Leadership
Pastor Drew Sutherland
Born in Jacksonville, NC, Pastor Drew has been involved in ministry his entire life. Drew's parents have both been involved in vocational ministry his entire life. When Drew was three weeks old, his father accepted a weekly ministry at a local retirement home that he still leads to this day. During his graduate education, Drew led a weekly ministry at a retirement home for six years. As a passionate basketball enthusiast, Drew was affectionately known as a "gym rat" for much of his young life.
Drew went to Bob Jones University in Greenville, SC at the age of eighteen. He was the only one of five siblings to spend all four years of undergraduate education without a sibling enrolled at the same time. The summer after his junior year Drew travelled with an Eastern European mission team that ministered in Latvia, Lithuania, and Poland. Drew met his wife of eight years, Katie, in Spanish class. They have a daughter, Anna, in Kindergarten, and a one year old son, Henry.
Drew received a Bachelor of Science in Counseling with a Minor in Psychology, a Master of Arts in Pastoral Theology, and a Master of Divinity (ministry concentration) from Bob Jones. During his graduate education, Drew worked as a stage manager for Bob Jones Academy's auditorium/performance hall. This position (and others) have taught him to think quickly on his feet and have given him a knack for operational oversight, or the ability to see "the big picture" at first glance. Drew's specific responsibilities at Oasis (in addition to the general shepherding and overseeing responsibilities that all pastors share) include the aforementioned operational oversight, weekly preaching ministry, and stage management.
Pastor Chris White
Pastor Chris was born in Houston, Texas, where he, his parents, two of his four siblings (of whom he is the second oldest), and the majority of both extended families resided until Chris was four years old. When Chris was four, his father accepted an offer to teach on the business faculty of Bob Jones University, and the immediate family moved to Greenville, South Carolina. The majority of Chris' extended families still live in the Houston, Texas area.
Chris attended school from Kindergarten through Seminary at Bob Jones. Chris has been and remains an avid fan of both playing and watching baseball and basketball. He enjoyed these sports throughout his educational career. He received a Bachelor of Arts in Bible with a Minor in Speech, a Master of Arts in Bible, and a Master of Divinity (ministry concentration). For three summers during his undergraduate education, Chris worked as a camp counselor in Northern Michigan. At camp he learned valuable lessons about hard work, mentoring, difficult conditions, and exhaustion in the ministry. Camp also provided Chris' wife of six years, Tiffany, who has, in turn, provided his three years old daughter, Michaela, and one year old daughter, Addisen.
During his senior year of undergraduate study, Chris interned for 12 weeks at Community Baptist Church in Greer, SC. This internship flourished into a position on pastoral staff at Community, and it was during his time on Pastoral staff that Chris developed relationships with Pastors Joe and Drew. As these relationships developed, God began to impress on the men the desire to minister together, and the result of that burden is Oasis of Truth Church. Chris' specific responsibilities at Oasis (in addition to the general shepherding and overseeing responsibilities that all pastors share) include weekly preaching ministry, the education department, and hospitality.
Pastor Joe Sutherland
As the youngest of the three pastors, Pastor Joe's position in the chronological hierachy of the pastoral staff of Oasis of Truth Church mirrors that of his position amongst his siblings. Growing up as the youngest of five siblings taught Joe many lessons about the balance between "persecution" (at the hands of older siblings, including Pastor Drew) and "privilege" (the result of being the last out of the nest).
He was born in Jacksonville, North Carolina--home to four Marine Corps bases. Joe's parents moved to Jacksonville when his father was stationed there as a Marine, and they still live there today. Bob Jones University in Greenville, SC became Joe's home for four years of undergraduate education from age seventeen through twenty-two. The summer after his freshman year, Joe had the privilege of travelling with a mission team to Central America. The team visited El Salvador, Honduras, Guatemala, and Panama and assisted local missionaries and pastors in their ministries for Christ. For the next two years, Joe travelled with members of that team as an ensemble that raised support for a Christian camp in Mexico. Shortly before Christmas break his junior year, Joe met his wife of four years, Leah, on a blind date and married her eighteen months later. Leah recently gave birth to their daughter, Evangeline.
After a Bachelor of Arts in Humanities (concentrated on music and history), Joe entered Seminary at Bob Jones and received a Master of Arts in Church History. He currently works for a small IT firm headquarted in Greenville, SC. God has blessed Joe with a believing employer, excellent work environment, and dependable employment that has provided for his educational and living expenses for the past eight years. Joe has, of course, known Pastor Drew his entire life. Joe and Chris met as a result of Joe's volunteer work at Community Baptist Church in Greer, SC where Chris was then a member of pastoral staff. Joe's specific responsibilities at Oasis (in addition to the general shepherding and overseeing responsibilities that all pastors share) include the music department, church history instruction, and technology.