Mix Staff
FSM Team Leader
University of Mobile is where my life was completely changed! At the University, I spent most of my time on the soccer field with the men's soccer team. For the first time in my life God had surrounded me with friends my age that loved Jesus Christ! I grew up right outside of Meridian, MS where a man by the name of Andy Murry invested greatly in my life as a high school student. My life even today is a testimony of his love and passion for students.
About the time that soccer began to consume my life, another man began to invest in me. His name is Andy Neely. I began working with junior high students in Mobile, Alabama in 2002 and there was no turning back! Another major stone in the foundation of my life are Fuge camps. I spent five summers across the states working for Centrifuge as a Bible study leader, Rec Director, as well as Camp Director. Nothing like given the opportunity to lead 27 staffers to dive into the lives of students all summer long! I love soccer, riding in my jeep, hiking, days on the lake, and spending time with my small group! I am 30-years-old and I believe that Jesus Christ is the way the truth and the life. I was happily married to Ellen Staggs on Dec. 12, 2009.
Women's Director, The Mix
A mere 120 miles from Nashville, in Jackson, Tennessee is where I was born and raised. I was born there in 1980 and both of my parents still live there today. I have one younger brother, Steve, who is two years younger than me and he now lives here in Nashville too! We both grew up in the church and knew of God. But it wasn’t until I attended a revival at the age of 10 that I began a personal relationship with Him. Despite the ups and downs of my middle school and high school years, the Lord remained faithful and continued to deepen my faith in who He is despite my circumstances.
After high school, I took a step of faith and attended Mississippi College, four hours away from home where I knew no one. It was there that the Lord blew me away with His blessings and brought into my life some great friends and priceless opportunities to serve Him and grow in my faith.
The first of these opportunities was to be a counselor at Kanakuk Kamps in the summers. My first summer was in 1999 and I just recently completed my 11th and final summer in 2009. It was there in the “land of the tee-pees” at K-7 in Lampe, Missouri that the Lord grew my faith in ways I had never experienced before. Another life-changing opportunity that I had in college was to study abroad in London, England for a semester. I will never forget what it was like to live among people who did not grow up in the “Bible-belt,” and the Lord used my experience there to forever change and deepen my faith in Him.
Once I graduated from college I had the opportunity to attend The Kanakuk Institute which is year long program in Branson, Missouri, which provides students with biblical knowledge for a lifetime of ministry. It was during this year that I developed some deep friendships and experienced the Lord calling me into full time ministry. Through the partnership between the Kanakuk Institute and John Brown University, I also received my master’s degree in Youth and Family Ministries.
Upon graduating from The Kanakuk Institute I accepted a job working on staff with K-Life. K-Life is a non-denominational, para-chruch ministry that is under the umbrella of the Kanakuk’s family of ministries. K-Life got its start in 1979 when families who sent their kids to Kanakuk in the summers wanted a similar program during the year for their kids. I was on staff for five years in the K-Life chapter located in Columbia, Missouri. When I started there in 2004, I never could have imagined that the Lord would expand my heart to love a community of people so deeply.
As of July 2009 I joined the FSM team as The Mix Women’s Director here at Fellowship. I feel so blessed to be a part of such an incredible and authentic church and team! I love middle school students, walking through life with them, and leading my 242 group of 7th grade girls!
FSM Program Director
Chris Wheeler passionately communicates the truths of God’s Kingdom in fresh, simple and creative ways. His zest for life, zany caricatures, and living biblical monologues make the Bible come to life. Add to this his various sound effects and beat-box skills and you have a wild-haired people-magnet creating a memorable environment for the teaching of God’s Word.
Wheeler, as his friends call him, has a personal life message of grace that is inspired by his own journey through the spiritual bondage of legalism. Though his relationship with Jesus began when he was five years old, he often felt like God was somehow disappointed in his performance and that he could never quite be good enough for God. Through his relationship with his wife Lindsey, the encouragement of his friends, and God’s relentless pursuit of him, Wheeler’s eyes were opened to inexhaustible grace. Today, Wheeler wants people to know just how much God loves them and desires a relationship with them. Christianity is far more than another religion; it is the adventure of being a “little-Christ.” With energy, emotion, and deep conviction, Wheeler challenges people to become who God made them to be.
According to Wheeler, his wife Lindsey is the greatest woman on the planet and undoubtedly his best friend. In October of 2008 Chris and Lindsey welcomed their baby girl, Eliana Hope home from Guatemala! Eliana just turned two years old and is the perfect combination of her Dad’s silliness and her Momma’s sass! Chris and Lindsey plan to start their second adoption soon!
Wheeler’s favorite quote is by missionary martyr Jim Elliot, “Wherever you are, be all there. Live to the hilt every situation you believe to be the will of God.”
Chris Wheeler graduated from Oklahoma Baptist University with a degree in Bible and a minor in family psychology. His ministry experience includes six summers at Kanakuk Kamps (K-7), attending the Focus on the Family Institute in Colorado Springs, CO, serving as Student Minister with Cleburne Bible Church in Cleburne, TX, and speaking at Girls of Grace and Brio Conferences. Wheeler is currently the Student Ministry Director of Programs for Fellowship Bible Church, Brentwood, TN.
FSM Worship Pastor
I was born on February 4th in Dallas, Texas and I grew up just north of there in Richardson Texas. I'm 43 years old and ever since I can remember, I have had a passion for music. Everything turned into a guitar in my hands …tennis rackets, baseball bats and sticks, whatever. God planted that seed before He formed the earth. My translation of that passion was that I would become this rock star someday. God’s plan, however, was otherwise.
I graduated from The Art Institute Of Dallas in 1991. I was working at a studio in Dallas when I discovered I had a cyst the size of a golf ball in my middle ear that needed to come out yesterday. Although I accepted Christ in the seventh grade, I neglected the relationship I had with Christ up until I was faced with this possible life-threatening surgery. God used that surgery as a wake up call for me and caused me to take a look at the direction I was taking my life. I had to quit engineering due to the loss of hearing that occurred as a result of my surgery.
Through a series of events, I ended up at a Christian Camp in Tyler, TX, working as a pool-cleaning guy. I spent the next five years there learning and growing in my faith and restoring the relationship I had with my Savior. I committed my passion to music to Christ after that surgery.
I moved to Nashville after getting married to Amy in the spring of 1995. After being invited by J. Mac Brown, Amy and I first visited Fellowship Bible Church back in 1997 and never looked back. Although this is my “job,” this is my dream. I love working with the students in FSM and serving as their worship pastor is a joy and a privilege. I thank God every day for everything He is to me. He truly is worthy of our praise.
