Kenny Erisman is the Senior Pastor and founder of Raintree Community Church

Q- Where did you grow up, and what was your childhood like?
I grew up in Raytown, Missouri, which is about 10 miles northwest of Lee’s Summit. I had an incredible dad and mom who were great encouragers and three close brothers. My childhood was filled with lots of fun memories. Sports played a big role in my high school days at Raytown South High School. I was heavily involved in football and wrestling. I met my high school sweetheart in high school, and we have been married now for 35 years.

Q- Tell us a little about your background and training for the ministry.
After high school, I attended Central Missouri State University, and during my sophomore year, I became a Christian. It’s hard to explain, but at that time I sensed the Lord leading me to become a pastor. I continued my education and received a B.A. and continued in post-graduate work to obtain a M.A. in New Testament Literature & Greek Exegesis at Calvary Bible College & Seminary. I then moved to Dallas, Texas to attend Dallas Theological Seminary for an additional 4 years to receive a Th. M. degree in Theology. After seminary, I returned to the Kansas City Area and in 1982, became the pastor (also church planter) of Woods Chapel Baptist Church in Blue Springs, Missouri. In 1989, we sensed the leading of God to start another church in the Lee’s Summit area- and here I am today!

Q- Give us some inside information about your family.
My wife, Phyllis, is very warm, gregarious, beautiful and intelligent (she graduated 2nd in her large high school class and then magna cum laude in college). She has a teaching degree but chose not to work as we were raising our kids. She is a great wife and mother, and we don’t know what we would do without her. We have three girls: Emily, who is an extremely gifted artist (she did the art work for the “Four Most Important Questions on Your Spiritual Journey”); Rachel, whose writing gifts will one day prove to make her famous (presently she works as one of the church’s secretaries-what a gift to get to work with her everyday!) Rachel was married in 2001 and has a husband, Kyle, who served as the interim youth pastor here in 2001-2002. Sarah is our youngest who was married in June 2003 (we love her talented husband Jason). Sarah is also a very gifted artist, specializing in 3-D art, and is busy taking care of her daughters, Elizabeth Anne (who was born one lb 11 oz on 5/15/04) and Hannah Faith who was born on 9/8/06! We are grandparents and we love it!

Q- In a few short sentences, give us your philosophy of life.
We would have no life apart from God! Everything that I have and am is because of the grace of God. God is so incredibly kind and good to give us eternal life through His Son but as icing on the cake, He has blessed me a wonderful wife and family and we love each other very much. Life is about relationships- our relationship with God, our relationships with family and friends, our relationship within the body of Christ, and our relationship with the world (to be a conduit of God’s love to the world). God gives us the gift of joy; and ‘enjoying God’ is at the center of life.

Andrew Collins is the Youth Pastor.

He and his wife Michaela have been at Raintree since 2002.

They have wonderful 4 kids: Samantha, Mathis, Harrison, and Abigail.  They love working with teens, helping them develop an incredible passion for God leading to a deep compassion for others.  ”Teens are making a ton of decisions about life, friends, family, and we want to be there to support them in making Christ-honoring decisions.”