Mark Whitacre

Pastor

Mark Whitacre has been engaged with the faith at work movement the past twenty years. Mark is Vice President of Culture & Care and Executive Director of the t-factor initiative at Coca-Cola Consolidated, Inc. and Mark has worked with Coca-Cola Consolidated since 2019. Coca-Cola Consolidated is faith-friendly, publicly traded (NASDAQ) company with an official purpose statement “To honor God in all we do, to serve others, to pursue excellence, and to grow profitably”. Mark has served as National Director and then COO of Christian Business Men’s Connection (CBMC) from 2013 to 2019. Mark was the COO and Chief Science Officer from 2006 to 2013 at Cypress Systems, Inc., a California faith-based biotechnology company where Mark still serves on Cypress’ advisory council.

After completing his B.S. and M.S. degrees at Ohio State University, Mark earned his Ph.D. degree at Cornell University in biochemistry. He worked as an executive for some Fortune 500 companies, including Ralston Purina (now Nestle), Degussa (now Evonik), and Archer Daniels Midland (ADM). He was recruited at ADM when he was 32 as the President of the Biotech Division and Corporate Vice President of ADM. Mark has extensive international business experience, having lived in Germany for four years working for Evonik at their world headquarters in Frankfurt.

Mark and his wife Ginger have been married for 46 years and have three adult children.

Peter Balentine

Pastor

Pete is a native of Westerly, Rhode Island and became a Christian in high school through a local youth ministry. He is a graduate of Boston University and Gordon Conwell Theological Seminary. Pete has served churches in Massachusetts and New Hampshire. A Navy veteran he has travelled to 27 countries and taught at Bible colleges in Tanzania and Ukraine. Pete also pursues photography, exhibiting locally and in New England. Visit his website at www.peterbalentine.com. Pete lives in Lynn with his wife, Heidi. He has four grown children, Georgia, Daniel, Molly and Charlotte.

Lemuel Gonzalez, MDiv

Associate Pastor, Crossover Church

The child of bi-vocational pastors and church planters, Lemuel (MDiv, ’24) knows the challenge of discerning between vocations and saying yes to more than one. Over the years of juggling family, work and seminary, Lemuel has moved through a variety of roles as Crossover Church from starting as a youth counselor to his current role as associate pastor. Lemuel can speak to the bi-vocational reality that many pastors today face.

David Palmer, PhD

Senior Pastor, Kenwood Baptist Church

David (MDiv, ’97, ThM, ‘99) serves as Senior Pastor with primary responsibilities in preaching, shepherding, servant leadership, and prayer. Prior to Kenwood Baptist Church, he pastored in New England and taught biblical studies at Gordon College.

He currently serves as adjunct professor of New Testament at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary.

Ruthie Seiders, DMin

Pastor for Central Ministries, Grace Chapel

In her role as the Pastor for Central Ministries, Ruthie (MATS, ‘83, DMin, ‘14) supports and ministers to the Grace Chapel pastors of Community Care, Community Engagement, Group Life, Missional Partnerships and Multicultural Ministry and Worship.

Before coming to Grace Chapel in 2015, Ruthie pastored churches in Texas, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, and New York.

David Brown, DMin

Lead Pastor, A Place at the Table Church

David (MDiv, MACC, ‘10) has served in pastoral and leadership roles in several churches in the Charlotte area. Recently, he earned a Doctorate in Ministry from Portland Seminary in Leadership and Spiritual Formation.

A licensed counselor, he co-founded a non-profit that provided care and support for pastors and other ministry leaders. Currently, David serves as the Associate Pastor of Care at Forest Hill Church in Charlotte, NC.

Percy Burns

Glorious Freedom

Percy Burns is Chaplain for Gordon-Conwell’s Charlotte Leadership Forum and Chairman of the Board of Derek Prince Ministries, USA, and pastor emeritus of St. Giles Evangelical Presbyterian Church. He is the author of and founder of Glorious Freedom ministry.

Rodney Cooper, PhD

Senior Professor of Ministry, Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary

Rodney teaches at the Charlotte campus. While he previously taught at the New England campuses, he served as Associate Pastor and led the men’s ministries at historic Tremont Temple Baptist Church in downtown Boston.

He also served as the first Executive Director/President of the Houston Bible Institute, now called the College of Biblical Studies, in Houston, TX. One of the first multi-cultural institutions in the country, the Institute now has nearly 2,000 students and the same multi-cultural emphasis.

Mark Whitacre

Vice President of Culture & Care and Executive Director

Mark Whitacre has been engaged with the faith at work movement the past twenty years. Mark is Vice President of Culture & Care and Executive Director of the t-factor initiative at Coca-Cola Consolidated, Inc. and Mark has worked with Coca-Cola Consolidated since 2019. Coca-Cola Consolidated is faith-friendly, publicly traded (NASDAQ) company with an official purpose statement “To honor God in all we do, to serve others, to pursue excellence, and to grow profitably”. Mark has served as National Director and then COO of Christian Business Men’s Connection (CBMC) from 2013 to 2019. Mark was the COO and Chief Science Officer from 2006 to 2013 at Cypress Systems, Inc., a California faith-based biotechnology company where Mark still serves on Cypress’ advisory council.

After completing his B.S. and M.S. degrees at Ohio State University, Mark earned his Ph.D. degree at Cornell University in biochemistry. He worked as an executive for some Fortune 500 companies, including Ralston Purina (now Nestle), Degussa (now Evonik), and Archer Daniels Midland (ADM). He was recruited at ADM when he was 32 as the President of the Biotech Division and Corporate Vice President of ADM. Mark has extensive international business experience, having lived in Germany for four years working for Evonik at their world headquarters in Frankfurt.

Mark and his wife Ginger have been married for 46 years and have three adult children.

Dr. Scott W. Sunquist

President & Professor of Missiology

Dr. Scott W. Sunquist assumed the presidency on July 1, 2019, and was inaugurated as the seventh president of Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary on October 11, 2019. He also serves as professor of missiology and authors the Attentiveness blog.

Before Gordon-Conwell, Dr. Sunquist served as the Dean of Intercultural Studies and Professor of World Christianity at Fuller Seminary. Prior to this, he taught for seventeen years at Pittsburgh Theological Seminary. He is an ordained minister in the Presbyterian Church (USA). Dr. Sunquist and his wife, Nancy, served as missionaries in the Republic of Singapore from 1987–1995, where he was the pastor of Covenant Presbyterian Church and lecturer in church history, ecumenics, and Asian Christianity at Trinity Theological College. Before this, he was a campus staff member with InterVarsity Christian Fellowship in Virginia and Massachusetts.