Meet the team

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Pastor Todd W. Garren

I am so blessed to have been reared in a Christian home by a loving mother who made sure I was in church, even when she was working. I came to faith in Christ at age eight and was baptised at ten.
I was not as faithful to Christ as I should have been during my teenage years, but God never took His hand off of my life. I surrendered to the call of vocational ministry at twenty-two and graduated from Fruitland Baptist Bible College, SouthEastern Baptist Bible College, and SouthEastern Baptist Theological Seminary. While attending seminary, I served as an Associate Pastor, Youth Minister, as well as a Pastor. During my first pastorate, I met my wonderful wife, Wanda Powell Garren. After we married and I graduated, we took our next pastoral appointment at Antioch Baptist Church in Lincolnton. During our nine years there God blessed us with two amazing children, Maleigh and Judson. We were asked to come to Piney Grove and supply while the current pastor was receiving cancer treatment. I agreed and we haven't left yet.
In those glorious years since, we have seen God do incredible things. The Body of Christ has grown in numerous ways. God and His people have been so faithful. We are loved, appreciated, and I hope still needed. I can only imagine the great things God is going to do in the coming years.
-Pastor Todd

Jonathan Toney - Chairman of the Deacons

God blessed me with two wonderful, Godly parents who began to bring me to Piney Grove when I was a little over one year old. I received Christ and was baptized when I was around twelve years old at Piney Grove. There are many former and current members of Piney Grove that have had a great Godly impact on my life as growing up. I have carried a great deal of what was taught to me during my childhood at Piney Grove into and through my adult life. I began to date and later married a wonderful Godly woman named Tabitha and after being away from Piney Grove for several years our family was led back. The Piney Grove family has had a tremendous impact on my family. While attending both of our kids, Justin and Caroline, received Christ and were baptized. Tabitha has been able to serve in several different areas, which has helped her grow in her faith and relationship with Christ. Through our wonderful Piney Grove family, I am challenged and encouraged to continue to grow in my walk with Christ.
It has also been truly amazing to see what God has done at Piney Grove over the last several years. We have such a Godly group of people that has a heart for God and has a genuine love for one another. It is an absolute blessing to serve and be a part of what God is doing here and I look forward to seeing God at work and how He is going to use Piney Grove in the years to come.

Bradley Armstrong - Minister of Music

I was raised in a Christian home and grew up surrounded by Godly family members that shared with me their passion for gospel music. I cut my teeth on the pews of a small town church of God where I attended for seventeen years. It was at that very church that I gave my heart to God as a young boy. My greatest inspiration, by far, is my father. He showed me how to use my talents for God's glory and to never settle for anything less. To me, music has always been more than sounds or words on a page. Music is a release where I connect on a personal level with my Heavenly Father. My wife and I visited Piney Grove Baptist Church at the age of seventeen in 2008. After a few visits, their current minister of music, Dan Ballard, asked me to consider taking over as worship leader. After many hours of prayer the following weeks, I surrendered to the call of ministry. It has truly been an honor and a blessing to see God work in this church. My wife and I have since been married and raise our three children at Piney Grove.