Our Staff

SENIOR PASTOR CHRIS EMERSON

Pastor Chris has been associated with FBC, Leeton since 1987. He accepted Jesus Christ as his personal Lord and Savior and followed Him in baptism  in 1996 at the age of 36. In 2004 he surrendered to Holy Spirit and was licensed into the gospel ministry, all by FBC, Leeton. He has served in many church roles including, Worship Leader, Sunday School Teacher, and church Trustee. From 2009 through 2013 he served as Senior Pastor at Pleasant Valley Baptist Church, Chilhowee, Mo. In August, 2014 he accepted the call to be pastor of his home church, First Baptist, Leeton.

ExecutivE PASTOR ED UNDERWOOD

 Ed was baptized into membership at Leeton Christian Church in 4th Grade, where he attended throughout his childhood.   After many years of straying from God, he realized he needed to turn his life back over to Christ’s control.  He began looking for a place of worship and in 2003 became a member of Allen Street Baptist Church in Clinton.  As his relationship with Christ grew, he felt called to lead a ministry in 2004 called Celebrate Recovery.  It was at this time, he felt the calling to surrender his life to ministry and was licensed by Allen Street Baptist Church on April 15, 2007. 

 In February of 2009 Ed was laid off from Stahl’s where he had been employed for over 30 years.  God used this time in Ed’s life to lead him to his true calling-working with people.  Ed became a certified anger management specialist and trainer and a certified counselor in mental disorders, and when the time was right, God placed him in a job at the Missouri Job Center.

In June of 2017 Ed became a member of First Baptist Church of Leeton.  He began a ministry called Healing Grace-which he calls a belly button ministry-this means if you have a belly button, this ministry is for you. He was ordained into the ministry by FBC Leeton in October of 2018. Ed enjoys serving in all areas of the church and always has a smile and dad joke for everyone he meets.