Dustin Butts

Dustin grew up in Lampasas, TX. He became a Christian as an undergraduate at Angelo State University. After college, Dustin spent a year working as a math teacher and then attended Southern Seminary in Louisville.After seminary, he spent two more years teaching math before moving to Atlanta and taking a grant administrator position at Georgia State University. Dustin joined the MVBC staff in March 2014. He and his wife, Jaime, have been members of Mount Vernon since 2011. They have three sons: Nathaniel, Timothy, and Daniel, and a daughter, Annie.

James Chiang

James grew up in Syracuse, NY.  He was blessed with faithful parents who shared and modeled the gospel from his earliest memory.  James became a Christian at an early age, was baptized as a teenager, and is trusting that He who began a good work will bring it to completion.  Since graduating from Duke University and receiving an MBA from the Kellogg School of Management, James has worked in management consulting and corporate strategy.  He married Ashley in 2014 and they have 2 daughters, Lauren and Lindsay.  Since joining MVBC in 2015, he has served as a teacher and covenant group leader.

Jim Heiskell

Jim grew up in Atlanta and came to faith in Christ as a college student through the ministry of Campus Crusade for Christ. He and his wife Connie have been married 50 years and have five children and seventeen grandchildren. He has been a member of Mount Vernon since 1999. Since joining, he has served as an adult Sunday school director, a teacher, and he formerly served as the elder chair.

Chad Ireland

Chairman

Chad’s parents were faithful to share the gospel with him throughout his childhood. Through their witness, and the faithful ministry of the local church, the Holy Spirit convicted Chad of his sin and need for Christ. He received a B.A. in Comprehensive Bible from Cedarville University where he met his wife Jennifer. Upon completion of a Masters of Divinity from Southern Seminary in 2007, the Lord called Chad to serve on staff at a church in Cumming, GA for over 8 years until the Lord brought him to Mt. Vernon. Chad and Jennifer have 5 children: Collin, Ainsley, Elijah, Noah, and Hannah and have been members at Mt. Vernon since the summer of 2016.

Aaron Menikoff

Aaron and his wife, Deana, came to Mount Vernon in June 2008. They have four children: Rachel, Jonah, Natalie, and Tori. They moved to Atlanta from Louisville, KY after Aaron completed his Masters of Divinity in Biblical and Theological Studies and his Ph.D. in American Church History from Southern Seminary.

Prior to pastoral ministry, Aaron worked as a legislative assistant to the late U.S. Senator Mark O. Hatfield. After leaving his career in politics, he went on staff and served as an elder at Capitol Hill Baptist Church in Washington, D.C. While in seminary, Aaron served as an elder and interim pastor at Third Avenue Baptist Church.

He is the author of Politics and Piety: Baptist Social Reform in America, 1170-1860 (Pickwick, 2014), and has contributed several articles to 9 Marks, The Gospel Coalition, Christianity.com, and the Kairos Journal. He is a visiting professor at Reformed Theological Seminary (Atlanta).

Aaron is the organizer and host of Feed My Sheep, an annual conference for pastors and church leaders in the Atlanta area. He also serves on the administrative team of the Greater Atlanta Baptist Network where he leads a monthly pastors fellowship.

Aaron’s full bio

Brad Thayer

Brad is from Morristown, a small town in East Tennessee. He was raised in a Christian home. He graduated from Boyce College with a Bachelor of Arts in Biblical Studies in 2006. Prior to receiving his B.A., he completed an A.S. in Agricultural Business from Walter State Community College. He and his wife Candace were married in 2003 and have four children: Olivia, Eva, Nadia, and Greyson. Brad serves as the Associate Pastor/Administration overseeing the church’s operations, finances, facilities, and other general pastoral duties.

Jeffrey Timmons

Jeffrey is from Sandy Springs. He was raised in a Christian home. He graduated from The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary with a Master of Divinity in 2018. Prior to receiving his M.Div., he completed a Bachelor’s degree in Finance and International Business from The University of Georgia. Jeffrey is currently working on a Ph.D. in Old Testament from The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. He and his wife Jaynie were married in 2017. Jeffrey serves as the Assistant Pastor/Missions and oversees the church’s missions, evangelism, and service of other churches.

Kevin Vaughter

Kevin grew up in the small town of Elberton, GA. He was blessed to grow up in a Bible-believing household. Kevin became a Christian his Senior year of high school. He went to the University of Georgia and graduated in 1995 with a degree in Risk Management. Kevin moved to Atlanta in 1996 to begin work with a large insurance company. He joined MVBC in 1998. By God’s grace, Kevin’s faith was deepened through a Systematic Theology class at MVBC. He has served as a teacher, Covenant Group leader, and is actively involved in the children’s ministry. Kevin is married to Leyna and they have three children: Braeden, Molly, and Reed.

Daniel Sanderson

Daniel grew up in St. Peters, Missouri, and moved to Marietta in high school. It was during high school that God saved Daniel, convicting him of his religious hypocrisy and showing him righteousness in the gospel. Daniel was then connected with Campus Outreach in college where he was discipled and later met his wife, Chelsea. They served as missionaries in Singapore and joined MVBC in 2015. In 2020, he completed MVBC’s Pastoral Internship and came on staff as the Operations & Facility Director in 2021. Daniel aspires to full-time pastoral ministry and is working on his M.Div. at Southern Seminary. Daniel and Chelsea have four young children: Remy, Mack, Winnie, and Fletcher.

Pat Knowles

Pat grew up in Birmingham, AL with the blessing of being introduced to God’s love and grace through Christian parents, grandparents, aunts, and uncles. At the age of 12, Pat professed faith in Jesus Christ after his eyes and heart were opened to the Gospel through a visiting missionary at church. Now in retirement, Pat embraces the additional time for discipling, counseling, leading, and being in God’s Word. He has served in various leadership positions at church including Sunday School Teacher, Equipping Matters Teacher, and Elder Chair. Pat and Mary Anne have been married for 50 years. They are blessed with two adult children and two grandchildren.

Garry Hill

Growing up in Atlanta, Garry was not raised in a Christian home and came to faith in Christ in his early 20’s. He and Laura have been married for 20 years and members of Mount Vernon for 7 years. During that time, Garry has enjoyed serving the church by teaching elementary students and adults, as Treasurer, Deacon, and as a Covenant Group leader. Garry and Laura have 2 children, Trey and Virginia.

David Roe

David grew up in Atlanta with parents who believed it important to be in church every week. Though baptized at 11, the Lord truly opened his eyes to the gospel and saved him when he was 14 while on a Christian retreat. Throughout high school and college David grew in the knowledge of God and His Word through various pastors and teachers. He was baptized as a believer his senior year of college. He married Charity while in medical school in 1998, and they have four children: Zachary, Emma Grace, John, and Benjamin. Since coming to Mount Vernon in 2012, David has served as a teacher, elder, and worship leader.