Tree of Life is led by a plurality of elders committed to God’s Word, the equipping of the saints — whom God has put in their care — for the work of service, the building up of the Body of Christ, and the knowledge of the Son of God.
The elders are Tim Bourgeois, David Spaggiari, Jerry Hammersley and Jay McBee. Find out more about them below!
Tim Bourgeois is a pastor, teacher, and Biblical counselor. He’s been in ministry since 1988. He and his wife Sandy have been married since 1986.
Tim likes all the books of the Bible, but Matthew holds a special place in his heart because he spent 11 years teaching it. Tim likes to play ping pong for recreation.
David is a pastor, teacher, and Biblical counselor. He’s been in ministry since 1994.
He and his wife Leslie have been married since 1984 and have four kids.
David loves all of God’s Word but leans heavily on Psalm 119:18: “Open my eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of your law” because it anchors him to his reliance upon the Lord in all he does.
David enjoys photography, cycling, cooking and time at home with his family.
Jerry Hammersley is an elder and has been in ministry for over 40 years. He and his wife Christy have seven kids and have been married since 1976.
Jerry’s favorite book of the Bible is Ephesians because it speaks of our adoption, which is close to his heart.
He likes to mountain bike and garden for fun.
Jay McBee is an elder and Bible counselor. He’s been counseling people with God’s Word for over 30 years and has been committed to full-time ministry for three. He and his wife Karin have four kids and have been married since 1998.
He has two favorite books of the Bible: Ephesians for its understanding of how we are to put on the nature of God and not just avoid sin and James for its teaching for how God uses trials to transform us to be like Christ.
For fun, Jay likes to play ping pong and fellowship with the saints.
The Bible identifies two governing roles in church leadership; elders and deacons (1 Timothy 3:1-13). God instructs us to appoint men as elders to govern each local church as His under-shepherds. We appoint elders based on the qualifications set forth in Titus 1:5-9, 1 Timothy 3:1-7, and 1 Timothy 5:17-18. Deacons are servant leaders overseeing all the practical needs of the church.
We do not add to the scriptures by holding men to non-biblical requirements such as specific levels of formal education, ordination by man-made organizations, or a majority of votes by members of the congregation.
We utilize the term Pastor to designate our double-honor (paid) elders, but truly all of our elders are pastors of the church and govern by shared leadership in which each elder has equal authority and responsibility in all respects of church government.