Theology, Things & Stuff

Pastor Scott McKinney serves as pastor of First Baptist Church in Cookeville, Tennessee, where he has ministered since June 2015. Born and raised in middle Georgia, Scott grew up in a Southern Baptist environment and developed a strong work ethic through his family’s business. After studying civil engineering at Georgia Southern University, he built a successful career in business and agriculture. Despite enjoying financial success, marriage, and life with two children, he recognized a deep emptiness that achievement could not satisfy. In June 2003, at age 31, Scott surrendered his life to Jesus Christ, experiencing a transformation that changed his family, priorities, and direction.

Scott preached his first sermon in October 2004 and began pastoring in 2005. Following God’s call into ministry, he pursued graduate studies through New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary and later completed his doctorate in 2019. His ministry has included helping congregations grow stronger through seasons of difficulty, with a commitment to faithfully teaching Scripture and caring for the people entrusted to him. Drawing from his own journey, Scott is passionate about helping others move beyond religious routine into a personal relationship with Jesus Christ marked by genuine repentance, obedience, and lasting transformation.

Kiley Baldwin is a wife, mother, songwriter, and worship leader at Engrafted Word Church. She had an encounter with the Lord Jesus Christ that led to her radical conversion midway through her college years in 2010. In the years that followed, God delivered Kiley from a lifestyle marked by addiction, rebellion, and sin. He restored her to a life filled with His love, fellowship, and guidance, leading her into a lifelong pursuit of holiness and His presence.

During the time of her conversion, Kiley (née Brunette) met Kael Baldwin, the friend who led her to Christ and the man she would marry a few years later. They met in the music department at Tennessee Tech University and have loved making music together ever since. Today, Kiley and Kael are honored to serve together in music ministry as the senior worship leaders at Engrafted Word Church. Their passion is to lead others into the presence of Almighty God through the power of praise and worship. The couple also loves writing songs and building God’s Kingdom by training up the next generation of psalmists and minstrels.

Kiley and Kael cherish their time together as husband and wife and as Mom and Dad to their three children, Phoebe, Ezra, and Micah. Kiley has the privilege of homeschooling their children while also helping to lead and serve in the local homeschool community where their family participates.

Sandy Gall was born in 1955 in Arbroath, Scotland, and was raised there until the age of 18, when he joined the Royal Air Force. During his military career, he served in Scotland, northern England, and Germany. Eight years after joining the Air Force, he met his wife, Brenda. At age 30, Sandy and Brenda surrendered their lives to Jesus Christ, beginning a transformation that would shape the rest of their lives.

Sandy went from serving as an airman to serving as a chaplain and pastor. Although those who knew him before his conversion were sometimes surprised by the changes in his life, Sandy recognized that his new path was the result of God's grace. He and Brenda had two children, and in 1997, Sandy was discharged from the Royal Air Force so he could spend more time with his family.

For the next 15 years, Sandy continued serving in Royal Air Force chaplaincy. Altogether, he devoted more than 30 years to Christian ministry, serving in Sunday School, leading churches, preaching, teaching, and pastoring. He had the privilege of conducting weddings and celebrating new life, as well as the solemn responsibility of leading funerals, comforting grieving families, and conducting services for Armed Forces members who died in service.

Now recently retired, Sandy looks back on a life he could never have imagined as a young man. His story reflects the truth of Proverbs 3:5: “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, And lean not on your own understanding.”

Fred Mukisa Kayemba is a passionate teacher of the Word, pastor, and church planter devoted to helping believers build strong foundations in Christ. He holds a diploma in Christian Ministry and has also studied Project Planning, Management, and Entrepreneurship. Fred leads Truth Embassy Church in Mukono, Uganda and oversees several churches across the nation.

Pastor Fred has a strong focus and burden for planting churches and raising up leaders. He is also a firm believer in self-sustaining ministry and practices farming as a source of livelihood. Fred is married to Judith Kyarisiima Mukisa, and together they are blessed with a daughter, Vickie Eliana Mukisa.

Josh Gentry is a licensed land surveyor and professional geologist from Cookeville, Tennessee. Raised in the Church of God, he developed a love for the outdoors at an early age and was born again at twelve years old. Inspired by both his faith and his fascination with creation, Josh attended Tennessee Technological University, where he studied geology.

He began his career in economic geology within the mining industry, working on major projects across the United States. During that time, he also worked with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers on dam remediation projects, gaining experience in applied geoscience and large-scale infrastructure work before eventually transitioning into land surveying. Today, Josh owns and operates his own surveying business.

Josh believes his work in geology and surveying has deepened his appreciation for God’s creation and provided opportunities to share his faith with others. He lives in Cookeville with his wife, Amy, and together they enjoy raising and homeschooling their sons while instilling in them a love for the Lord and the wonder of creation.

Bobbie Scudder is a missionary serving in Kampala, Uganda, alongside her husband, Brett Scudder. Raised in Carthage, Tennessee, Bobbie later attended Tennessee Technological University in Cookeville, where she met Brett. The two became active members of Engrafted Word Church in 1995 and were married there in 1999.
 
