Pastor Wilkerson became a member of his local church’s youth committee in Humboldt, TN at the age of 12 and later served as youth director in this congregation for three years. He & his wife, Erica, later moved to Cookeville, TN to become student pastor, a position they held for four years.
While serving in his other roles, Pastor Wilkerson also has served as an assistant to the pastor, worship leader, service leader, sound technician, drummer, and drama director. He also has experience in social media, digital marketing, teaching in the prison system in Tennessee, and has owned two businesses. Pastor Wilkerson is also an ordained minister in the United Pentecostal Church International and has held multiple positions in the Tennessee District of this organization. He currently serves as the Sr. Bible Quizzing Coordinator for the Michigan District of the United Pentecostal Church International, and he is often asked to work as a guest quizmaster for tournaments out of state, including the national finals each year. Pastor Wilkerson was elected as Senior Pastor of Life Christian Church on January 31, 2021.
The Wilkersonās have four children: Eden, Canaan, Judah and Selah.
Pastor Wilkerson became a member of his local church’s youth committee in Humboldt, TN at the age of 12 and later served as youth director in this congregation for three years. He & his wife, Erica, later moved to Cookeville, TN to become student pastor, a position they held for four years.
While serving in his other roles, Pastor Wilkerson also has served as an assistant to the pastor, worship leader, service leader, sound technician, drummer, and drama director. He also has experience in social media, digital marketing, teaching in the prison system in Tennessee, and has owned two businesses. Pastor Wilkerson is also an ordained minister in the United Pentecostal Church International and has held multiple positions in the Tennessee District of this organization. Pastor Wilkerson was elected as Senior Pastor of Life Christian Church on January 31, 2021.
The Wilkersonās have four children: Eden, Canaan, Judah and Selah.
David D. Stephens became the Pastor of what was then known as Eastside Apostolic Church in 1971 ā the same year he graduated from Michigan State University. He was the pastor while still single ā and provided transportation to and from Church to his small congregation. David Stephens is the son and grandson of men who founded and pastored churches in the mid-Michigan area for over 70 years. He himself pastored in Lansing for over 49 years. Before becoming a full-time pastor, he worked several years as a social worker in the areas of Emergency Services, Child Protective Services and Family Services.
He served Life Christian Church as the senior pastor until January 2021 when Bro. Jared Wilkerson was voted in as senior pastor. He was a consummate shepherd and continues to be active as a bishop, going out of his way to touch every member, guest, and the surrounding community. Bishop Stephens is married to Kathryn Roberts Stephens, and has two sons, David and Nathanael Stephens, as well as a daughter-in-law, Alani Stephens, and grandson, Caleb Stephens.
Alani began serving as our office secretary in November 2019. She is highly organized and enjoys helping meet the needs of our members as well as others in the community.
She manages the day-to-day operations of the church office, works with church finances, and maintains church records. Her responsibilities also include: bookkeeping, accounts receivable/payable, church calendar publications, rental of facilities, and scheduling events and meetings. Alani is married to David J Stephens and together they have a son, Caleb Stephens.
Mike does a great job keeping up with all the needed work that needs to be done around the church. He was a mechanic for 8 years and received his degree in the automotive field from Ferris State University.
He also worked at General Motors for a number of years as an emissions tester for the engineering department. Mike is our go-to handyman when something breaks or needs to be replaced. This is definitely an important and needed department!
Sis. Wilkerson has worked with childrenās ministry for the last 10 years and has a passion for teaching them on their level and helping them to know Jesus better. With four children of her own, training up children āin the way they should goā is personal for her. Sis. Wilkerson supervises a childrenās church team that breaks the truths of Godās Word down so children can understand them. The childrenās church program occurs simultaneously with our Sunday 11 AM service.
Rachel is the supervisor for the Sunday morning nursery. She loves children and does an excellent job watching over our babies! She is in charge of recruiting volunteers to help staff the nursery weekly, on a rotational basis.
Stop in and meet her and our Nursery staff any Sunday morning!
The Nursery is open for children 3 months old to 30 months old. This is available to parents on Sundays during the 11 AM worship service.
Alistair has been a faithful member at Life Christian Church since 2012 and became involved in the youth department right away.
In the summer of 2020, Alistair stepped up to become Lifeās head youth leader when God called him and gave him a passion to reach out to today’s youth. He believes in instructing the younger generation about who God is and how much he loves us.
Some other activities that our youth participate in are:
You can find out about these various activities by contacting the church office at 517-394-5433, by sending us an email through the ācontact usā option on the website or through our youth Facebook page (Ignite 517 Youth).
Children ages 5-11 and young people ages 12-18 learn portions of the Bible each year. Competitions are held on local, state and national levels. Participants can often quote approximately 170-550 verses of scripture.
Life Connections assists with helping guests learn more about the church and assimilating into full members, if they are willing. Life Connections includes introducing them to the leaders and ministries of the church, teaching them Biblical salvation, instructing them in how to grow in their walk with God and assisting them with finding their ministry.
Ethan got involved in Bible Quizzing at the age of 11 and stayed with it until he was no longer eligible at age 18.
He has a passion for the word of God and memorizing scriptures and he is now the coordinator for Bible Quizzing at Life Christian Church.
Hyphen is for young adults ages 18-35. The goal of this group is to bring together the college and career aged group for fellowship, fun and a time of growth and knowledge in our relationship with God.
David has been leading the Hyphen group since 2014 and his wife Alani joined him in leading it in 2016. This group meets every Friday at 7pm.
Silvia is an expert cook with a love and willingness to serve. She coordinates the dinners and luncheons that are held for special occasions and holidays. Silvia, her husband Robert, and our wonderful kitchen staff prepare dinners/desserts monthly as church fundraisers. They also prepare the food for our monthly Pastors Breakfast.
The food they serve is excellent!! You donāt want to miss our fundraisers and luncheons!
Pastor & Sis. Wilkerson are a wonderful team, working together to make sure all guests and current members are taken care of. Their goal is to give opportunities for anyone desiring to learn more to have access to all of Life Christian Church’s classes and to participate in Bible studies and mentorship programs we offer.
The Wilkersonās work alongside our greetersā staff to make sure all guests that attend our services feel welcomed. They also try to keep track of attendance records, follow up and much more concerning our attendees.
Dave has a desire to see anyone who desires to be in church in the pew. He makes this happen practically through in his leadership in the van ministry. He also leads our ushers in greeting and seating our guests, receiving the offering, maintaining order, monitoring our parking lot and facilities, and addressing any special needs of our guests. Our ushers love to serve and will help answer any questions you may have about the location of things in our building.
Austin has been involved in our IT department for over 8 years and went to Lansing Community College to study computer software and hardware. Austin oversees the audio/sound team which monitors and adjusts the mix of instruments, singers, and speakers. He also leads our projection team in projecting song lyrics and Scriptures, playing video clips in our church services, and updating our projection announcement slides. He further works with David J. Stephens in producing our livestream.
Nathanael is a very talented singer and musician that we are blessed to have lead our worship team. He started learning how to play the piano at the age of 6, undergoing classical training until the age of 18 years old. He then underwent jazz training during his college years. Nathanael has been playing piano ever since.
Kathryn is a Limited Licensed Certified Counselor with a focus on marriage and family therapy. She owns her own counseling practice called āLifepoint Counseling.ā She and her staff offer direction to anyone who wants to improve their marriag; and support to anyone who is suffering from the effects of a divorce. Both adults and children are welcome.
Lifepoint also offers individual counseling on a plethora of other needs.
