Matt Haines, Senior Pastor
Matt began his ministry here as Senior Pastor of Central Park Baptist Church in September of 2018. Prior to coming to CPBC, Matt has served churches in Alabama, Mississippi, and Tennessee. He has both a Masters of Divinity and a Doctor of Ministry degree from New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary. Matt is married to Alison and they have four sons – Nathan, Andrew, John David, and Josh.
Matt’s ministry passion is to help people see the beauty of the gospel and how it applies, not only to their eternal salvation, but to their everyday life right now. His focus is on gospel-centered preaching, personal disciple-making, and local and global missions. His ministry theme verse is Colossians 1:28-29, “Him we proclaim, warning everyone and teaching everyone with all wisdom, that we may present everyone mature in Christ. For this I toil, struggling with all his energy that he powerfully works within me.”
Outside of church work, Matt’s hobbies include playing golf, reading great biographies, and rooting for all things Mississippi State and the Boston Red Sox.
David Holmes, Minister of Music
David Holmes serves as Minister of Music with additional responsibilities supervising buildings & grounds maintenance and operations. David joined the Central Park staff in October 1997 and previously served churches in Texas, Mississippi and Alabama. David is married to Melanie, and they have two adult children. Drew is married to Ashley (Kwasigroh) and they are in pharmacy residency. Drew is employed by the Kansas University Hospital and Ashley is employed by the Saint Luke's Children's Hospital. Their daughter Ashley is serving as children's minister at Woodward Avenue Baptist Church in Muscle Shoals, ALabama
David has music degrees from Samford University and Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. David also enjoys officiating high school football and basketball.
Jaime Early, Pastor to STUDENTS AND YOUNG ADULTS
As the Student Pastor, my desire is to see a culture of Discipleship permeate our Student Ministry. I long to see our students press toward Jesus with all they have. I also want to expose our students to missions on both a domestic and and international levels. I have been in ministry for twelve years. In those years I have served in all sorts of capacities from a full time staff pastor to a simple lay leader. I have seen God’s faithfulness in each of these opportunities and grown through each passing year. I have been married to the most amazing woman for 15 years. Laura is a licensed Vet Tech (Dog Nurse), she loves her job, and is very good at it. If you have any animal questions she is the one to ask. Our daughter Avery is extremely creative and excels in ballet and art. our son Tai’s greatest passions are hockey, and WWE wrestling.
I have an Undergrad degree in Elementary Education from Jacksonville State University and a Master of Arts degree in Pastoral Ministries from New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary.
I am a huge hockey fan, and actually play hockey. The Nashville Predators are my team, and I enjoy cheering them on whenever I have the opportunity, and I am an Auburn Tiger fan through and through.
Favorite Food - Five Guys, Mellow Mushroom, BBQ, Braum’s, Taco Bueno Favorite Candy - Goo Goo Cluster Favorite Places to Visit - Kenya, OKC, Nashville, Orlando, Gulf Shores Movies - Back to the Future, Indiana Jones, Batman, James Bond Music - Switchfoot, Shane and Shane, All Sons and Daughters, The Beatles, Dave Matthews Band. You will discover I like all types of music from hard music, to classical, to malt shop.
Life Verse - 2 Corinthians 5:21
wHITLEY Free, Minister of Kids and Communications
WHITLEY JOINED THE CENTRAL PARK STAFF IN APRIL 2017. SHE HAS OBTAINED HER ASSOCIATES OF APPLIED SCIENCE DEGREE IN GRAPHIC DESIGN FROM CALHOUN COMMUNITY COLLEGE IN 2013. SHE CONTINUED HER EDUCATION AT ATHENS STATE UNIVERSITY AND COMPLETED HER BACHELOR'S DEGREE IN FINE ART WITH A CONCENTRATION IN GRAPHIC DESIGN, AND HER MINOR IN ART HISTORY IN 2015. She (finally) answered the lord’s calling to kids ministry in 2022 and now serves full time as the kids minister to the cpkids (nursery through 6th grade). IN HER SPARE TIME, SHE ENJOYS painting, spending time with her husband Ryan, cat mochi, and dog odin, and using endless amounts of movie quotes. she prays that the lord will use her family to minister to the families that the lord places on their path.
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tERESA sMYSER, FINANCIAL sECRETARY
TERESA SMYSER HAS BEEN THE FINANCIAL ADMINISTRATOR AT CENTRAL PARK since 2016. SHE LIVES IN ATHENS, ALABAMA WITH HER MINISTER HUSBAND AND THEIR DEAF CAT, SPOCK. SHE HAS TWO MARRIED CHILDREN AND Two GRANDSOns and two sweet granddaughters. SHE GRADUATED FROM EASTERN KENTUCKY UNIVERSITY. SHE IS AN ADULT SUNDAY SCHOOL TEACHER AT HER HOME CHURCH IN ATHENS. THE REST OF HER TIME IS DIVIDED BETWEEN FAMILY, FRIENDS, CHURCH ACTIVITIES, AND WRITING CHRISTIAN FICTION.