Ivy Memorial Baptist Church

Our Ministry Staff

Senior Paster:  Rev. John S. Etcher

Minister of Education:  Dr. William "Bill" Melton

Interim Music Director:  John Thompson

Minister to Students: Rev. Ed Lilley

Pastor John Etcher graduated from Annapolis Naval Academy and Southwestern Theological Seminary with a Master of Divinity degree.  He served one term of duty in the Navy.  He and his wife, Philinda, have three grown children: Beth, who lives with her husband and three children in Newport News;  Christina, who lives with her husband in New York City; and Ian, who serves as a Marine and lives in Northern Virginia.  John served as pastor of Blue Ridge Baptist Church in Hamilton, Texas while in seminary; Centreville Baptist Church in Centreville, Virginia for 19 years; then Redeeming Grace Fellowship in Manassas, Virginia for six years.  He has a great heart for people, the lost, and the hurting.  He combines sound biblical teaching with gifted leadership skills and a real sense of God's grace.

"Well, that is what's on my resume, but what it doesn't say is this: I love the Lord, and I truly care for the people of God.  I want everyone to know Jesus, and for those who know Him now, to grow in understanding and application of His love and grace.  I am not now, nor have I ever been one who looks for the faults in others.  I'm much more interested in encouraging people on their journey of faith in Christ." PJ (Pastor John)

Email Pastor John at pastorjohn@ivymemorial.org

 According to his English Professor, Dr. Angel, Bill Melton is one of the few students to graduate from Texas Christian University with a BS in Education and teaching degrees in History and English who could not read, write, or spell.  She made him promise to never teach English in the state of Texas before she signed his teaching certification papers.  Bill continued his education at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary.  He has traveled to the Holy Lands with 20 members of Ivy Memorial AND Dr. Tolar, Bill's Biblical Backgrounds professor.  (Fortunately, Dr. Tolar did not give any tests on the trip.  If Bill failed the test it would have been especially embarassing since Bill now teaches at the Leland School for Theological Studies.)  He did, however, survive seminary and recieved a Masters Degree in Religious Education.  Bill finally got it right in 1988 when he received a Doctorate from Texas A&M University and became a card carrying, joke telling AGGIE.

Bill took a break from the academic setting in 1972 to join the Army Corp of Engineers but tired of that after 22 years of active and reserve service when they would still not let him run the train.  (Why else would an AGGIE become an Engineer?)  As an AGGIE with all those degrees, it was only natural for Bill to become an educator in Civil Service after failing to become a real engineer.  It is said, "Those who can't do it, do real well teaching it."

Bill and his wife, Lucretia, have four beautiful, smart daughters, three brilliant sons-in-law with good taste (they chose his daughters didn't they?); marvelous grandchildren; and one fantastic granddaughter-in-law.

Bill deeply loves people.  By God's power, he has taught and facilitated, and led virtually every kind of church group from infants to senior adults using puppets, chalk talks, video, Powerpoint, and creative dramas.  Bill's desire is to assist you in any way possible as you allow the Holy Spirit to guide your life.

Email Bill at william@ivymemorial.org

John Thompson graduated from Bluefield College in 2009 with a Bachelor's of Arts in Church Music and a minor in Christian Studies.  He is planning to continue his education at Liberty University Seminary where he will study to receive a Masters of Divinity in Worship studies.  John has a lovely wife named Helen who supports him in his ministry.  John works with the adult choir but is also very involved as a volunteer with the Ivy Memorial Youth ministry.  We would love to have you be a part of the Music Ministry here at Ivy.  If you have any questions, feel free to email me at jt@ivymemorial.org

"We must become less and less so that he can become more and more" John 3:30

"Don't let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in life, in love, in faith and in purity." 1 Timothy 4:12

My name is Ed Lilley, and I was born and raised in Hampton, Virginia for the first 26 years of my life.  God continually blessed me growing up with a wonderful church and youth group experience.  My undergraduate degree was in music (voice) at Christopher Newport University, and my seminary studies have been at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary in North Carolina.  I have been blessed to serve churches in Virginia and Maryland.  God has also spoiled me since 1993 with a wonderful wife named Robin and, more recently, a beautiful little boy named Chandler.

That is enough about me; let's talk about how God is working in the lives of our students.  Although the verse listed above is one of many favorites, the student ministry here is based on Acts 2:41-47.  I challenge you to read the passage of Scripture and discover what many others have discovered as the purpose of the church's existence.  The purposes that are taken from Acts 2:4-7 are fellowship, worship, discipleship, evangelism, and ministry.  Often, churches are very good at the fellowship aspect and fail to really provide a balanced and effective ministry in the other areas.  It is our goal to maintain a balanced and effective ministry in the toher area.  I is our goal to maintain a balanced ministry in all five areas, and it is my hope that God will use us to win all the Hampton to Jesus Christ, on eperson at a time.

Please visit us at www.ivymemorialstudents.com

Or email me at mred@ivymemorial.org