Pastor Howard and his wife Jenny Strickland  were appointed to serve as Crane Eater Community Church's Senior Pastors in January 2006. Pastor Strickland has served in full-time ministry for over thirty years, and is actively involved in Calhoun and Gordon County, Georgia. His passion is to see lives changed and transformed through the miracle-working power of our Lord and Savior.

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Pastor Paul was appointed to serve as Crane Eater Community Church's Executive Pastor 1980. Pastor Paul has served the Lord and Crane Eater for over 45 years, in nearly every capacity. His passion has been to enlarge the Kingdom of God and the Body of Christ at Crane Eater.

Pastor Donna is a third generation member of the Crane Eater congregation and is a gifted music minister. Pastor Donna actively seeks the guidance of the Holy Spirit throughout the week before any song selections are made for our worship services.

Chris Towe has served at Crane Eater as Children's Pastor since 2016. He has been heavily involved in children's ministry since 1995. Chris is a South Carolina native and a graduate of Lee University where he majored in Christian Education with a Bible minor. In 2001, Chris married his college sweetheart, Amy.  Together they have two daughters, Megan and Abby.

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Sister Barbara runs our church office. She is the go-to person for all things Crane Eater. She manages our church management software, Realm.  In addition, Sister Barbara manages each member's financial giving reports, church membership information, and keeps up with all of the events that are scheduled on our campus.

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Patrick Reed is an ordained minister in the Church of God with a deep commitment to his faith and community. He is happily married to Sharon, and together they have raised three wonderful Daughters, Megan, Brianna and Adrienne. He is also a proud grandfather to two delightful grandsons. With years of experience and dedication, Patrick continues to serve and inspire others through his ministry.

Sister Nina Payne has been a faithful member of Crane Eater since 2006.  Outside of the church, Sister Nina works in the medical field.  She recently earned her ordination with the Church of God.  She has been the Christian Education Director at Crane Eater for many years.  She is dedicated to ensuring that every Sunday School classroom has the appropriate curriculum, resources, and Godly men and women to serve as leaders.  She is also the Dean of the North Georgia Theological Seminary that meets at the church weekly throughout the "school year."

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Kim is a Gordon County native, and joined Crane Eater in 2020. In 2023, she became the Women's Ministry Director. The goal of the Women's Ministry is to encourage, support, and to build up women with the Word of God through Love, Prayer, Grace.  Kim diligently plans monthly meetings, Bible studies, and organizes meals for church members when they have experienced a loss.

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Cliff has been resident of Calhoun, Ga since 2014 and a faithful member of Crane Eater since 2020 He serves our church in many areas, including facilities projects, lawn maintenance, stage lighting and now serves as the Iron Sharpens Iron Men Ministry since July of 2024.  

He has a heart for service and loves serving with the men of the church. He strives to provide an environment  & opportunities where the men of CECC can grow in their faith and build deeper relationships with each other in order to serve our God, families, church, and community with our hearts in the right place.

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Tricia is married to Larry Gaines, and they have 2 daughters (Jill and Allison) who were both raised in Crane Eater Church.  She has attended Crane Eater for most of her life. Her Uncle, Herman Timms, was one of the former Pastors of the church. She has worked with the children of Crane Eater since 1981.  She has helped with Christmas plays, teaching Sunday School, working in "Little Folks Church", and now with our Early Learners and Nursery. She loves working with children, watching them grow, and learning from God's word.

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Megan Stephens is a 4th generation member of Crane Eater, faithfully attending since birth.  Megan has served as the Awana Commander since 2010 and is the current Director of our new Wednesday Children's program, Wayfinders.  Wayfinders is a program for children in Pre-K through Fifth Grade.  We strive to teach our children to Know Jesus, Love Him, and Serve Him.  In addition to being the director of Wayfinders, she is a member of the Praise Team and volunteers with VBS.  She is the daughter of Paul and Donna Gay, she has been married to Cory Stephens since 2007.  Together, they have 2 adult sons (Jacob and Christian), 1 daughter-in-love (Jordan).  They also have two younger children (Jesslyn and Jeryn).  Throughout her life, Megan has been involved in all aspects of Children's ministry - Clown ministry in Children's church, nursery worker, and VBS.  
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Jimmy Holbert has been a long-standing, faithful member of Crane Eater Community Church.  He currently serves as the High School Youth Leader.  He is a teacher and coach at Red Bud Middle School.  He has a heart for young people and wants to see all students develop an understanding of how much worth they have inherited through Jesus Christ.

