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How to know Jesus
Christ as Savior
Pastor Jim was called by the Board of Stewards and congregation of Greystone Bible Church to be Pastor in 2007 upon the retirement of Pastor Emeritus Tony Leonard. Before coming to Greystone in 2004 as the Pastor for Family Ministries, Pastor Jim served as chairman of the Pastoral Ministries Department of Grace Bible College, in Grand Rapids, MI. Prior to coming to Grace Bible Col-lege, he served as pastor of Community Bible Church in Tipp City, OH, and Trinity Bible Church in Savannah, GA.
Raised in a U.S. Coast Guard family (7 schools in 5 cities—from Norfolk VA to Honolulu, HA), Pastor Jim’s family was stationed in Mobile, AL, during his Junior and Senior years. His family attended Greystone Bible Church and he attended Jr. High at Greystone Christian School where he met his wife, Susan (Spence) while in the seventh grade (where Pastor Leonard was his home room teacher). Pastor Jim is a graduate of Bob Jones University (B.S. in 1976). After graduation, Pastor Jim was commissioned an officer in the United States Marine Corps where he became a Naval Aviator spending 7 years on active duty and 15 years in the United States Marine Corps Reserve before retirement in 1996.
After release from active duty, Pastor Jim earned his Masters degree (M.A.) from Capital Bible Seminary in Lanham, Maryland. He has been married over 30 years (1976) to Susan (Spence), niece of the late founder of Greystone Bible Church, Dr. Henry Grube. She is a media paraprofessional at Burns Middle School. Susan and Pastor Jim have two daughters—Kristin, a teacher in Tampa, FL, and mother of their two grandsons, Ben and Andrew—and Karin, the Crea-tive Director of an advertising agency near Detroit MI—and both daughters have wonderful Christian husbands (Kristin-Jimmy & Karin-Doug) they met while at-tending Christian colleges.
Pastor Jim serves as a volunteer chaplain for Mobile Infirmary Hospital West and is a member of several community veterans groups including the American Legion and Retired Military Officers Association. He has been a regional council representative and past vice-chairman of the Grace Gospel Fellowship and has taught graduate courses for the Things To Come Mission Philippine Pastors School in Ozamis City, Philippines.
Hobbies include:
golf; watching sports; reading history and historical fiction; music of all kinds (EXCEPT the noise called rap), gardening; gourmet cooking; bird watch-ing and feeding; flying-pilot (the cost involved and personal health matters have limited this hobby recently) and travel anywhere (especially with his wife).
Favorite movies:
The Wind and the Lion; The Hunt For Red October; and It’s A Wonderful Life; Mr. Smith Goes To Washington; Fireproof
Favorite TV shows:
StarGate series; Star Trek (any of them); Good Eats, Monk; and any of the good old mystery series (Matlock; Murder She Wrote; Diagnosis Murder; Perry Mason, etc)
What I'm reading:
God’s Power To Change Your Life (Rick Warren);
Washington’s Crossing (David Hackett Fischer)
Mentors:
Pastor Roger Anderson (retired pastor and past president of the GGF);
Dr. Thomas Edgar (who was one of my professors in seminary); and
CWO-4 James Healan Sr, USCG. (my late father).
Best Gift I Ever Received:
After My Salvation, my wife, Susan.
