Adam Love has been called as senior pastor of Grace Baptist Church at 7815 Shallowford Road.
"Through months of detailed processes and countless hours from our search committee - along with the prayers of our church body - the Lord has not only provided a clear plan for the future success of Grace Baptist Church but has provided Adam Love to lead us and to fill the role as senior pastor," said John Parshall, chairman of the board.
Love's 23 years of ministry experience drew the attention of the pastoral search committee, led by Aaron Swann.
Photo from Grace Baptist Church / Adam Love has been named senior pastor of Grace Baptist Academy."Our entire committee instantly saw his abundantly evident love of people and his intentionality to make connections and develop relationships," Swann said. "His references spoke highly of his family and told us that he pushed his previous church to more biblical thinking and to be more involved with missions."
Grace Baptist supports more than 70 missionary families globally, but is also concerned with reaching the Chattanooga community. Perhaps its most visible presence locally is Grace Baptist Academy, a private school open since 1985 that serves students in prekindergarten through 12th grade.
Head of School Matt Pollock said Love "showed a wide range of experience with Christian schools and a perceptive grasp of how one can operate as a church ministry" during the search process.
"He has a passion for discipleship and training the next generation and sees our Christian school as a powerful tool to accomplish this," Pollock said.
Love attended Northland Baptist Bible College in Dunbar, Wisconsin, and began ministry right after graduation. He and his wife, Kelly, are the parents of four boys. They previously have served churches in Virginia, Minnesota, Nebraska and Wisconsin.
"Grace has a great reputation, and we want to continue that legacy of faithful service to our region and around the world," Love said. "My family and I have immediately fallen in love with the people and the passion this church body exudes."