Church Leadership
Elders
GABC believes that Biblical church leadership is plural in nature. Elders are called to provide spiritual leadership to the church.
Michael Felkins
Michael is our lead pastor. Along with preaching, Michael oversees the staff, elder board, and ministry planning team, along with oversight of the ministries of small groups, missions, college, family, and children. Michael also gives leadership to the elder team. Michael says his mission in life is to glorify God through the ministry of preaching, […]
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Eric Schumacher
Eric is our Associate Pastor and oversees Worship Ministries, Adult Foundations, Men’s and Women’s Ministries, Membership Classes, as well as general pastoral ministry. Eric, his wife Jenny, and their five children and have lived in Ames since December 2014. Eric is an Iowa native and a graduate of Glidden-Ralston High School, the University of Northern Iowa, […]
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Terry Martens
Terry serves as an elder as well as a small group leader and a leader in the children’s ministry. Terry has been at Grand Avenue Baptist Church for 38 years. Terry is married to Debbie and they have seven grown children, four of whom are married. They also have six grandchildren. Terry has many years […]
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Tim Young
Tim serves as an elder with specific oversight in the areas of benevolence, audio/visual technology, and properties. Tim has been a member of Grand Avenue for 11 years, serving on staff as Youth Minister from 2009-2017 and College Minister from 2017-2019. Tim loves the gift that is the local church and sees lasting value in firm […]
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Tim Lubinus
Tim began serving as an elder of GABC in January 2021. Tim grew up on a farm near the city of Marathon in northwest Iowa. While attending Iowa State University in the 1980’s, Tim was baptized, became a member, and was ordained for ministry at Grand Avenue Baptist Church. Tim currently serves as Executive Director […]
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Dixie Carpenter
Dixie has served in our office for over 23 years and has been a member at Grand for 44+ years. She delights in supporting the pastors and the ministry leaders at Grand in a variety of ways. Dixie has been married to her husband Jim for 35 years and they an adult daughter, Kelsey (Allen) […]
Read BiographyDeacons
GABC believes that Biblical church leadership is plural in nature. Deacons serve the body by meeting practical needs.
Ministry Leaders
Troy Jansen
Troy oversees the benevolence ministry as part of a team that considers requests from those in need. His duties also include general supervision of our food pantry. Troy grew up in Parkersburg, Iowa, as the youngest of seven children. Troy is single. Troy graduated from Wartburg College in 1990 with a degree in Elementary Education. […]
Read BiographyBrandon and Madreann Short
Brandon and Madreann oversee our Youth Ministry.
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Sarah Fierro
Sarah Fierro is our Nursery/Preschool Coordinator. Sarah is married to Manuel and they have two daughters—Camila and Isabel. Their family moved to Ames from Georgia in 2020. She graduated from the University of Georgia in 2015 with a BA in Communication Studies and a certificate in Disability Services. Being in the midst of the little years […]
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Debbie & Terry Martens
Terry and Debbie oversee the Children’s Ministry, grades K–5th grades at Grand Avenue. They help coordinate the Wednesday night program of grow252, Children’s Foundations on Sunday mornings and Backyard Kids Clubs in the summer months. Terry and Debbie both attended Iowa State University and first met when attending Grand Avenue Baptist as college students. Terry […]
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Stacy Felkins
Stacy is our Women’s Ministry leader. Stacy is married to Michael and they have three children – daughters Sam and Alex and a son Mac. Stacy is originally from Louisiana but moved to Texas when she was 9 years old. She moved to Ames with her family in May of 2009. Stacy graduated from Howard […]
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Esther Walker
Esther heads up the Hospitality Ministry at Grand. She grew up on a farm in southern Iowa outside New Virginia. After a stint in the Marines she came to Ames in 1980 to go to Iowa State University and never left. She has a BS in Dietetics and an MS in hotel, restaurant and institution […]
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