PERSONAL: Eric (34 years old) and Jodie (37) have two children, Caden (8) and Aubrey (7), who are the joy of their hearts! Eric grew up in Indianapolis, Indiana and Jodie grew up in a suburb of Dallas, Texas. Both Eric and Jodie came to know Christ in college through a ministry called Campus Outreach. Eric enjoys discipling men, working on projects around the house, cycling, and spending time with his family. Jodie enjoys being a mom, Bible studies, and mentoring other young women. Together they enjoy traveling with their family, outdoor activities, window shopping, and serving in the church. MINISTRY EXPERIENCE: 2009 Present Faith Bible Church, Evansville, Indiana. Associate Pastor - Teacher Faith Bible church is a growing, vibrant, distinctively reformed church in Evansville, Indiana. My role as Associate Pastor encompasses every facet of pastoral ministry including, but not limited to preaching, teaching, counseling, and discipling God s people. I serve on the Elder board with six Godly men with whom I am privileged to co-labor. 2008 2009 Campus Outreach Memphis, Memphis, Tennessee. Executive Director of Administration Campus Outreach Memphis encompasses 11 campuses, 46 staff, and over 3000 financial supporters with an annual operating budget of just under 3 Million dollars. Second Presbyterian Church (EPC) is the Hub church for Campus Outreach Memphis and the local church for the University of Memphis staff and students. My primary responsibilities included leadership and development of administrative staff team, serving on the Area Director Leadership Team to develop and execute strategic plans for campus and regional ministry growth, catalytic event planning for conferences of up to 1250 students, developing and implementing administrative office workflow, mentoring University of Memphis students, and traveling and speaking at Campus Outreach events within the Memphis region. 2004 2008 Campus Outreach Indianapolis, Evansville, Indiana. Campus Director University of Southern Indiana The vision of Campus Outreach is to build laborers on the campus for the lost world. The college experience is one of the most unique and challenging for students of this generation. This is, for many, the first time that they are outside of the direct influence of their parents and in a position where they must make decisions that will shape the rest of their lives. College is the time when students will solidify their core values and convictions and make critical decisions about what they will give their lives to. My primary responsibilities as Campus Director included oversight and leadership of campus staff team, evangelizing students, discipling and establishing young believers in the foundations of the Christian life, recruiting for and coordinating ministry events, developing and implementing training to equip students to walk with Christ for a lifetime, and teaching at an evangelistic weekly meeting, open to all students on campus, with an average weekly attendance of 125 students. I had the privilege of discipling, for five years, the man that I transitioned my job to in 2008. I met him his freshman year of college in 2002 and helped him learn how to walk with Christ. After helping him develop has leadership skills over the years, I hired him in 2007 and transitioned the leadership of the ministry to him in 2008. Today, the ministry is vibrant, healthy, and growing exponentially. He has since multiplied his life into men who have led others to Christ themselves. He now serves as an Area Director for Campus Outreach Indianapolis and oversees the staff and ministry at the University of Southern Indiana in Evansville, Indiana and Indiana University in Bloomington, Indiana.
2002 2004 Campus Outreach Indianapolis, Evansville, Indiana. Student Director University of Southern Indiana I came to Christ in October 2000 during my freshman year of college. Mike Turner, who is now one of my best friends and on staff with Campus Outreach, began sharing the gospel with me the day I moved in. He developed a relationship with me and lived and shared the gospel with me. By God s grace I came to understand my sin and repented and put my faith in Christ alone. After my conversion, Mike began to disciple me, establishing me in the foundations of the Christian life. In 2002, two years after I came to Christ, Campus Outreach moved the full-time campus staff, including Mike, off the campus of the University of Southern Indiana (USI) where I was a student. Mike had been preparing me to carry on the ministry at USI since the day I came to Christ, but at that time neither of us knew that it would come sooner rather than later. Upon Mike s departure from the campus, I assumed the primary leadership of the ministry as a student. By God's grace the ministry grew from 4 students to 50 students. By the time I graduated in 2004, I had developed solid relationships with the USI faculty and staff and had integrated many students into the local church where we worshiped. That same year, I accepted a full-time position with Campus Outreach as the Campus Director at USI, where I served for 4 ½ years. Summer 2004 Campus Outreach Memphis, Memphis, Tennessee. Student Project Director Summer Beach Project Campus Outreach provides summer-long training opportunities to help young believers learn how to study their bibles, share their faith, live in community, and grow in character. I was privileged to have the opportunity to direct the summer project in 2004, giving direct leadership to 6 team leaders and 125 students. The Summer Beach Project is designed to help students become effecting laborers on their respective campuses. This was truly a transformative summer in my personal development, and longterm vision for disciple making. EDUCATION: 2014 M.A.T.S, Covenant Baptist Theological Seminary, Owensboro, Kentucky. Emphasis: Pastoral Ministry / Theology 45 Hours 2004 B.S., Bachelor of Science, University of Southern Indiana, Evansville, Indiana. Major: Public Relations & Advertising 2000 High School Diploma, Mount Vernon High School, Fortville, Indiana. Recipient of the Indiana Core 40 diploma. COMMISSIONING: 2004 Christ Community Church (PCA), Carmel, Indiana. Commissioned to full-time gospel ministry by the Session of Christ Community Church. ORDINATION: 2009 Faith Bible Church, Evansville, Indiana. Ordained August 23, 2009 as Pastor / Elder by the Elders of Faith bible Church.
