
Then every tongue in one accord, will say that Jesus Christ is Lord
While God the Father praising.
Contact:
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804-840-0492
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Kevin grew up in Bassett, Virginia, in a large extended family. The deaths of several family members caused him to wrestle with matters of life and death and eternity at an early age. Though he attended church all the way through high school, he was a stranger to true faith in Jesus Christ. Amidst all the sensuality of the college environment, though, God awakened Kevin to the truth that these pleasures would last only for a lifetime. As he really read through the Gospels and the words of Jesus, he came to see that his life was one of sin, but also that Jesus loved him in spite of that, and had died so that he might be forgiven and have eternal life. Kevin marks his conversion to that December of 1996, when he put his trust in Jesus Christ to forgive him for his sins and committed to following Him. Compelled by the joy he had in Jesus, and out of a desire to help others experience this same joy, Kevin felt led to go to seminary school a few years later. In May of 2004, he graduated from Southeastern Seminary and moved to Richmond. He started attending West End Baptist shortly thereafter and became an elder in the summer of 2005. Kevin and his bride Talona (whom he met at WEBC!) were married in June of 2006 and have one son, Beckett, who is two. |
Hobbies and Interest
- Reading (“When I get a little money I buy books; and if any is left I buy food and clothes.” – Erasmus)
- Sports (golf, basketball, Frisbee, and the occasional game of wiffleball with my nephews)
“The LORD is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in lovingkindness.” Psalm 103:8
Contact:
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Tim has affectionately been dubbed the “clown prince” by folks who know and work with him. Always looking for fun and levity in almost every moment, coming face to face with a laughing Jesus is what drew him to truly begin pursuing God faithfully. Some look for God to be near, strong or compassionate; Tim began his faith journey looking for God to be funny. And he found Him to be abundantly so… the Author of true and eternal humor, which invites nearness and intimacy and which illuminates His strength and compassion. Tim grew up in Central Florida but claims Georgia, the place of his birth and college days, as “home”. He came to faith in Christ as a young adult. And as work and educational opportunities have taken him around the world and back again, his faith has gone with him. While living overseas in the Middle East, Tim met his wife, Janet, an Alabama native, who was teaching English at a private school. They married in 2004 and now have two children, Isaac (born 2007) and Lealla (born 2009). The Hoods have been a part of the West End family for 5 years. |
Interests:
- Family activities like hanging out with his wife and kids
- Intellectual actitivies like traveling, reading, teaching
- Outdoor activities like hiking, cutting grass, but NOT fishing.
“He (God) made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.” 2 Corinthians 5:21 (NASB)
“Or do you think lightly of the riches of His kindness and tolerance and patience, not knowing that the kindness of God leads you to repentance?” Romans 2:4 (NASB)
Contact:
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Group Leaders
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God called Derek to saving faith in Jesus Christ after after saving his life in a college auto accident. Derek married Judy in 2003 and they have 3 children, Bethany, Jeremy, and Katelyn. In his spare time, he practices law. Derek's favorite book of the Bible is whichever one he's studying at the time. Right now it's Isaiah. Though language can never fully capture the character and nature of the almighty, triune God, he belives the rich imagery of Isaiah's poetry cannot help but stir up and elevate the mind, heart, and soul to worship. |
In his free time, Derek enjoys reading Christian biographies such as Adoniram Judson, Jonathan Edwards, or Jim Eliot . He is inspired by such men who have both poured out their lives "like a drink offering," and also have "run the race with endurance."
Derek also enjoys music—any kind that is both beautiful and complex so that one can hear and learn something new every time you listen. He finds this in classical music like Bach or Handel and in the jazz of Miles Davis or Thelonius Monk.
Administration
Janet Hood
Janet is the WEBC administrative assistant, handling financial, logistical and administrative issues and questions. Janet and her husband Tim have been a part of the West End family for over 5 years.
Contact:
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