Don Barnes, Senior Pastor
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Don and Linda Barnes embrace Christian service with every fiber of their beings. He has served Lawton First Assembly since 1991—seven years as associate pastor, and now almost 12 years as senior pastor. Don has a pastor’s heart, administrative gifts and a passion for sharing the gospel of Jesus Christ with everyone he meets—going beyond the walls of the church to the community, the state, the nation and the world. Linda loves to minister to children, especially preschoolers, and a heart for worship. They have two married young adult children: Heather, who is married to Siddharth Chatterjee, and Brent, who is married to Lindsay. The Barnes also welcomed their first granddaughter, Alyssa Rani Chatterjee, in January 2010.
Gary and Debbie Pratt, Adult Ministries
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Gary and Debbie Pratt live life full-on with a soul-stirring love for God and a desire to see His purpose unleashed in the lives of people. Gary is a gifted communicator and teacher. He and his wife oversee the Pastoral Care, the Outreach, the Care Pastor and the Adult Ministries.
Additionally, Debbie is head of Women’s Ministries, which includes the successful Girlfriends ministry. Her desire is to encourage women to love God with their whole lives, hunger for His Word and live confidently in the unique gifts and strengths He has given them.
Before Lawton, both served as Singles pastors at Trinity Church in Cedar Hill, Texas, and Chickasha, Okla. Gary also has a background in teaching. His degree from Northeastern University in Tahlequah, Okla., is in Math and Chemistry.
Gary and Debbie have been married 32 years, and they have three married children: Jason and Cindy Watkins, Adolfo and Shanda Patterson, and Matt and Lisa Pratt. They also have 3 beautiful grandchildren: Megan, Neely and Cinco.
Greg and Denice Erway, Worship Pastor
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Greg remembers sitting in a practice room at college asking God to help him play a simple worship tune. With little musical ability and no ministry experience, he knew God needed to take over in order to accomplish the call placed on his life. Looking back on that pivotal day, he never ceases to be amazed that he’s here…doing this! Greg has served as LFA’s Worship Arts Pastor since 2003.
Greg doesn’t take himself too seriously. He enjoys using his own personal, and often humorous, experiences to encourage and inspire others to be fully used by God. If you want to see Greg’s eyes light up just ask him about getting to provide an atmosphere in which people can experience God. Greg’s contagious enthusiasm for worship sets the tone for Sunday morning services.
Greg and his wife Denice love working together in life and ministry. Denice homeschools their three artsy kids. “Our home is rarely quiet, and there is usually someone waiting their turn at the piano,” says Denice.
After completing a bachelor’s degree in Church Music, Greg went on to earn a master’s degree in vocal music at University of Central Oklahoma. God is using Greg’s varied interests and life experiences to enable him as he leads this dynamic ministry.
Matt Weiszbrod, Sr. High Youth Pastor
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Matt lives his life for his students. Building student relationships is the heartbeat of his life and ministry. Matt graduated from Southwestern Assemblies of God University with a bachelors degree in Church Planting and Revitalization. Many people joke with him, asking about the cobwebs in his office, and his reply is, “Students don’t live in my office; I live in theirs.” Matt’s passion is to see his students grow to the point in Christ where they can be self-sufficient. Matt is currently single, but is willing to consider the right applicant.
Heath Correlas, Jr. High Youth Pastor
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The motto Heath lives by is, “Love God, love people, and the rest will be taken care of.” He was born and raised in Lawton. He spent two years under the direction of youth ministry specialist Jeanne Mayo at Masters Commission, Atlanta, Ga., and had an up-close mentorship under Jamie Austin here at Lawton First.
God uses Heath to be a voice, not an echo, in his students’s lives. He believes that middle school students are at the most influential age of their lives, at a key point in the journey of trying to figure out who they are.
On a lighter note: he is a die-hard Dallas Cowboys fan and absolutely loves the OU Sooners. Heath’s pet peeve is when people tell him about the outcome of a game he recorded. Other than that, he is a pretty easygoing guy.
Greg and Paula Ruple, Children’s Pastor
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Greg and Paula love kids and have a great desire to show children God’s love. Called into ministry at an early age, Greg has dedicated his entire life toward reaching kids for Christ and equipping them for life’s greatest journey.
Greg and Paula met at Central Bible College in Springfield, Mo., and have been in children’s ministry for more than a decade. They have three children, Cade, Brynn and Paige. They have been on staff at Lawton First since November 2007.
Lacey Jaeger, Early Childhood Pastor
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Lacey is all about making a difference in children’s lives. After graduating from North Central University in May 2007, she came to Lawton First as our Early Childhood Pastor. As a young teen, Lacey knew God was calling her to reach kids for the sake of Christ, to help build a solid Biblical foundation in their lives so that they can stand as confident Christians. She believes children are our future, and we must invest in them as our leaders for the years ahead.
Until May 2007, Lacey called northeast Nebraska her home, and although her address has changed, her tie to the Nebraska football team has not. Go Huskers! When she’s not watching the Huskers, she enjoys playing all kinds of games and baking sweet stuff for her friends and family.
Matt Knisely, Director of Communications and Media
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Matt and Dana are very creative people, and as Director of Communications, Matt oversees all forms of communication media and technology at Lawton First. The Knisely’s grew up an ocean apart; Matt grew up in Pennsylvania and Dana grew up in Dublin, Ireland. They were married in December 2001 and joined the LFA team in 2008 after feeling the call to use their talents for the Kingdom. Matt and Dana have two awesome children.
Matt is a distinguished television photojournalist who has worked internationally and domestically in broadcast news. His work alone has won many honors, including: Associated Press Southwest Press Photographer of the Year; 17 Emmy Awards; 2 RTNDA Edward R. Murrow Awards and more than 70 Regional and National Awards.
Most recently he was the Director of Photojournalism for FOX News in Minneapolis where he mentored and led his staff to national honors, when the station was named runner-up as the National Press Photographers Association’s Station of the Year as one of the best stations in the country for television photography. Additionally, in 2007 and 2008, FOX Minneapolis became one of the most successful television stations in the country.