Meet the Staff
In an effort to facilitate the ministry of the entire church, we have called on a few members to work in a full-time (paid) capacity. Whether making church bulletins, counseling members, or planning children’s ministry curriculum, the staff enhances the collective ministry of First Baptist Church. Staff members each fill specific roles. The Pastoral staff members, made up of our Senior Pastors, Worship Pastor, and the Children’s Ministry workers, help the elders to shepherd the congregation. The Administrative staff oversees church finances and facilities. This group together provides an administrative backbone for the body of believers now covenanted together at First Baptist Church.
Thabiti Anyabwile, Senior Pastor, is a native of Lexington, North Carolina (U.S.). He is the happy husband of Kristie and the adoring father of two daughters, Afiya and Eden, and son, Titus. He began serving as elder/senior pastor in August 2006. He served previously as an elder/assistant pastor at Capitol Hill Baptist Church (Washington, DC) and as an elder at Church on the Rock (Raleigh, NC). Thabiti holds B.S. and M.S. degrees in psychology from North Carolina State University. A former high school basketball coach and bookstore owner, he enjoys preaching, reading, sports, and watching sci-fi films.
Meg Bodden, Administrative Assistant to the Pastoral Staff and Church family. Meg was born and grew up in Jamaica. She moved to Cayman with her family in 1987. Her mother’s family originally from Scotland had lived here since the 1940’s. Her grandfather came here with the Church of Scotland and was principal of the first high school in the Cayman Islands under the British system. Today one of the churches that were under his charge is named for him, John Gray Memorial Church in West Bay. She is blessed with two sons, Christopher and William, and enjoys the journey of growth as a parent. Her working years have been diverse; conference secretariats, hairdressing and cosmetology, duty free retail management, accounting, paper handling workshops, and when she was married, family businesses of heavy equipment and a restaurant. Her hobby and pastime is following her drivers in the NASCAR Nextel Cup and Busch Series. She took ballet as a girl for 11 years and loves all genres of music, stage muscials, trips to Headland AL, and her cats! God has placed her at FBC where she truly feels she belongs. More important than the administrative details she feels blessed to be available to those needing an encouraging ear and honest counsel.
Dr. Linda Cross, Principal of First Baptist Christian School, is a native of White Cloud, Michigan. She began serving as principal of FBCS in August 2005. The last 20 years she has been a principal of Christian schools in Michigan, Kentucky and Alabama. Dr. Cross holds a B.A. in Christian Education (Lee University), a M.A. in Christian Education (Wheaton College), and a Dmin. from Northern Baptist Theological Seminary. Her passion is to develop Christian leaders to become world changers and education is one platform to launch that endeavor. She enjoys coaching basketball, softball, volleyball, and teaching a Sunday school class.
Bobbi Flowers, Director of Children’s Ministries, hails from the Lone Star State. A graduate of Texas A and M University, (where she met her husband, Mike), she has called Cayman “home” for almost twenty years. She stays busy with children’s programs and homeschooling two of her three children. God has given her a lifelong love for reading; children’s books are her favourite reads and she looks for opportunties to teach from them! Her favourite pasttime is whiling away afternoons on the beach with her family.
Esther Hinds, WEE Care Director. Born in Grand Cayman, became a Naturalized US citizen on November 7, 1962. Blessed mother of four married sons, John in Kenner, La., Clive in Grand Cayman, Thomas in Pittsburgh, Pa., and Phillip in Grand Cayman. Proud “Gram” of five granddaughters and five grandsons. Served for thirty plus years as Preschool Director for FBC of Kenner, La. In August 1996, returned to Grand Cayman as Director of FBC WEE Care Centre. Enjoys working, reading, cooking, renewing family ties and visiting old friends. In the evenings it is lovely to sit and watch God’s beautiful sunset from the back porch of the family home at South Sound, Grand Cayman.
David Jorge, Pastor of Worship was born in Havana, Cuba. He is the ever-grateful husband to Kathy and amazed father of Jonathan! He has served as a Pastor of Worship since 1983 in churches in Los Angeles. He has joyfully served this Body since 2001. In another life he was an arranger/ orchestrator/conductor/musician in L.A. for a bunch of stuff. The passion of his life is to help people connect with God-right now through worship. In his spare time he enjoys rebuilding islands after hurricanes and helping lead churches to a Biblical model of leadership. Diving with God’s underwater creatures ranks a close second.
Reinaldo Castellanos Martin (Puchy!) hails from Cuba. He is our handyman on site and is called on help with many various tasks. He first started with us on a temporary basis as part of the team working on reconstructing homes and churches on the island after Hurricane Ivan. He became an integral part of our reconstruction on FBC to help us get back to pre-Ivan condition too. He is the happy husband of Raquel.
Nealy Moxam, Financial Administrator, is the youngest member of a large family, raised on an East Texas dairy farm. Her mother died when she was only 8, and she was able to spend a priceless amount to time sitting at the foot of her bed and being eternally blessed by her teachings. In 1961, she married Bob Maddox, and they were blessed with daughter, Melinda, and son, Robert. In 1981 Bob died of an inoperable brain tumor. In mid 1982, she visited Grand Cayman for the first time, and met Allan Moxam, the greatest of all tour guides. They married in 1983, and she gained two more wonderful sons, Dwight and Brian. She is now blessed to have 4 grandsons: Dillon, Tyler, Brian, and Brandon. In 1988, I first visited First Baptist Church and knew immediately how God meant for me to belong to this culturally diverse church; an example on earth of the diversity of heaven. In 1999, after a lifetime of preparation, I became a part of the staff of FBC/FBCS. One of God’s greatest blessings to me was the provision of school teachers in my young years that instilled in me a desire for lifelong learning.
Gennie Osbourne, Senior Custodian. Gennie is long time member of this family. She has served this church family for 11 years. She oversees all the duties keeping us in tip top clean shape. She knows the names of just about all the children who have been in the FBCS and WEE Care ministry and they all love “Miss Gennie”. She has two amazing children of her own. Her daughter, Nicole, is taking college classes in Jamaica, and her son, Robert, is studying towards exams to graduate next June from high school.
Stephen Ryan, the Director of Youth, Missions, and Discipleship, was blessed to be born and raised in a loving Christian family in Cayman Brac. After graduating from Cayman Brac High School in 1998, he moved to Grand Cayman to begin working with public accounting firm and began attending First Baptist. He went on to attend the University of South Florida in Tampa, where he graduated with a Bachelor’s degree in Accounting in 2003. He is a licensed C.P.A. in the state of Virginia. After practicing public accounting in Cayman and the U.S. for 4 years, he made the slight transition to his current position with FBC. He has been involved with the youth ministry of First Baptist as a youth leader over the past 4 years, and has also had the privilege of serving on several short-term mission trips to Asia, Africa, and Central America. His passion for ministry is watching God work in unique and unexpected ways. His interests include any activity that involves the water, volleyball, basketball, and snowboarding.