Over the next seventeen years, Brett and Bobbie faithfully served in nearly every area of ministry at their home church. Together, they ministered as Elders and Youth Pastors while also serving as Sunday school teachers, children’s ministry workers, jail ministers, and in many other helps ministry roles. Their lives became a testimony of faithful service and God’s promotion of those who are willing to serve wherever needed.
 
In 2002, the Scudders welcomed their daughter, Emma, and in 2005, their son, Ethan, completed their family. While raising their children and serving faithfully in ministry, the Lord began preparing their hearts for missions abroad.
 
In 2010, during a mission trip to Honduras, the Spirit of the Lord began dealing strongly with Brett and Bobbie about leaving their home in Tennessee to serve Him on foreign soil. Later that same year, on August 29, 2010, the Lord confirmed His direction through their pastor, Chris McMichael, who told Brett, “As a bona fide fisher of men, you’ll have to cast a far net.” From that moment forward, the Scudders set their hearts on reaching the nations with the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
 
In August 2012, Brett and Bobbie answered the call of God and moved to Uganda, East Africa, where they continue building the Kingdom of God and serving the people of Kampala through missionary work and ministry. Though serving overseas, they have remained connected to Engrafted Word Church, the church that helped shape and send them into the mission field. They were officially ordained and commissioned by their pastors, Chris and Manda McMichael, and continue to maintain relationships with a broader network of ministers who provide fellowship, accountability, and ministry support.

Fondly known by some as Pastora, Rev. Sherree Tercyak began her 30-year missionary journey in Honduras in 1983, serving in a wide range of ministry roles. From cities to remote villages, across rural regions and into the mountains, she has served both as a servant in helps ministry and as a senior pastor. For several years, she co-pastored one of the largest and fastest-growing churches in San Pedro Sula, while also overseeing a prominent Christian school under certification from Oral Roberts University. Rev. Sherree has also provided leadership to fellow missionaries, helping equip and guide new workers as they entered the mission field. In addition to her work in Honduras, Sherree has ministered in 13 nations and throughout the United States. Known for her compassion and encouragement, she is devoted to seeing others set free from the bondage of sin. Her many years of teaching are evident in her ability to teach the Word of God with both excellence and conviction and a deep love for God’s people and those who are lost.
 
Committed to a life of prayer, Rev. Sherree strives daily to walk as a vessel before God, living with holiness and purity. She is the mother of three adult children—Keilah, Karina, and Jonathan—all of whom are walking with the Lord. Now residing in the US, Rev. Sherree continues to press forward with unwavering faith, overcoming life’s challenges with strength and perseverance.

Pastor Ingolf and Angela Schmidt (the founders of Ingolf Schmidt Ministries) live in Leipzig, Germany. They have been married since 1980 and have three children and two grandchildren. Both were born in former East Germany. In 1985, they founded Living Word Church Leipzig. During that time it was impossible to have a Christian church registered by the Communist government of East Germany. They started the church as a little prayer group in their own home. After the Iron Curtain fell and was destroyed, the government allowed them to have the new church. Since that time, they have been pastoring the church now known as “City Church Leipzig eV.”

Pastor Ingolf and his wife Angela travel frequently into Germany, Europe, Asia, Central America, and the United States of America. Over the last 15 years, Pastor Ingolf has received numerous invitations to the USA. He feels a very strong call to his own country, Germany, but also to the United States.

He and his wife were ordained in 1992 by Dr. Lester Sumrall.

Lisa Mackie grew up in Southern California and worked in corporate America there most of her career. She held various management positions at Nissan North America and was part of the corporate relocation from Los Angeles to Nashville, Tennessee in 2006. Lisa met the true love of her life Tim in 2009, they married in 2011, and Lisa moved to Tim’s farm in Sparta, Tennessee where they call home. Surprising many, Lisa left corporate America in 2012 to raise goats, drive a tractor and plant a vegetable garden! Lisa and Tim enjoy kayaking, hiking, planning trips and traveling. They have a beautifully blended family of five children with their spouses/mates and eight grandchildren and love this season of Granny and Pops. 

In 2013 Lisa began serving at the local pregnancy resource center where she eventually became a client advocate. In 2014 she attended a Deeper Still retreat in Knoxville, Tennessee that brought profound life changes. This led to the startup of Deeper Still Upper Cumberland in 2016 where Lisa is the Executive Director. She loves meeting new people, hearing about their life journey, and enjoys being an encourager to others.

Born in Gothenburg, Sweden, in 1966, David Larson is a Scandinavian missionary to the country of Bolivia in South America. He married his high school sweetheart, Violetta, who immigrated from Bolivia to Sweden as a child soon after her father passed away. The couple became born again as young adults and married soon after. As Christians now living on fire for Christ, they felt led by the Lord to attend Rhema Bible College in Tulsa, Oklahoma. It was there that the Larsons began to recognize that God was calling them to return to Violetta’s birth country and serve Jesus as missionaries.

In 1999, David and Violetta, along with their two small children, Jonas and Josephine, launched out together and pioneered their church, Palabra de Fe, in Cochabamba, Bolivia. Over the years, their ministry grew and touched countless lives throughout Bolivia before the family was forced to leave during the global COVID restrictions in 2019.

Today, David and Violetta are American citizens and live and minister in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. From there, they travel frequently to do mission work in Bolivia. They also enjoy returning to the United States to spend time with their adult children and young grandchildren.