Innovative Church Community

Gary Combs

Gary is the lead pastor at Wilson Community Church in Wilson, North Carolina and a founding member of the Innovative Church Community. He planted Wilson Community Church in 1992. Gary was a District Manager with Eckerd Drugs for 12 years prior to going to seminary. He received a B. A. in Music from Radford University with a specialty in Classical Guitar and a M. Div. from Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary with an emphasis in Biblical Languages. He serves on the Board of Directors with the Youth of Wilson, Inc. and on the Advisory Board for Church Business Magazine.

Gary and his wife Robin have three children: Stephen, Jonathan, and Erin. Gary enjoys travel, reading, playing guitar, all kinds of sports, and being with friends and family. He still keeps a mental checklist of things he wants to do in life. He recently checked off riding a camel and floating in the Dead Sea. Skydiving, writing a book, and recording a CD of songs he has written are still on the list.

Chuck Ainsworth

Chuck is focused on helping people impact the local community surrounding Integrity Community Church and our world with the love of Christ.

While you may find him preaching on occasion at Sunday celebrations, he is primarily focused on Integrity's Spiritual Life Coaching Initiative. There he is presently training and developing about a dozen volunteers to serve as coaches to their local congregation.

Chuck has a Bachelor's degree with a concentration in sociology and will complete his MA in Organizational Leadership this year, with a thesis related to coaching. Chuck has participated in coach training through Valwood Christian Leadership Coaching and is currently pursuing International Coach Federation certification.

Chuck has coached leaders from numerous organizations from more than 5 countries. He is a strategic thinker, paradigm shifter and excellent communicator, and his deep desire is to help leaders maximize their impact and lead more fulfilling, balanced lives. Chuck met his beautiful wife Meghann while attending Campbell University. His passions include international travel, transformational community development, and outdoor adventure.

Richard Miller

Richard Miller is the founding pastor of Shepherd’s Heart Ministries (known as The Heart) in Boone, NC. The church was started in 2001 with 6 families and has currently grown to an average attendance of 90+.

Prior to founding The Heart, Richard served as Minister of Youth and Education at Greenway Baptist Church in Boone from 1988 to 2001. Prior to entering full time ministry, Richard worked for Colonial Life and Accident Insurance Company as a Regional Service Manager and as a Management Trainer from 1979-1985.

Richard received a B.A. degree in Religion in 1976 from William Jewell College in Liberty, Missouri and a M.A.R.E. in Religious Education from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Fort Worth, Texas, in 1988.Richard is also the head swim coach for the Watauga Swim Team, a 70+ member, year round, age group swim team affiliated with USA Swimming. He is married to Terri and has two children, Elise, 22 and Gray, 17.

Rick Hughes

As a pastor and church planter, Rick is an entrepreneur who encourages people to be all that God would have them to be. Rick has pastored both traditional and non-traditional churches since his call into the ministry. He has transitioned one of the oldest churches in North Carolina to become a church for life transformation.

In 1994, Rick was the Small Membership Church Pastor of the Year for the Southern Baptist Convention. He has served as a Church Planting Mentor Trainer for the North American Mission Board. He received his coaching certification through VALWOOD Christian Leadership Coaching.

Rick’s focus these days is in the area of helping churches to transition and change. He, at the present, serves as a Pastor of a church in the Triad area and a Consultant\Coach with the Baptist State Convention. Rick has a passion to see people come to know Christ as Lord and to become passionate followers of Jesus.

Ed Palpant

Ed Palpant is the planting pastor of Evergreen Community Church on the northwest side of Raleigh, NC. Evergreen is a three-year-old church plant started by three different churches from three different denominations. The leadership is passionate about reaching postmodern people with the story of God in ways that people today can understand.

Ed also owns a business that he started in Indianapolis, IN. Growing up in an entrepreneurial family, Ed loves to do start-up in various forms and has coached several new businesses into existence over the last few years.

Ed is passionate about helping people pursue God in new ways that will stretch them outside of denominational, personal, and societal boundaries. He believes that pastors and business leaders today must recognize the changing nature of our culture and communicate in ways appropriate to that change. He also believes that God is greater than our comfort will allow us to experience, and we must therefore grow in ways that may not feel comfortable. Ed’s greatest desire is to help new pastors, church planters, and business people to think outside their current modes of operation and discover the risky path of faith that God is calling them to walk.

Ed is also an avid outdoorsman, racquetball player, and tree grower. He is married to his wife of 20 years, Tammi, and has a 16 year old son, Tim, and a 12 year old son, Justin.

David Bailey

David Bailey is the founding pastor of Crossroads Community Church, a non-traditional church in Stokesdale, N.C. David attended Wake Forest University, where he earned a B.A. in economics with a minor in mathematics. After graduating, he served a one year ministry internship at Calvary Baptist Church in Winston-Salem, N.C. David then earned his M. Div. at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Ft. Worth, Texas.

David served as pastor for traditional churches in south Georgia and Madison, N.C. before beginning work with Crossroads as a church planter in 1999. David's passion is for people to find their true identities in Christ, and to let the Spirit’s work flow through them. He believes that kingdom work, in its highest form, takes place when believers fulfill their God-given passions. He has a heart for pastors, encouraging them to persevere and take necessary steps for positive change. As a bi-vocational pastor, David also writes for a local weekly newspaper, covering high school sports and human interest stories.

His hobbies include hiking, sailing, woodworking, playing guitar and bad puns. David married his wife Lisa in 1986, and they have two daughters, Stephanie, 11, and Sarah, 8. Lisa homeschools their children and serves as tutor for other homeschool students.

John Pond

John Pond is presently serving as director of missions for the West Chowan Baptist Association in northeastern North Carolina. He formerly served in the position of director of missions and pastor (at the same time) while living in Virginia (his home state). He and his wife, Sharon, have one son, Marcus, who is a second year senior at Chowan University.

John received his B.A. from Campbell University 1974) and M.Div. from Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary (1975-1978. He received fourth level certificate for French language from the Insitut Francais de Touraine in Tour, France.

He has pastored three churches bi-vocationally and started two churches while living in Rwanda and Burundi, Africa; he also helped facilitate two churches in the Rawdon/Jolliett area outside Montreal through an associational partnership with the Baptist churches of Quebec. John is an avid reader, especially philosophy and cultural writings.