REFERENCES: References available upon request AUDIO SAMPLE: Audio Sample(s) available upon request
PERSONAL CORE VALUES: Though this is not a comprehensive list, I hold at the core of my being the values of loving God radically, loving people profoundly, valuing the authority of God s Word supremely, worshiping God intimately and corporately, living a biblical life, and building the local church through life on life discipleship. 1. A commitment to LOVE GOD radically Jesus is calling us to love Him with reckless abandon. When Jesus was asked, Which is the greatest commandment? He emphatically replied, Love the Lord your God with all of your heart and with all of your soul and with all of your mind and with all of your strength. We are to, by God s grace, set the affections of our hearts on Jesus He is our treasure. When we love God with all that is within us it changes our hearts. 2. A commitment to LOVE PEOPLE profoundly Jesus has always loved the unlovable. This seems, at times, irrational, but Jesus was sending the message that people were His priority. We often find him taking care of the needy, feeding the hungry, healing the sick, and spending time with the marginalized. His commission to the church was not to just meet the physical needs of others, but to make disciples of all nations. When we love people in radical ways it changes our communities. 3. A commitment to value the AUTHORITY OF GOD S WORD supremely We live in a world where people are enamored by the latest and greatest gospel. Jesus calls us to forsake the fads and empty teachings of this world and the false hope that they offer. He has called us to hold high the authority and inerrancy of His Word and to trust and obey. When we treasure, meditate on, and apply God s Word it changes our character. 4. A commitment to WORSHIP GOD INTIMATELY and corporately The most profound personal transformation often takes place when we are tucked away and alone before the Lord. Jesus often stepped way to spend time with His Father. In one instance scripture says, Jesus rose very early in the morning and went to a solitary place where He prayed. When we meet with God through His Word and prayer it changes our lives. 5. A commitment to live a BIBLICAL LIFE Jesus taught His followers the importance of a holy life. He taught them to pursue righteousness and to repent of and turn from the emptiness of sin. Jesus didn t just teach His Word as a mere rule book to be obeyed, but rather He taught the importance of a biblical life as a means of engaging in deep fellowship with Himself. When we line our lives up with God s word, we line our lives up with God s will it changes our lifestyles. 6. A commitment to BUILD UP THE LOCAL CHURCH The Church, Jesus Bride, is His most prized possession. For her he spared no expense not even his own life. Jesus desires to present His church blameless and spotless to the Father for His glory. We have, by faith, been called to be a part of this living organism called the church. The church is not a spectator sport, we all have a role to play. To be a unified body of believers, we must be committed to the same core values. Jesus has called us to love, cherish, serve, edify and invest in the local church it changes our significance. 7. A commitment to LIFE ON LIFE DISCIPLESHIP Jesus could have chosen any way to reach the world with the saving knowledge of the gospel. How did He do it? He chose a few good men. Jesus knew that if he could influence a select few and infuse them with the gospel, they would have a radical impact in the Kingdom of God. When we give our lives to Jesus method, believers are equipped for gospel ministry it changes the world.
