Staff
Aaron Adams
Senior Pastor (Elder)
Aaron Adams received God's call to shepherd Bethel Baptist Church in 2019 after twelve years on the North Shore of Chicagoland. His highest priority is the Gospel of Jesus Christ, applied to every area of life, transforming people, families, churches, and communities for eternity. Aaron was rescued by Jesus at age 12, and continues to be amazed at the LORD's goodness to him. Aaron holds a BA in Religious Studies from Texas Christian University, and an MDiv from Trinity Evangelical Divinity School.
Aaron and Heather have been married since 2004 and have three daughters - Halina, Camille, and Kaila. Aaron and Heather love to cook together, share Christ-centered hospitality, and serve others.
Aaron Pendergrass
Associate Pastor of Youth (Elder)
Aaron Pendergrass grew up in a small town of about 1,000 on the outskirts of Jackson, TN. The Lord saved him in eighth grade and radically transformed his life, freeing him from life-dominating sin and imbuing in him a deep love for Scripture. Shortly thereafter he felt the tug of the Lord calling him to ministry.
Aaron went on to complete a B.S. in Christian Ministry at Bryan College in east Tennessee before moving to the suburbs of Chicago to study Systematic Theology at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School. He completed his M.A. in May 2020. Aaron is currently in the PhD program in Systematic Theology at Gateway Seminary in Ontario, CA. Aaron's passion is seeing Christ bring restoration to broken lives and helping people to discover the depths of Scripture. Aaron's hobbies include disc golf, fishing, playing drums, roasting and brewing specialty coffee, studying theology, and socializing with people.
Aaron and his wife Yasmin have been happily married since July of 2021, and recently welcomed their firstborn son, Philip, in October of 2023. Aaron and Yasmin enjoy providing hospitality and partnering together in various youth ministry activities.
Crandell Hemphill
Associate Pastor of Worship and Implementation (Elder)
Crandell and his wife, Caitlin, moved to Greeley in early 2023 after receiving the call to serve Bethel Baptist church in December 2022. God graciously redeemed him at the age of 5 and He has continued to prove his goodness and mercy over the course of Crandell’s life. Crandell is passionate about seeing Christ’s gospel shape the worship gathering of the local church, transform our lives in our families, relationships, and community, and restore the brokenness caused by sin. Crandell holds a BA in Pre-Seminary Studies and an Mdiv from Trinity Evangelical Divinity school and has been leading and studying worship for 11 years.
Crandell and Caitlin have been married since 2021 and love making music, extending hospitality, creating meals together, and enjoying delicious coffee with others.
Minda Sandstrom
Office Administrator
Minda moved to Colorado in 2011 and began attending Bethel the following year. After living in Upper Michigan and all over Wisconsin, Colorado's mountains, climate and people quickly won her heart. Minda and Pete have been married for 20 years. They are raising three active teen boys and Minda enjoys exploring many different Colorado towns as she follows them to football games, wrestling matches, track meets and basketball games.
Katie Stewart
Bookkeeper Secretary (part-time)
Katie is a retired teacher helping with office duties part time. She hails from Connecticut but has considered Colorado her home for the past 30+ years. Katie graduated from Bethel University with a BA in mathematics and taught at Dayspring Christian Academy for 28 years. She is married to David and they have 4 adult children and 8 grandchilden.
Susan Neeley
Office Assistant (part-time)
Susan has been a long-time member of Bethel as well as residing in Greeley. She is married to Cliff and has 4 grown children and many grandchildren. She has had experience working in a church office and is pleased to join the staff at Bethel.
Lay Elders
Lay Elder
Gary Kessler
Gary is a self-employed contractor in addition to being a member of Bethel for almost 30 years. He has been married to Pamela Kessler for 37 years. They have two grown children who are both members of Bethel and three grandchildren....soon to be four. Gary and Pam have been members of same life group for over twenty years and have served in the nursery, children's ministries, men's ministries, music ministry, and safety team.
Lay Elder
Jeff Casey
Jeff Casey grew up in Greeley and graduated from Platte Valley in Kersey. After graduating from Simpson College and marrying Joy, Jeff spent a couple of years youth pastoring in Redding, CA before moving back to Greeley. He taught middle school in Greeley and Kersey until he transitioned into administration. He is currently the principal at University High School. He loves his blessedly full home with two daughters, a niece, his wife, 2 chickens, a fish, and a (male!) dog. (Granted, the dog is a shih tzu poodle, but Jeff takes backup where he can get it.) He enjoys serving on Bethel's Youth Ministry team. He's also hoping that mid-life will be merciful and allow him to restart his amateur baseball career when his home is no longer quite so full.
Lay Elder
Daniel Clark
Daniel Clark has volunteered in many ministries at the church including nursery, middle school and high school youth group, small groups and men's ministry; but currently spends most of his time leading the Biblical Counseling ministry here at Bethel. He is married to Ashlie, and they are raising their three daughters and son on their farm east of Greeley.
Lay Elder
Dave Roberts
Dave Roberts was born and raised in Michigan. At the age of ten, his dad sold his business to become a Village Missions pastor where he pastored churches in rural Wisconsin and Ohio. Through his dad and mom's faithful ministry, Dave's passion for the local church was nurtured through seeing Christ's love lived out in community. Dave graduated from Grace College in Winona Lake, IN where his faith really became his own. Dave moved to Colorado after graduation and attended Bethel his first Sunday in the area. He has been an active member since that sunday in August of 1992. Dave met his wife, Christie, at Bethel and they were married there on New Years Eve of 1993. They are parents to three wonderful kids and are expecting their first grandchild in January of 2024. Dave loves sports, music, and spending time with his family in the mountains.
Lay Elder
Glenn McClain
Glenn McClain is originally from South Carolina where he became a follower of Christ at the age of 6. His family moved to Guatemala and then Florida before going to college in east Tennessee. His time at Bryan College was pivotal to his life as a Christ follower. He joined Bethel over 30 years ago with his wife Shawna, a lifelong Bethel member. Glenn and Shawna love to share the love of Christ by serving the Bethel body through hospitality. Glenn and Shawna have been married since 1987 and have three adult children.
Glenn is a retired superintendent of schools. Glenn served the Platte Valley School District in Kersey for 31 years. He refers to his work in retirement as his “retirement gigs” which include supporting district and school administrators as a consultant in school finance and district administration, and adjunct faculty at the University of Northern Colorado in Educational Leadership and Policy Studies. Glenn holds degrees from Bryan College, the University of Colorado- Boulder, and the University of Northern Colorado.
Glenn enjoys cooking with Shawna, gardening, traveling, and encouraging brothers and sisters in the faith community.
Lay Elder
Larry O'Reilly
Larry O'Reilly grew up in Kansas and Oklahoma. He graduated with a physics major from the USAF Academy and married his sweetheart Cherie while stationed in CA near her home in Fresno. After retiring, they moved to Colorado with their daughter Melinda and Larry completed an MDiv at Denver Seminary. After Larry served on staff at their church in Denver for seven years, they both taught in Christian K-8 schools for many years. They moved to Greeley to be close to their daughter and her family in 2021. Larry enjoys studying Scripture, teaching, and encouraging others as we grow together as disciples of Jesus Christ.