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Thomas and Tina have been married for 23 years.  They have three adult sons and a daughter who attends Calhoun High School. Thomas and Tina were named the Middle School Leaders in 2021.  As leaders, they try to keep God the focus of everything they do - including trips and community service projects.  They plan a variety of fundraising activities, regular fellowship outings, and extended youth trips.  

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Mark and Angela Irwin began teaching the Crane Eater College and Career class in 2018. Collectively, they came up with the class name, “Mirror Image,” as they seek to reflect the image of Christ in everyday life. Mark and Angela are blessed to have the opportunity to work with young people at a pivotal point in their lives - transitioning from youth to adulthood. 

Mark and Angela have been involved in church ministry for many years spanning most of their lives. Mark has a Masters of Divinity degree from Pensacola Christian Theological Seminary and Angela holds a Masters degree from Lincoln Memorial University and a Bachelor's degree from Lee University. She currently teaches kindergarten at Calhoun Early Learning Academy and Mark is the owner/agent of Calhoun’s local Farmers Insurance Agency. Mark and Angela would love the opportunity to get to know you better and to have you join their Sunday School class that meets weekly at 10am. They also have many planned social events throughout the year including adventures and Bible studies. 

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As a Christian, Angela has always had a deep desire to spread the gospel of Jesus Christ through all aspects of her life. Through her musical talents, as a teacher where she sees a mission field with each new group of students that passes through her classroom, to her daily interactions with people, Angela uses her gifts to make known the name of the Lord. Upon her first visit to Guatemala in 2019, Angela’s heart for worldwide missions was set aflame. Seeing the dire living conditions and the need for the “blessed hope” of the gospel to be carried across the nations, Angela has been tasked with leading the missions outreach of Crane Eater. Angela invites everyone to participate in some way: your financial support, your prayers or by personally getting involved in missions trips, nationally and abroad. Angela also encourages others to not overlook the mission field in daily encounters. “Inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these, my brother, you did it to Me” Matthew 25:40.

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Sister Kelly Messer has a bachelor's degree from North Georgia Theological Seminary.  She also has an Associate of Arts in Psychology from Dalton State College, and is  currently working on her Masters in Theology with North Georgia Theological Seminary. Sister Kelly began her Masters in 2017 and completed her internship with the benevolence director at that time.  She has been dedicated to this service and in September 2022, she was named the Benevolence Director for Crane Eater.  She has played on the church praise team since she joined Crane Eater in 1983.   She has taught Sunday School classes (Middle School and 1st - 3rd grade) since 2017.  She is always willing to help out wherever she is needed.

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Sarah is the director of New Day, an outreach program to help people with all types of addictions or codependency issues. Sarah works diligently to ensure individuals have a safe sharing environment.  New Day uses a 12-step Biblically based program that focuses on the positive, future, and forgiveness of sin - incorporating the mind, body, and soul. 

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Jerry and Becky Redd - Guest Services Directors. The goal of the Guest Services team is to create a welcoming environment for members and guests who attend Crane Eater Community Church. It strives to provide a first impression that conveys a genuinely positive and lasting image of the church.

They are Gordon County natives and have been married for 29 years. Jerry is a 4^th generation member at Crane Eater Community Church, and Becky has been a member for 28 years. They have three children, Reagan, Ridge, and Ryan (daughter-in-love, Chelsea). Jerry and Becky are both currently enrolled at North Georgia Theological Seminary.

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Carrie is over all web based communications at Crane Eater. Members are encouraged to email her directly if there are questions and if there are things that are needed on our Facebook, or YouTube channels. 

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Debbie Poarch is a longtime member of Crane Eater Community Church. She has been a member of the church praise team and currently serves as the librarian in our church library. She has a Bachelor’s degree and is currently working to earn a Master’s degree of Theology through International College of Bible Theology. She is a mother of three and the grandmother of five and has been happily married to Sam Poarch.