BIBLICAL PHILOSOPHY OF LEADERSHIP: The leader isn t the one who has the most respected title or the most impressive credentials. The leader isn t the one who is the most talented or possesses the most charisma. Jesus had a much different idea about the one that he would employ as a leader. His leader would be a servant. Jesus is our model of servant leadership (Philippians 2:4-11). Jesus told His disciples, Whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be your slave. Jesus even said of Himself, The Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give His life as a ransom for many. The leader isn t the sheriff of the church; the leader is the one who is tucked away praying for the church, expending himself for the sake of others. The leader is the one who pursues deep intimacy with Christ and encourages others to follow. The leader is humble and submissive to God s will both personally and in the leadership of God s people. The leader knows that his source of power comes from the Lord Himself and cannot be manufactured on his own if it is to have any transformative impact on the lives of other. The leader fills himself with the Lord and them empties himself into the lives of people, teaching them to repeat the process. The leader possesses the combination of steel and velvet that characterized Jesus life and ministry. The leader is most importantly a follower, one who understands that Jesus said, Come follow Me. BIBLICAL STRATEGY OF MINISTRY: How do we build a local church, keep it healthy, and reach the world with the message of Christ, while maintaining our integrity and avoiding burnout? We operate the way Jesus did. Jesus ministered to three groups of people: 1. Come and Be With Me Group The Core These were the select few that Jesus called to come and be with Him. This was the inner circle that Jesus invited into the holy of holies. He spent his time training and developing these men to take the gospel to the world and to shepherd His church. He ate with them, ministered with them, prayed with them, and then sent them out. The masses were no doubt on Jesus mind, but he knew that if He could impart the gospel and His character to these few men, the masses would be reached and receive the instruction that they needed to be fruitful and the gospel would shake the world. 2. Come and Listen Group The Committed These were the people in the Church. They had moved from curiosity and began rooting themselves in the truths of the Gospel. They we not just hearing stories in parables, but were applying God s Word and experiencing transformation and growth. To this group, Jesus explained the parables; He gave them extended teaching and instruction. He called them to commitment and to discipleship. This is where Jesus spent most of His time teaching these were the committed, those who had bought in. They were the faithful; the ones to whom Jesus entrusted much. 3. Come and See Group The Curious These were the masses that followed Jesus though towns and cities as he preached the gospel. They were intrigued by his message, perplexed by His parables, and wowed by His miracles. This group was made up of both believers and unbelievers who wanted a closer look at Jesus. They wanted to see this man that everyone was talking about. Jesus communicated in stories about farmers, landowners, lenders, banquets, weddings and treasures to communicate truths about the gospel. Today, this group of people are seeking answers to some of life s greatest questions. Questions like, Why am I here?, What is my purpose?, Who is God? and What is he like? God is drawing the curious to Himself and they are becoming the committed.
PERSONAL LIFE: I love the gospel, my family, and my ministry. Jodie and I have been impacted by the gospel in such a transformative way personally, that our hearts break for those who do not know Christ. As I look back over the last fifteen years of my Christian life, I am humbled at how God has used me to lead men to Christ and disciple them to maturity. It brings joy to my heart to see some of the men that I have discipled get married and start Godly families of their own. Some have sone on to seminary and are preparing for a life of ministry. Some are working on staff with Campus Outreach and other ministries. Some are working in the marketplace sharing Christ with their co-workers. I still have a mentoring relationship with many of these men today. What a privilege it has been to be a part of what God has done, is doing, and will continue to do. Please know that Jodie and I are praying for you as you seek God s will for the next servant leader of your church. PERSONAL LEADERSHIP STYLE: Thoughtful, fun, energetic, relational, compassionate, evangelistic, visionary, recruiter, catalyst, mentor, creative, learner, teachable, hard worker Leadership is about taking people places, it is helping to guide God s people to the cross. It is about loving people and walking through life with them. It is about taking risks and growing. It is about meeting needs and serving. I am a disciplemaker at heart - a mentor. I love to establish and equip God s people for God s purposes, which is to know Him and make Him known. At the end of my life I want to be able to look back and say with Paul, I proclaimed him, admonishing and teaching everyone with all wisdom, so that we may present everyone perfect in Christ. To this end I labor, struggling with all his energy, which so powerfully works in me. What a full life FAMILY: Caden Coher (8) Eric, Jodie, Caden & Aubrey Aubrey Coher (7) 4799 IMPERIAL DRIVE NEWBURGH, INDIANA 47630 E-MAIL PHONE ECOHER@FBCEVANSVILLE.COM (812) 746-0378