Our Staff

ELLIOT GRUDEM

ELLIOT GRUDEM

Founder & President

Elliot is the founder and president of Leaders Collective. He has served as pastor of church planting at Vintage Church (Raleigh), director of the Acts29 Network and a pastor at Mars Hill Church (Seattle) and senior minister at Christ the King Presbyterian Church (Raleigh), a church he replanted. He also worked for an urban ministry in New Orleans. He worked for a Fortune 100 company prior to seminary. He is the editor of Christian Beliefs, a book he completed with his father, Wayne. Elliot holds degrees from Miami University (BA, History and English) and Reformed Theological Seminary (M.Div.). He and his wife Kacey live in Raleigh with their daughter.

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JEFF TOOMER

JEFF TOOMER

Director of Church Planting

Our church planter cohort is facilitated by a team of Leaders Collective alumni pastors. Jeff leads that team as our Director of Church Planting. He is the former pastor of Transit Church in Alexandria, VA a church he planted in 2012. Prior to that he served as director of operations and campus pastor for Manna Church in Fayetteville, NC. Jeff is a 20 year Army veteran, retiring as a lieutenant colonel to enter pastoral ministry. He is a 1988 graduate of West Point, and holds Masters Degrees in Counseling and Leader Development (1998, Long Island University) and Military Arts and Sciences (2002, Command and General Staff College, School of Advanced Military Studies). He and his wife Laryssa live in Alexandria, VA. They have three children.

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JOHN ELLIOTT

JOHN ELLIOTT

Partnership Director

John Elliott is the Partnership Director at Leaders Collective, facilitating the relationship between pastors, church planters, and churches and Leaders Collective. Himself a former pastor and alumni of a Leaders Collective pastor cohort, John now spends much of his time leading Uptapt Consulting, an organizational health firm he founded in 2017. He holds degrees from University of Illinois (BA) and Urbana Theological Seminary (MA). He and his wife Janelle live in Champaign, IL. They have four children.

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JIM COFFIELD

JIM COFFIELD

Mentor

Dr. Jim Coffield serves Leaders Collectives’ church planters and pastors as a mentor, primarily through counseling and spiritual formation. He is also on staff with Christ Covenant Church in Knoxville, TN as their Director of Adult Ministries and Counseling. Prior to that, he was a full-time professor at Reformed Theological Seminary He holds degrees from the University of Tennessee (B.A., M.A., Ph.D.) and is a licensed psychologist. He is married to Mona. They have three adult children and one grandchild. They live outside of Knoxville.

DAVE SCHUTTER

DAVE SCHUTTER

Mentor

Dave serves Leaders Collectives’ church planters and pastors, primarily through training, coaching, and pastoral care. He is currently the Senior Pastor of Northwest Presbyterian Church in Dublin, OH. He holds degrees from Miami University (B.A.), Covenant Theological Seminary (M.Div.), and Westminster Seminary (Th.M.). He and his wife Kim live in Dublin, OH. They have three children.

Our Board

GREG GIBSON

Gib is the Lead Pastor at Living Hope Church in Memphis, TN. Originally from Oklahoma, Gib has served at Living Hope since 2006. He is a huge fan of the Oklahoma Sooners and Memphis Grizzlies. He and his wife Jill have 3 children.

JUSTIN HOLCOMB

Justin is an Episcopal priest (serving as the Canon for Vocations in the Diocese of Central Florida) and teaches theology, philosophy, and Christian thought at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary and Reformed Theological Seminary. He previously taught at the University of Virginia and Emory University. Justin holds two masters degrees from Reformed Theological Seminary and a Ph.D. from Emory University. Justin authored or edited numerous books, including: Know the Heretics, Know the Creeds and Councils, On the Grace of God, and Christian Theologies of Scripture. He and his wife, Lindsey, are authors of Rid of My Disgrace: Hope and Healing for Victims of Sexual Assault and God Made All of Me. Justin serves on the boards of REST (Real Escape from the Sex Trade) and GRACE (Godly Response to Abuse in Christian Environments).

BILL WELLONS

Bill Wellons is a church planter, consultant and principal of Fellowship Associates. In 1977, Bill and his wife, Carolyn, helped found Fellowship Bible Church in Little Rock, where he served as a Teaching Pastor and Chairman of the Elder Board for thirty-two years. Bill transitioned to Fellowship Associates in 2005 to oversee the Leadership Residency for church planters, consult with church leaders, and train new Residency Directors. Bill has served as a Gallup Fellow and on the National Speaker Team for FamilyLife™ Marriage Conferences. He and Carolyn are authors of Getting Away To Get It Together (published by FamilyLife™) and Bill coauthored Unlimited Partnerships with Lloyd Reeb (a Broadman & Holman Publication). Joining with Dr. Robert Lewis, he helped develop The Great Adventure DVD series for Men’s Fraternity. Married in 1970, Bill and Carolyn have raised three children, all of whom have families of their own. The Wellons currently have nine grandchildren.

JOSH REITANO

Josh is the lead pastor of New City Church in Cincinnati, a church he planted in 2009. He holds degrees from Miami University (BA, MA) and Princeton Seminary (M.Div.). Before planting New City, he worked with CRU at the University of Leiden (NL) and North Cincinnati Community Church. He and his wife Paige live in Cincinnati with their two children.