Preaching Team
At Riverbend, we believe that God has uniquely gifted every member of our fellowship and one of our responsibilities is to encourage and empower our members to serve in their gifting and passion. One of the most important ministries of our church is our preaching and teaching ministry. God has brought a number of gifted preachers and teachers to our church and we try very hard to let these gifts be shared with the Riverbend family. Currently we have five men who serve as the primary preachers/teachers on Sunday mornings. They are:
Dr. Robbie McAlister- lead pastor of Riverbend. Robbie has served in church planting, pastoral and leadership development roles both in the US and in Europe for over twenty-five years. Robbie and Criss are parents of three sons.
Dr. Ed Gross- As president of Vanguard Global Network, Ed leads pastoral training, discipleship and evangelism training in countries all over the world. Ed has planted and pastored in five churches in the US. He and Maxine have six grown children.
Thomas Neff- Thomas has served as both a missionary to Africa and a businessman in the US. He currently works as a consultant in the IT industry. He and his wife, Judy, have four children.
Dr. Joel Williams- Joel has held several teaching roles and professorships in seminaries and Bible colleges. He is currently a professor of New Testament and Greek at Columbia International University. Joel and Becky have three children.
Dr. Mark McCann- Mark has served in Christian education all his professional life. He has been a teacher and a school principal and is currently on the faculty of the Columbia International University Graduate School in charge of their MAT program. He and his wife, Sharry, are parents of three children.