Summary of the Search Team Process

The congregation of WEBC is growing! What a blessing from God. In response to this growth and the needs of our church, on May 2, 2025, our Leadership Team recommended that we add another position to our staff: Pastor of Discipleship and Family Ministries.

A seven-member Search Team was appointed by WEBC in June. We began by praying for God’s guidance. We studied the qualifications of Elders in Titus and Timothy to identify Biblical qualifications. The position was posted with the Greenville Baptist Association, the SC Baptist Convention, the Southern Baptist Convention, Nine Marks, and on social media. We received several responses.
The Team prayerfully reviewed each application as well as responses to our requests for additional information and references. With the diligent prayers of the Search Team together and individually, and the prayers of WEBC members, the Team narrowed the list of applicants down by the leading of the Holy Spirit. 

In September, Team members ranked their top candidates. After informal virtual meetings with the top three in October, we reviewed each and all three candidates met the key responsibilities and desired qualifications stated in the position guidelines. We prayed for guidance to focus us on one candidate. Meanwhile, we discussed a financial package to submit to the Leadership Team. Contacts with references to our specific questions were reviewed.

With guidance through the Holy Spirit, the Search Team unanimously agreed that of the top candidates, Adam Vazquez is our first choice as Pastor of Discipleship and Family Ministries.

Search Team

Shawn Albert
Jeannie Davis
Jill McAleer
Tim Mills
Steven Pearce
Katie Penland
John Ramirez

A Note from Pastor Marty

Thank you for your prayers for the search team over the last six months!  When we began this search, I had no idea that God had already sent us the man for whom we were looking. I am excited about the future God has for us as His body here in the West End!  

Adam Vazquez: Testimony of Faith

I was blessed to be born into a family of believers. The Gospel was introduced to me at a very young age, and I accepted Jesus as my Savior as a child. I understood my need for a Savior and Jesus' offer of forgiveness through His death on the cross. I was baptized into the Church soon after. 

As I grew up, I recognized more fully my need for a Savior. My personal struggles with sin, decisions I had to make as an adolescent, and the realities of life confronted me with my need for grace from God. The idea of grace was a difficult one for me to comprehend for many years. Growing up in a strict Christian school and as a part of a fundamentalist church, the concept of grace wasn't emphasized as much as personal piety and God's holiness were. 

Thankfully, God blessed me with a Youth Pastor named Matthew Hoskinson who invested deeply in me and taught me about the grace found in Jesus. This was a multi-year process that allowed me to rest in the covering and delivering grace that only Jesus offers (this experience is partially why I believe so deeply in the importance of Youth ministry)! Since then, I've continued to grow in sanctification and work through the struggles of sin, failure, repentance, and faith. I'm grateful for the truth of the Gospel and believe with my entire being that nothing a person can know or do will replace their need for the saving life, work, death, and resurrection that Jesus gave us while He was on earth. God has used the experiences life has brought through a career in business, starting a company, and shepherding our family to continually sanctify and point me toward Himself.

The greatest means of grace God has used in my life are my wife, Sarah, and our kids: Chase, Jaxon, and Alana. I’m eternally grateful to have each of them in my life, and it’s my honor and joy to be Sarah’s husband and the kids’ dad. Seeing how West End has embraced and served my family has been part of my inspiration to join the staff at West End to serve other families similarly.