Dr. George L. Coon
Senior Pastor
Pastor Coon has been the Senior Pastor of Northeastern Baptist Church since 1993. He and his wife, Linda, have two children and five grandchildren.
Pastor Coon was saved at an early age while growing up on a farm in northern Michigan. He obtained a Bachelor of Arts degree from Bob Jones University, a Master of Divinity degree from Grand Rapids Baptist Theological Seminary and a Doctorate of Ministries degree from Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary. If you’d like to read Pastor Coon’s doctoral thesis.)
In 1974 Pastor Coon was ordained to the gospel ministry. He has served as Senior Pastor in three Baptist churches in Michigan. Alto Baptist Church from 1973-85, Skeels Baptist Church and Skeels Northern Christian School from 1985-93 and currently, Northeastern Baptist Church starting in 1993.
Pastor Coon also serves on three parachurch organizations. Michigan Association of Regular Baptist Churches with headquarters in Grand Rapids, Michigan; Continental Baptist Missions with headquarters in Rockford, Michigan; and Closed Door Ministries with headquarters in Rockford, Michigan.
Always practical, Pastor Coon is committed to sound expositional preaching and reaching lost people with the gospel of Jesus Christ. His verse of commitment is: “…that utterance may be given to me in the opening of my mouth, to make known with boldness the mystery of the gospel.” (Ephesians 6:19 NASB)
Pastor Greg Bishop
Associate Pastor
Pastor Bishop has been the Associate Pastor of Northeastern Baptist Church since 1988. He and his wife, Suzanne, have three children.
Pastor Bishop was saved after college in Flint, Michigan. He obtained a Bachelor of Arts degree from Adrian College, a Master of Divinity degree from Grand Rapids Baptist Theological Seminary.
In 1983 Pastor Bishop was ordained to the gospel ministry. He has served in three Baptist churches as an Assistant or Associate Pastor; at Calvary Baptist Church of Muskegon, Mi. from 1979-81, Grandview Park Baptist Church of Des Moines, Iowa from 1981-1988, and currently, Northeastern Baptist Church starting in 1988.
Pastor Bishop has also served in two other ministry organizations; at Heritage Christian Academy in Kalamazoo, Michigan as a board member, chairman of the board, bible teacher, and coach. At Borgess Medical Center of Kalamazoo, Michigan as a chaplain.
As the Associate Pastor, Pastor Bishop seeks to “build up the body of Christ” in the multiple areas of ministry including children, Sunday school, senior citizens, visitation and teaching ministries.
Pastor Nathan Pierpont
Pastor of Worship & Discipleship
The Pierponts came to Northeastern in 2002. Nathan and his wife, Jennifer, have five children, Elisabeth, Jonathan, Levi, Grace, and Nathaniel. Jennifer teaches their children at home and serves in the nursery and youth ministries. The Pierponts live in Parchment just a few minutes from the church.
Pastor Pierpont was born again in the summer of 1972 during family devotions. He felt God’s call on his life from an early age. Nathan received a Bachelor of Arts degree in Church Music from Mount Vernon University, and a Master of Ministry degree from Baptist Bible Seminary. Northeastern had the joy of ordaining Nathan to the gospel ministry in 2006. Pastor Pierpont oversees our music ministry and leads our worship in all our Sunday services with passion and sensitivity. He is committed to involving everyone in a carefully crafted blend of music styles that brings generations of believers together in worship and utilizes the gifts and talents of God’s people. Pastor Pierpont teaches a regular Bible study on Wednesday nights in conjunction with our traditional prayer meeting. Other areas of administration are outreach, small group ministry development and guest ministries.
Nathan and Jennifer were married in 1992 and soon after entered full-time ministry serving as youth pastor, church planter, and gospel recording artist. For about five years prior to coming to Northeastern, the Pierponts had a full-time concert ministry to churches through the Midwest.
Some of Nathan’s favorite activities include day-trips and making meals with the family, tending to his cars, motorcycle, and computers. Nathan also continues to produce recordings of his music.
Mr. Charles Black
Director of Student Ministries
Mr. Charles “Chuck” Black is the Director of Student Ministries here at Northeastern. He started working with the High School group about 6 years ago. When the former youth pastor was called to Northeastern, he moved to the College and Career group and has lead that for the 5 years prior to becoming DoSM. He accepted the position of Director of Student Ministries in April, 2011.
Chuck has been married to his wife, Vickie, for over 25 years. They have three children: Charles, James, and Amanda.
Chuck was convicted at the age of seven of his sin during a concert at his childhood church, and realized that there was nothing he could do to get to heaven but by the blood of Jesus Christ and receiving of His free gift of salvation.
After High School, he attended Liberty Baptist College, and had his eyes set on radio and television broadcasting. It was a changing time in history where this new thing called computers was taking over more and more of the industry, but he was not interested in that aspect. Before his calling to the ministry, his background was property management. He has several certifications and is a member of IREM. He is currently attending Liberty University Online, working toward his Bachelor of Science in Religion, with a minor in counseling.
Chuck began working with youth here at Northeastern Baptist, where, between youth pastors, he filled in for a year in the high school and middle school groups. When the new youth pastor was called, he was asked, along with his friend and partner in crime, Doug Martin, to lead the “Transitions” class, which was the college and career group. The group consisted of about five kids at that time. Within five years of taking co-leadership of the Transitions class, the class changed it’s name to “Coram Deo”, which means “before the face of God”, and has grown to about 30-40 kids. God has truly blessed this class!
Chuck is currently becoming involved with the local public High School. He also supports the ministry of Vision for Youth, which serves in training leadership in the high school and college, and in organizing missions trips to spread the gospel to the world. His main focus with VFY is to become active in local colleges and universities, reaching out with the gospel to the next generation of leaders.
Chuck’s favorite Bible verse is Acts 4:13 - “Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were uneducated, common men, they were astonished. And they recognized that they had been with Jesus.”
Many are waiting to be trained with degrees and knowledge, but what you really need is to just be with Jesus. He is the truth and the answer to every question.