January 18, 2020
January 25, 2020
February 15, 2020
February 29, 2020
March 7, 2020
March 28, 2020
April 18, 2020
April 25, 2020
October 12, 2019
November 9, 2019
November 16, 2019/DEEP Sabbath
at Oakwood University
December 7, 2019
December 14, 2019
We are urging our pastoral staff to work from home wherever possible. To contact the pastor on call, dial 423.236.7136.
PASTORS & STAFF
Our team of pastors and staff are here to serve you. Each pastor has their own area of ministry, although they are available to support all the ministries of the Church.
Pastor On CAll
A Pastor On Call rotation is set up so that you can reach a pastor by calling one number: (423) 236-7136. Leave a message and the pastor on call will return your call.
Ron Halvorsen, Jr
Lead Pastor
Ron came to us from the Washington Conference, where he was the lead pastor of the North Cascade Adventist Church in Burlington, WA. Prior to that he was president of the Ohio Conference. The son of a pastor/evangelist Ron Halvorsen Sr., Ron has pastored in churches small and large over the years. He has been the senior pastor of three of our sister university and college churches in the United States.
He and his wife, Buffy, have two wonderful adult children, their daughter Stephanie is a counselor and lives in Port Angeles, WA. Their son Ronnie and daughter-in-law Josie, are nurses and the parents of Ron and Buffy’s three grandsons. Ron and Buffy are thankful for Duo and FaceTime, because their grandsons live in West Covina, CA.
Orlando Hernandez, Jr
Pastor of Group Life & Connect
Orlando Hernandez, Jr. serves as the Pastor of Group Life and Connect. He began this role on August 1, 2024, and is actively engaged in cultivating meaningful community, vibrant worship, and intentional discipleship across generations.
Prior to joining Collegedale Church, Orlando served as Senior Pastor of Kress Memorial Church in Winter Park, Florida, beginning in 2019. His ministry experience also includes serving as a campus pastor and Bible teacher at North Tampa Christian Academy and Walker Memorial Academy, as well as pastoral roles in churches across Florida and Texas. Throughout his ministry, Pr. Orlando has maintained a strong passion for mentoring young people and helping them develop a living, personal relationship with Jesus Christ.
Pr. Orlando and his wife, Sonia, are deeply committed to family and ministry. They are the proud parents of three children—Orlando III, Isaac, and Isabel. Their oldest son and his wife have two sons, and their middle son and his wife are parents to twin girls. Their daughter, Isabel, is currently a student at Southern Adventist University. Family life remains central to Pr. Orlando’s identity, shaping both his pastoral heart and leadership approach.
As a family, the Hernandez enjoy spending time outdoors and together, sharing interests such as fishing, backpacking, camping, and sports—including baseball, football, and basketball—as well as quiet moments like hammock naps and long road trips that invite conversation and reflection.
At the core of Pr. Orlando’s ministry is a commitment to helping people—especially young adults and young families—grow in faith, think deeply, and live authentically for Christ. He often echoes the guiding principle: “Train youth to be thinkers, and not mere reflectors of other men’s thoughts” (Education, p. 17), reflecting his desire to foster spiritual maturity, thoughtful faith, and lasting discipleship within the church community.
Reginald Horton
Collegiate Pastor
Pastor Horton was introduced to the Adventist message in his early young adulthood life. Soon after joining the Adventist church he attended Southern Adventist University. At Southern he met and married his wonderful wife, the former LaShawn Powell. He and LaShawn have two beautiful blessings from God, Christa and Alonzo where the both of them are attending Oakwood University.
After graduating from Southern Adventist University, he and his wife served two years as student missionaries in South Korea. Upon completion of his studies at Andrews University, he has served in numerous conferences: Arizona Conference, South Atlantic Conference, Northern California Conference, and South Eastern California Conference. He is a graduate of Lee University. Currently, he serves as the Collegiate Pastor at the Collegedale Church, overseeing Merge Worship, Marriage ministries, and “The Experience” Sabbath school class. In addition to his duties as Collegiate Pastor, he is an adjunct professor for two different schools at Southern Adventist University.
Devon Howard
Director of Worship
Devon Howard is joining our team as the Director of Worship. He came to us from Southwestern Adventist University where he was the Director of Keyboard & Theory Studies.
Devon was born in Colorado and began piano studies at the age of eight and organ at the age of thirteen. In 1999, he studied for one year with Donald Sutherland at the Peabody Conservatory of Music in Baltimore, Maryland, before transferring to Southern Adventist University in Collegedale,Tennessee. In 2003, he completed a Bachelor's Degree in Organ Performance under the tutelage of Prof. Judy Glass. After graduation Devon served as an assistant to the choral department during an interim period, during which time he conducted many ensembles, substitute taught theory, history and general music courses, established a concert choir specializing in Renaissance and Baroque music, and directed a department Christmas musical theatre production. He also apprenticed as an organ builder for the firm Richards, Fowkes & Co. of Ooltewah,TN.
For the 2005-2006 academic year Devon studied organ performance and technique as a Fulbright Scholar with Prof. Aart Bergwerff at Codarts Conservatorium in Rotterdam, The Netherlands. The following year he stayed in The Netherlands pursuing independent improvisation study with Sietze de Vries on the historic organs of the Groningen provence.
