Our Leadership

 

Shawn McCracken, Lead Pastor

Shawn is the Lead Pastor and Elder of The Church at Whistling Pines. Shawn heads up the vision of Whistling Pines, and does much of our Sunday morning teaching. He also has a passion for discipleship, leadership development, counseling, and team ministry; so he spends a lot of his time meeting with people.

His Clifton StrengthsFinder strengths include:

Achiever    Strategic    Focus    Communication    Maximizer

Shawn has been married to Maranda for more than 20 years; they have two adult children, Michael and Joy and a young daughter, Lia and he is a grandpa of Evelyn. He loves meetings (he’s sick isn’t he?!), classic monster movies, Elvis Presley, The Beatles and NBA basketball.

 
 
You can connect with him:    Twitter @shawnmccracken or Facebook         Email: Shawn 
 
Hear what some of our members have to say about our two pastors during Pastors Appreciation: https://youtu.be/2o3E39aDh8M
 
 

Robert Williams, Assisting Pastor

Robert serves as Assisting Pastor and Elder of Whistling Pines. He has oversight responsibility for deacons’ ministries, including facilities, benevolence, and CARE team. His primary operational responsibilities are finance and administration, but is also involved in mentoring  the worship and technical ministries. A bi-vocational minister, he is a school bus ninja for Lake County, FL schools.
 
His Clifton StrengthsFinder strengths include: 
 
Relator    Intellection    Self-Assurance    Input    Responsibility

Robert is somewhat of a geek, who tinkers with computers (hardware and software), plays keyboards, and reads ingredient labels on food jars. An accomplished musician, he also enjoys cooking, fitness activities, camping,  fishing, and scuba diving. He is married to Brenda Williams for almost 40 years. They have two grown daughters and four grandchildren.

You can connect with him:           Twitter @Rewjr or Facebook              Email: Robert
 
 

Brenda Williams

Brenda is one of our Elders, responsible for the Women’s Ministry, Benevolence Team, CARE Team, and the Response and Prayer Ministry for the Church.  Her passion is to minister to hurting people, see them restored, and reaching their full potential in the Lord.  She also is on staff as the Administrative Assistant/Office Manager.

Her Clifton StrengthsFinder signature themes include:

Communication  Harmony  Consistency  Adaptability  Developer

Brenda and Pastor Robert have served in leadership of various churches for most of those years they’ve been married. When she is not busy with ministry activities, she loves to read and be involved with social media. She is a doting grandmother who tries to spend quality time with her two beautiful daughters and four wonderful grandchildren.
 
You can connect with her:     Twitter @tweetmama or Facebook     Email: Brenda       Phone: (352) 406-5722
 
 

 

Robb Elmatti

Robb is an ordained minister with an emphasis on Missional life. He brings his gifts of organization, evangelism, and discipleship to our Elder team.
 
His Signature Clifton Strength finders include:

Achiever    Learner   Deliberative   Analytical   Belief

 
Robb also serves as Director for Empower School of Discipleship, a sister ministry located on our adjacent property.  He is married to Heather and has three children, Faith Ann, Hopeful, and Ian. They enjoy the outdoors, hiking, camping, kayaking, and spelunking (cave exploring).
 
You can connect with him:  Facebook          Email:  Robb 

 

Lyn Smith

Lyn not only serves as one of our elders but also as our worship team director. She has a passion for worship, missions, education, mentoring, and team ministry. Lyn is always busy and has her eggs in many baskets!
 
Her Signature Clifton Strength finders include:

Achiever    Belief   Responsibility   Competition   Maximizer

Lyn is married to William (AKA “Turtle”). Their blended family includes two adult children, Jordan and Jason, a young son, Abram and two grandchildren. Lyn loves to travel and meet new people. Other hobbies include singing (duh), volleyball, water sports and relaxing. She is not sure when relaxing officially became a hobby but believes it was shortly after the birth of Abram! She hopes to elevate it to an art form in the near future.
 
You can connect with her:  Facebook      Email:  Lyn