Our Instructors
Pastor Timothy J. Potter was born in 1968, and was reared in a Christian home. He came to know the Lord Jesus Christ as his Savior when he was 8 years old. Having gone to a Christian School all of his life, Tim was called of the Lord to preach in his later high school years. Pastor Tim graduated with an undergraduate degree in Theology and a minor in Business Administration in 1990. He then finished his Master of Arts program in May of 1991. Pastor Tim has been at Grace Church since August of 1991. He ministered as Associate Pastor and youth minister for the first 14 years, and then became the Senior Pastor at Grace on January 1, 2006. After ministering at Grace Church for 6 years, Tim began his work on his Master of Divinity program at Detroit Baptist Theological Seminary. He graduated with this degree in May of 2005. Pastor Tim will pursue a Doctorate of Ministry in Expository Preaching in the near future.
Pastor Dave Cannon was born in Emmaus, PA. After graduation from Emmaus High School, he attended college from 1976-1981, receiving his B.S. in Secondary Education. From 1987-1992 he continued post-grad work at Kent State University. After sensing God might be directing him toward the ministry, he returned to college, where he completed the Master of Divinity program in 1996. In addition to seminary training, Pastor Cannon has also completed four extensive units of biblical counseling training and is currently pursuing a Doctor of Ministry degree.
Pastor Kent Hobi grew up in Mentor, graduated from Mentor Christian School, and received his BS in Education from in 1992. After teaching for five years, the Lord led him to Detroit Baptist Theological Seminary, where he received his Master of Divinity in 2001.
Pastor Robert I. Potter earned his BS degree in Secondary Education from Kent State University. He earned his BA in Pastoral Studies from Moody Bible Institute and has done additional work at the University of South Carolina, Baptist Bible Institute in Cleveland and Baptist School of the Bible in Cleveland.
Pastor Chris Anderson came to Grace Church as an Assistant/Outreach Pastor in 1997. He grew up in Colorado. Following high school, Pastor Chris earned his BA and MA (1997) in Bible. Like his father, he has a burden for church planting and as a result, has become the pastor at Tri-County Bible Church (TCBC) located in Madison, Ohio. TCBC is a branch ministry of Grace Church.
Pastor Todd Nye is the pastor of Southwest Community Baptist Church in Parma, Ohio (a southern suburb of Cleveland), another planted church of Grace Church of Mentor. He received his BA in Bible with a minor in Greek in 1993 and went on to receive his Masters in Bible in 1999. During this time, he also pastored for two-and-one-half years and had served as deacon, elder, adult Sunday School teacher, and director of soul-winning/visitation ministry. A native of southern Cleveland, Pastor Todd has been the pastor of SCBC since May 1999. He also enjoys spending time with his wife, Kathy, and their three daughters.
Pastor Dave Saxton is the pastor of Falls Berean Bible Church (Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio), another planted church of GCM. Pastor Saxton graduated with a B.A. in Bible in 1997, and then with an M.Div. from Detroit Baptist Theological Seminary (2001). He is currently pursuing his Th.M from DBTS.
Pastor Dan Greenfield has served as the pastor of Orwell Bible Church (Orwell/Windsor, Ohio) since February 2005 (the fourth planted church of Grace). He grew up in Alto, Michigan. His education includes a B.S. in Bible and Pastoral Studies in 1993, and an M.Div. in 2000. He is currently pursuing his Th.M. degree.
Pastor Joe Tyrpak has been serving since July 2005 as the Assistant Pastor of Tri-County Bible Church in Madison, Ohio. In May 2000 he graduated with a Bachelor's degree in Graphic Design/Greek; in May 2004 with an M.A. in Bible, and in May 2005 with a Master of Divinity. In the summers of 2000 and 2004, Joe worked as a pastoral intern at Grace Church of Mentor.
Pastor Larry Hobbes is a native of Pennsylvania. After finishing his M.Div., he pastored First Baptist Church in Castle Creek, NY for seventeen years. The next seven years, Pastor Hobbes served in Indiana on a church staff in youth/outreach ministry; and then later became a church planter in Lafayette, IN, starting out in a tent-making capacity. He has relocated to northeast Ohio to serve on staff at GCM as the Assistant Director of Archministries in order to plant churches in the area. He is currently working on a D.S.Min. at Northland Baptist Bible College.