STAFF & LEADERSHIP
We are a Community minded and Team led Church!
The LORD sends us out into His fields in multiple directions every day.
It takes great leaders to make sure we arrive encouraged,
equipped, educated and empowered to do the work of Christ!
Below you'll find just a few of our wonderful leaders!
BJ Miller
Lead Pastor
Pastor BJ has served as Lead Pastor at The Branches since September 23, 2013. He loves preaching and teaching, and is drawn to discipleship because of its relational nature. He earned his bachelors from Auburn University and a Masters in Religion and Biblical Theology from Trevecca Nazarene University. Pastor BJ served in youth ministry for almost 20 years in the local Church and on the District and Regional level. He and his wife Joy have been married since 2001, and are blessed with two daughters, Emma and Lily.
R. David O'Neal
Associate Pastor, Adult Ministries Director
Pastor David has served as Associate Pastor since 2013. Before that, Pastor David served as Senior Pastor at then Cleveland First Church of the Nazarene from February 2, 2002 until his retirement from full time pastoral ministry in 2013. Pastor David and his wife Brenda have served Churches in GA, TN and CO and as Camp Directors for the Nazarene Campground in Adrian, GA. They have two grown kids, Melissa Wooten (Brandon) and Greg O'Neal (Marie) and three amazing grandkids, Grayson Wooten, Taylor O'Neal and Trace O'Neal.
Janet Bandy
Nazarene Discipleship International (NDI) President
Janet leads our Sunday School and Discipleship ministry team. She has served in this role for nearly 20 years, encouraging Discipleship and Outreach through each part of our Community. She has previously served in multiple roles, including Church Board Secretary.
Christine Mayfield
Nazarene Missions International (NMI) President
Christine leads our local branch of missional outreach. The Church of the Nazarene is built in part on its focus on spreading the Gospel of Jesus Christ around the Globe and helping to disciple, serve, equip and educate the Nations. Christine is a wonderful example of sharing the Gospel of Jesus right here in Cleveland! Who better to help keep our focus on the Mission at home and around the world?
Joey Mayfield
Nazarene Youth International (NYI) President
Joey is a product of our local NYI department. He grew up at Cleveland First, now The Branches. He met his wife Maddie while she was serving as a ministry intern at Cleveland First. They work together with Kendra Byler to lead our teens. Joey and Maddie have two sons, Eastyn and Elliott.
Call and Qualifications of The Minister
The Church of the Nazarene takes the call to ministry very seriously. Below you'll find our agreed upon statement regarding the call and qualifications of ministers of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
2023 Manual of The Church of the Nazarene
Call and Qualifications of the Minister
500. The Church of the Nazarene recognizes all believers are called to minister to all people.
We also affirm Christ calls some men and women to a specific and public ministry even as He chose and ordained His 12 apostles. When the church, illuminated by the Holy Spirit, recognizes such a divine call, the church endorses and assists the individual’s entry into a lifetime of ministry.
501. Theology of Women in Ministry. The Church of the Nazarene supports the right of women to use their God-given spiritual gifts within the church and affirms the historic right of women to be elected and appointed to places of leadership within the Church of the Nazarene, including the offices of both elder and deacon. The purpose of Christ’s redemptive work is to set God’s creation free from the curse of the Fall. Those who are “in Christ” are new creations (2 Corinthians 5:17). In this redemptive community, no human being is to be regarded as inferior on the basis of social status, race, or gender (Galatians 3:26-28). Acknowledging the apparent paradox created by Paul’s instruction to Timothy (1 Timothy 2:11-12) and to the church in Corinth (1 Corinthians 14:33-34), we believe interpreting these passages as limiting the role of women in ministry presents serious conflicts with specific passages of Scripture that commend female participation in spiritual leadership roles (Joel 2:28-29; Acts 2:17-18; 21:8-9; Romans 16:1, 3, 7; Philippians 4:2-3), and violates the spirit and practice of the Wesleyan-holiness tradition. Finally, it is incompatible with the character of God presented throughout Scripture, especially as revealed in the person of Jesus Christ.
502. Theology of Ordination. While affirming the scriptural tenet of the universal priesthood and ministry of all believers, ordination reflects the biblical belief that God calls and gifts certain men and women for ministerial leadership in the church. Ordination is the authenticating, authorizing act of the Church, which recognizes and confirms God’s call to ministerial leadership as stewards and proclaimers of the gospel and the Church of Jesus Christ. Consequently, ordination bears witness to the Church universal and the world at large that this candidate evidences an exemplary life of holiness, possesses gifts and graces for public ministry, and has a thirst for knowledge, especially for the Word of God, and has the capacity to communicate sound doctrine.
(Acts 13:1-3; 20:28; Romans 1:1-2; 1 Timothy 4:11-16; 5:22; 2 Timothy 1:6-7)
502.1. The Church of the Nazarene depends largely upon the spiritual qualifications, character, and manner of life of its ministers. (530.17)
502.2. The minister of the gospel in the Church of the Nazarene must have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, and be sanctified wholly by the baptism with or infilling of the Holy Spirit. The minister must have a deep love for unbelievers, believing they are perishing, and a call to proclaim salvation.
502.3. The minister is to be an example to the church: punctual, discreet, diligent, earnest, and in purity,
understanding, patience, kindness, love, and truth by the power of God (2 Corinthians 6:6-7).
502.4. The minister must likewise have a deep sense of the necessity of believers going on to perfection and developing the Christian graces in practical living, that their “love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight” (Philippians 1:9). One who would minister in the Church of the Nazarene must have a strong appreciation of both salvation and Christian ethics.
502.5. The minister should respond to opportunities to mentor future ministers and to nurture the call to ministry.
502.6. The minister must have gifts and graces for the ministry. He or she will have a thirst for knowledge, especially of the Word of God, and must have sound judgment, good understanding, and clear views concerning salvation as revealed in the Scriptures. Saints will be edified and sinners converted through his or her ministry. Further, the minister of the gospel in the Church of the Nazarene must be an example in prayer.
