Leadership & Staff

Pastor Menikoff began his ministry at Mount Vernon in June 2008. He is a Ph.D. Candidate in American church history at the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary where he received his M.Div in biblical and theological studies. Aaron’s heart is for the church and he seeks to live under the authority of Christ and His Word. Aaron serves as a lead writer on expositional preaching for 9Marks Ministry, a resource for pastors that is committed to healthy church life. He has written for The Kairos Journal, an online journal for pastors and taught literature and writing for high school students at the Dorothy Sayers Classical School. Aaron previously served as a pastoral assistant and elder at Capitol Hill Baptist Church in Washington, DC, and as interim pastor and elder at Third Avenue Baptist Church in Louisville, KY. Prior to this, he worked as a legislative assistant for U.S. Senator Mark O. Hatfield. Aaron and his wife, Deana, have three children, Rachel, Jonah, and Natalie.

Fun Fact:
Aaron’s hobbies include jogging, NBA basketball, and sword-fighting with his kids.

After completing an MBA in 1985 and finishing his commitment to complete a marketing project for Montreat College, Bryan joined the staff of Mount Vernon on July 1, 1987. Initially hired to manage the business administration and take over the recreation ministry, Bryan was quickly assigned the task of working with Joe Dewberry and the building committee in a major construction project adding 40,000 square feet of new space which included a new worship center. That project was completed in December 1988. Bryan was ordained to the ministry in 1991 and shortly after that he began to get more directly involved in missions. In 1995, the position of Minister of Missions was added to his responsibilities. Bryan loves to reach people and has a passion for theology and doctrine. His current responsibilities are in the areas of business administration, Missions and singles ministry. Bryan has a wife, Paige, and five children, Rachel, Sarah, Preston, Nathan and Richard. His hobbies are reading, softball and sailing and he enjoys hanging with friends and is always up for a “road trip”.

Fun Fact:
Bryan has lost luggage in over 10 countries and has only had problems with police in nine countries. He is not really fluent in any language and his last major “road trip” was a 260 nautical mile sailing trip down the coast of NC and SC (without charts or maps).

David Carnes began serving at Mount Vernon in December 1978, the same month he and Tricia married. They have two sons, Christopher (23) and Patrick (20). As Associate Pastor/Pastoral Administration/Music Associate, David plays piano, arranges for and leads the praise team and praise band, accompanies the choir, collaborates with other staff in planning worship, and tracks and communicates pastoral needs among Sunday School classes, deacons and prayer ministry of the church.

Pianist, arranger and recording artist, David has been described as “a poet at the piano.” His passion is for the Spirit of God to use his music to touch and encourage the hearts of his listeners. David presents concerts and leads worship with his wife Tricia, accompanies extensively (including Sons of Jubal and other ministries of the Georgia Baptist Convention), teaches seminars on arranging and interpretation, does studio work and coaches. His piano recordings include Grammy-nominated The Refreshing, The Journey, A Journey Back, A Christmas Journey and A Romantic Journey, and he and Tricia have recorded A Journey Together. David, Tricia and son Patrick are passionately involved in working with orphans and street children in Ukraine.

Fun Fact:
Since he began playing piano at age three, David has had the opportunity to play in 37 states and 15 countries (not that anyone's counting).

Brad was born in Florence, AL, but claims the small East Tennessee town, Morristown, as home. It was in Louisville where he met Candace and the two married in July 2003. He came to Louisville in the Winter of 2002 to complete his bachelor of arts in Biblical Studies at Boyce College, the undergraduate school of the Sothern Baptist Theological Seminary. Prior to receiving his B.A. in the Spring of 2006, he completed an A.S. in Business Management from Walter State Community College in the Fall of 2001. Prior to being called to Mount Vernon, he was a sales representative at Verizon Wireless. He and Candace live in Marietta with their two girls, Olivia and Eva, and are awaiting the arrival of their third child (and yes, it's another girl).

Ladies and Gentleman, Mount Vernon Baptist Church proudly presents... Bethany! A South Georgia girl, from Sylvester, GA, the peanut capitol of the world, Bethany moved to Atlanta in 2004 to pursue a career at Mount Vernon Baptist Church in the area of Children's Ministry. She graduated from Shorter College in 2003 with a Bachelors degree in Music Education with an emphasis in Voice. She loves working with kids because they're so much fun!

Fun Fact:
Bethany could eat ice cream every day and be happy . . . or be a Disney Princess . . . either/or!

Chip is passionate about connecting people to Christ through adventure and recreation. In September 2001, he left his corporate job and joined the MVBC team to pursue this passion. The vision of his ministry is to use creative leisure activities as opportunities to build relationships with people of common interest. From these relationships, the hope is to exemplify solid sportsmanship and Christian character and gain access to share God's word.

Fun Fact:
To earn a little extra money in high school, Chip helped his mother bake and decorate cakes.

Boo has been a member of Mount Vernon since 1990 and on staff since 1992. She was serving as a volunteer answering the phones two mornings a week when the Education Secretary left to go back to school. Boo went on staff in that position and has been serving since 1993 as the assistant to the senior pastor.

Boo is married to wonderful Wayne Elliott. They have four children and two grandchildren, Melissa and Lydia. Son Jeff recently received his Masters in City and Regional Planning from Clemson University and is now working in Bennington, Vermont. Daughter Jensen is an attorney in Columbus, Georgia.

Fun Fact:
Boo loves to cook and collect recipes. In 2000, she printed her first cookbook, Boo¹s Best Bites. Hundred of copies are now spread all over the United States and even to Canada. Her second cookbook, Boo¹s 2nd Helping, was completed in the fall and copies sold like hotcakes at our Foundations Fair in October.

Jacob was born in Lilburn, GA and graduated from Leavell College of the New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary, attending both the Atlanta and New Orleans Campuses. He married Jane on June 16, 2008. He is currently attending the Atlanta Campus of the New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary, pursuing a Master of Divinity. Jacob has served in Atlanta as a Youth Intern and served as an interim Youth Minister in southern Louisiana. Jacob has a passion for Theology and Church History, as well as studies of antiquity.

Fun Fact:
Jacob has a twin sister, who is two minutes younger and looks nothing like him.

Bert was born in Augusta, GA, but has lived in Atlanta since he was 11, so it is where he calls home. He became interested in audio and video through his work in the Mount Vernon youth group and subsequently went to Georgia State University and received a B.A. in Film and Video in May of 2008. He has been working at the church as a sound technician since summer or 2000 and continues to do so. Bert began working in the church office in August of 2008, and the rest of the staff haven't chased him off yet.

Fun Fact:
Bert enjoys doing sound (believe it or not) as well as playing drums, and is still trying to figure out a way to do both at the same time.

Anne grew up in a suburb of Akron, Ohio. She ventured down south only to see her grandparents at their vacation home in Montreat, North Carolina. They were incredibly fun summers so when she grew up she decided to attend a small Liberal Arts college in Montreat, NC. After two years she decided to stay at Montreat-Anderson where she got a BS Degree in Business with a minor in Accounting. While at Montreat she met her husband Scott, an incredible soccer player, who was recruited by none other than Bryan Pillsbury, her current boss. It was Bryan who brought Anne to Mount Vernon Baptist to help him with his new job as Business Administrator. After 19 years, she is still here at Mount Vernon, and with a little time off to have children, she wouldn’t have planned it any other way. Anne’s home is in Marietta, Georgia. She is married to Scott, has three children, a dog and cat. When not working she loves to spend time with her family relaxing at the pool, gardening and antiquing.

Fun Fact:
Accounting is really NOT one of Anne’s favorite things!