Pastoral Staff

Tiger truly enjoys preaching and teaching the gospel. He enthusiastically invites listeners into the experiential world of Jesus and all of the characters of the New Testament so that we might meet Jesus again for the first time or as Phillip Yancey says, meet the "Jesus I never knew." Tiger believes our relationship with God begins by grasping just how much God loves us and grows as we understand the depth of His love. He believes in keeping things simple. Let's just love God and love people.  

Tiger, his wife Cynthia, daughter Kristi and son T.J. were called here from Richmond, Kentucky, where they served for eight years. Being from Kentucky, Tiger is an avid Kentucky Wildcat basketball fan. Cynthia is an RN, but has embarked on a new career as a personal wellness coach. Kristi is self-employed as a personal wellness coach also. T.J. is a seventh grader and loves baseball and plays golf and basketball as well.  

Tiger and his family are down-to-earth, fun-loving people who love following Jesus and serving his church.

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Mike was born in Louisville, Kentucky while his father was attending Southern Seminary. He grew up in Louisville, Warrensburg, Missouri and Springfield, Missouri. He is a graduate of Missouri State University. He served a church in Springfield for 3 years and a church in Vero Beach, Florida for 9½ years. Mike came to FBC-NKC in April 2001. He enjoys watching and participating in sports of all kinds. He also plays the guitar. Mike and his wife, Martha, have two daughters, Hannah and Haley.

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Kevin joined the staff of First Baptist Church in June 2002. He has degrees from William Jewell College, Southern Seminary, and Northern Seminary. As an avid sports fan, Kevin enjoys rooting for professional teams that reside in a city on the eastern side of Missouri, as well as the college teams of good ole Mizzou. He also enjoys reading and taking in the arts scene of Kansas City. His wife, Christy, is an elementary music educator in the North Kansas City School District. She enjoys floral gardening and rubber stamping.

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Nearly every picture of Vivian Howell as a little girl portrays her with a baby doll in her arms. Perhaps those snapshots were a foreshawdowing of her present-day love of children. Working with children and having them respond brings great joy to Vivian. She has come to believe kids are worth whatever it takes to love and nurture them into the Kingdom of God. As Children's Pastor, she warmly welcomes the younger set (birth through 5th graders) to a place where they can get to know our awesome God.

Vivian holds an education degree from Auburn. For over 20 years, she has worked with preschool-age children in church and preschool programs. Now she finds great fulfillment in being the children's pastor.

Vivian's husband, James, is retired from the U.S. Army. They have lived in a variety of localities in the States and abroad. After a second career as a high school teacher, James is currently a young adult librarian.

Vivian and James have three grown sons, two lovely daughters-in-law, a daughter-in-law-to-be and two grandchildren. Besides spending time with family, Vivian enjoys reading, handwork and quilting, and trying out new recipes.

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Our small groups' guy is Mike Parrett. He is on mission to connect people with Christ and other believers. He believes that small groups are a great way to experience Jesus Christ and life together. Mike is a long-time member of FBC and serves as a bivocational minister, working part of the time as an instructor at Kansas City Kansas Community College and part of the time as our assosicate pastor of education. Mike and his wife, Linda, are social gads -- always up for a party. Their home is a haven for parties and fellowship. They have two children in college.

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Spencer is a member of FBC since childhood and is crazy about books, music, and films. He serves part time as our associate pastor of missions and also as an administrator for the International Institute for Christian Studies (IICS). He has worked with multiple missional outreach activities and church starts over the years including stints with students, immigrants and low-income communities in urban Boston; with war refugees in Mali; as a missionary for 7 years in Bulgaria with the IMB; and directing the international activities of the American Academy of Family Physicians. He has traveled to over 35 countries and is fluent in Bulgarian. He holds degrees from the University of Missouri-Kansas City, Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary and the University of Kansas. Spencer's wife, Leslie, is a hospital chaplain for Heartland Health in St. Joseph and an avid blogger. They have two children: Emmanuelle, who is in kindergarten and is active in Christian Youth Theater (CYT) and loves all things "princess," and Ian, who was born in February 2009, loves anything that he can put in his mouth.

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A native of Nicaragua, Luis has been involved with church planting since 1992. After being ordained to the preaching ministry in 1997, Luis received a Bachelor of Arts degree from Hannibal-LaGrange College, Hannibal, Missouri in 2002. In 2007, he received a Master of Divinity degree from Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. He is currently enrolled in the Doctoral of Ministry program through Midwestern. Luis and his wife, Judi, have four young boys: Jacob, Caleb, Josiah and Pablo.

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