Former Elder Testemonies

It was both an honor and an humbling experience to have been chosen to serve as elder/shepherd at Otter Creek church for several years. I was very blessed to be included in a group of Godly servant leaders who committed themselves to the care of God’s people through prayer and the guidance of the Holy Spirit. Some of those same men are still serving today with our current shepherds. I’m thankful for all of them and praise God for their leadership.

I have many pleasant memories of my time as a shepherd – too many to recount here – but it was a time of spiritual growth for me, and I’m grateful for that. One church activity that the elders, ministers, and a representative cross-section of members (young, old, married, single, etc.) participated in was evaluation / planning study over several months wherein, with much prayer and the Bible as our guide, we looked at ourselves critically in terms of strengths and weaknesses and tried to determine where God was leading us a a body of His people. I believe God blessed us during that period and enabled us to build upon some of our strengths and eliminate some weaknesses to show us a better direction for spiritual growth and service. And, perhaps the most important result of the study is that the elders became more deliberate in soliciting prayer needs from members and spending much more time praying for the specific needs of our church family. Our shepherds and ministers continue to bless us all in this way every week, for which I’m very thankful.

I pray that God will help us to choose those men who should be our servant leaders at this time, and that they will be prompted by the Holy Spirit to commit to serve. I also pray that we all will encourage and pray for them continually, and that God will be honored and glorified by this family of believers as we try to walk with Jesus.

Jim McAlister

Elder Testimonies

Living then, as every one of you does, in pure grace, it's important that you not misinterpret yourselves as people who are bringing this goodness to God. No, God brings it all to you. The only accurate way to understand ourselves is by what God is and by what he does for us, not by what we are and what we do for him.
Romans 12:3 (MSG)

Don’t we feel good when we do something holy and good? You know, throw that check in the plate, drink the wine and eat the bread, go to Sunday school, or show up for small group. Every time I read this scripture I am convicted about my desire to bring goodness to God when he only wants to bring it to me.

We could feel good about our very spirit-led, democratic process for electing shepherds or we could just recognize that God brings it all to us. When we do the latter, participation becomes an act of worship and we recognize that “raising up” Elders is act of thankfulness for the blessings of leadership and acknowledgement that God is working in the body at Otter Creek.

Steve Giddens

Member Testimonies

A few years after I came to Otter Creek, I was unemployed for a period of time. One Sunday morning, Charlie Armstrong, one of our elders who was also known as the “Candy Man”, came to me and asked if he could talk to me for a minute. We sat down at the front of the building and Charlie told me that he understood that I didn’t have a job, and he wanted to know if Otter Creek could help financially or in other ways. I told him that between my savings, my parents and my brother that I was okay financially, but that I appreciated him asking. He then said, “Paulette, don’t ever be embarrassed to tell us that you need help – that’s why we’re here.”

I didn’t know Charlie very well before that time, but I knew that day that he was a great Christian man and wonderful elder. I’ll never forget Charlie and his wonderful caring way of telling me that the folks at Otter Creek loved me and wanted to help me. I knew then that Otter Creek was the place that I wanted and needed to be, and I still feel that way 25 years later.

Paulette Fewell

I have been taking care of sick kids since 1990 from Saint Jude’s, LeBonheur, T. C. Thompson’s Children’s, UT Knoxville, Saint Thomas to Vanderbilt, but in all of those years I have never experienced what happened the night of Nathan Fite’s accident. I rushed to the surgical suite at Vanderbilt’s Children’s Hospital where I go to find Phil and Patti, but instead I find every one of our Elders that I knew, Tim Woodroof, and Tony Arnold on knees huddled around Phil in a private room. This wasn’t just an appearance, they stayed at his side, and at times they held Phil up and steadied him. The other doctors, nurses and staff knew that this was something very special as God’s power was revealed. The Elders made sure that Phil, Patti, Bailey and Nathan all understood that they were there with them and for them. They took each step that Nathan took, and now see him run!!! I have never been prouder of my church, our Elders and in awe of my God.

Tim Mangrum