We believe and practice a plurality of leadership consisting of elders and deacons.
Our form of church government is elder-led congregational rule. Our elders are responsible for the spiritual oversight of our church, and our congregation votes only on specific issues, which are spelled out in our constitution and bylaws. Our deacons are responsible for the physical oversight of our church, and they assist our elders and our congregation by handling practical matters.
Bob Grass, elder and teaching pastor
pastorbob@livingwordleland.com
Bob and his wife, Rochelle, helped plant Grace Baptist Church in Dacula, Georgia, in 2000. Bob’s primary role there was part-time Minister of Music. He and Rochelle worked in a variety of teen and adult ministries for eight years.
Then God called Bob to serve as the full-time Minister of Music at Harvester Baptist Church in Ellicott City, Maryland. At Harvester Bob enjoyed planning musical worship and working with the adult and children’s choirs and other groups. But in the middle of music ministry, studying for teaching and preaching opportunities became one of his favorite activities. He was ordained to gospel ministry at Harvester in 2013.
Bob moved his family to Leland, North Carolina, in 2014 to plant Living Word Bible Church. For over five years, he worked in the banking industry to support himself and his family. Then in 2020 the Lord graciously allowed him to become the full-time teaching pastor of Living Word. Bob and Rochelle have four children.
Bob is passionate about teaching verse by verse through the Bible. His goal in expository preaching is to present Scripture clearly and understandably, to explain what a passage says, what it means, and how it applies. (You can listen to past sermons here.) He desires to make disciples by pointing people to Jesus through the Word.
Phil McCluskey Sr, elder
Phil asked the Lord to be his Savior when he was 15 years old. Over the years he has served in various other church leadership positions in Wilmington and Greensboro, North Carolina.
Phil and Vicki, his wife of 39 wonderful years, joined Living Word Bible Church in 2019. He has a passion for serving the congregation during weekly services, helping organize the Men’s Ministry, and learning more from God’s Word.
Phil served in the US Army, both Active and Reserves, for 31 years, retiring in 2011. His awards include the Legion of Merit and the Bronze Star.
He has worked in various Information Technology positions since 1989. He is currently employed as a Telecommunications Engineer with a clinical research organization in Wilmington.
Phil and Vicki have two outstanding sons, two exceptional daughters-in-law, and six beautiful grandchildren. They are thankful to God for blessing them with their family and their church family at Living Word.
Phil McCluskey Jr, elder
Phillip and his wife, Amanda, are high school sweethearts and natives of the Wilmington area. They have been blessed with two children, Madison and Meredith.
Together, Phillip and Amanda led a youth group for several years, serving many wonderful young people in the Leland area. In addition to student ministry, they have served in a variety of other lay positions to advance God’s kingdom. Phillip is passionate about servant leadership, living his faith in all aspects of his life through service to others.
Phillip works full-time, remotely, in Operations at a Clinical Research Organization, directing the activities of teams in pursuit of novel therapies for cancer.