In 2012, Devon completed a Doctor of Music Arts degree at Arizona State University, during which time he served as a Teaching Assistant for three years. While in Phoenix, he also serviced and tuned several organs in AZ, was a full-time Director of Worship and Music at a large two-campus Lutheran church in Mesa, maintained an active studio of piano and organ students, and was the continuo organist for the Phoenix Symphony.
Devon has served as a Director of Worship & Arts and organist at several churches, most recently at the Kettering Seventh-day Adventist Church in Kettering, Ohio. He also performs regularly throughout the United States, is a passionate advocate for improvisation education and performance.
He and his wife, Kimberly, have two daughters.
LeClare Litchfield
Bible Worker
“Litch” has been married to Shelly since 1976 and has been pastoring for the same amount of years. They have two adult sons, one adopted daughter, and five grandchildren.
He enjoys studying with and ministering to teenagers.
He pastored in England for five years, New England for two years, Georgia Cumberland Academy for seven years, Knoxville first church for five years, and Collegedale Academy for 18 years before retiring and then joining the Collegedale Church team as a Bible Worker.
Kircio Mota
Youth Pastor
Kircio Mota, Jr is a God-family-people-food-fun-and-sports-loving guy. He was born to Dominican immigrants in New York. He moved to Miami a few years later, where he attended and graduated from Miami Union Academy. Pastor K completed his BA in Theology at Antillean Adventist University in the beautiful island of Puerto Rico. After serving as a youth camp director and a district pastor, he attended Seminary at Andrews University, where he completed his MDiv with an emphasis in ethics. Upon his completion, Pastor K served as youth pastor in West Palm Beach and was ordained shortly thereafter. Once he and his family accepted the call to serve in the wonderful Georgia-Cumberland Conference, Pastor K served as a district pastor in LaGrange and Carrollton, GA for a few years, before moving to Collegedale.
Kircio, Melissa, and their daughters, Amélie and Hannah, are happy and humbled to serve in our community. Their life’s motto is: “There’s always time for lovin’!”
Carole Verrill
Children's Ministries Pastor
She enjoys spending time with her husband Tom, three grown children, and their families. Her hobbies include reading, singing, and traveling. Carole loves everything and anything to do with working with children and families and considers it a privilege and honor to serve as the Children’s Pastor of the Collegedale Church! Her favorite title is ‘Mimi’ to five amazing grandchildren who are the light of her life and the joy of her heart.
Melody Wallace
Pastor of Member Care
Melody grew up in a non-Christian home and took a very circuitous path to becoming an Adventist minister. She grew up on a farm in western NYS and attended and graduated from Keuka College receiving a BS in nursing. She also became a Christian during college. Her journey as a Christian gave her experiences with the Methodist, Lutheran, Wesleyan, and Southern Baptist denominations before realizing the special significance of the Sabbath and the beauty of the State of the Dead message as taught by Seventh-day Adventists.
After becoming an Adventist, Melody worked as a Health Counselor at Poland Spring Health Institute, Faith Community Nurse, conducted diabetes education and grief share support programs. Through her work in the community, she was asked for three and half years to be the interim pastor of the First Christian Church in Dowagiac, MI. This experience catapulted her journey to get a masters degree in pastoral ministry at Andrews University.
One of her favorite verses is John 15:16, Jesus speaks, "You did not choose Me but I chose you, and appointed you that you would go and bear fruit, and that your fruit would remain, so that whatever you ask of the Father in My name He may give to you.” God has given her the passion to help people grow into all God created, redeemed, and sustains them to be.
Her next favorite verse is Ephesians 3:20. “God is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think or imagine according to His power that works in us.”
As Associate Pastor of Member Care, she is excited about connecting with each of you, learning about your experiences with God as we do mission together.
Jay Cole
Church Administrator
Jay is the Church Administrator, performing CFO duties and supervising the facility, office and communications. He joined the church staff in September of 2017 after spending 22 years in the publishing ministry, managing Adventist Book Centers and directing trade sales at the Review & Herald, and more recently performing the duties of Church Administrator at Kettering Seventh-day Adventist Church.
He’s Connie’s husband, Aly and Sarah’s dad, and enjoys reading, racquetball and food cooked over a campfire.
Vaughan Choudree
Facility Manager
Vaughan Choudree arrived in the States in August 2011 from South Africa. “It had been our dream to educate our children in the United States,” says Vaughan. He and his wife, Lee-Ann, have three children: Tamika, Saskia, and Reed. Besides enjoying his wife’s amazing cooking, Vaughan describes his family as an outdoor family, who enjoy playing sports as a family and hiking.
Vaughan’s background includes engineering inspection, projects, sales, financial services, health care and nonprofit work. He has proven ability to build strong coalition between cross functional teams and is an adaptable team player serving as the Church Facility Manager.
Iris Diaz
Office Manager
Iris, her husband, Max, and son, Aaron, moved from New York to the Collegedale.
Sherrie Williams
Communications
Sherrie joined the Collegedale Church staff in 1993.
Sherrie's job includes producing Churchbeat, the bi-weekly newsletter, and the bulletin, sending out news releases, and whatever else the pastors need produced. Although not falling under the title of Communications, she records the weekly tithe contributions. Sherrie is also heavily involved in SonRise for which she is the Pageant Assistant Director.
Interests include photography, scrapbooking, genealogy research, Civil War reenacting, and traveling.
Sherrie is married to Baron and they have one adult son.