Elders:

Thomas F. Leake (Senior Pastor-Teacher): Pastor Tom Leake was born overseas as an American citizen (his dad having worked for the U.S. State Department), but was raised in the United States in Maryland. He entered into a saving relationship with Jesus Christ while in college. There he met his wife, Susan, and became a leader in the Inter-Varsity Christian Fellowship ministry on campus. After graduating, Tom taught in Christian schools for 12 years. While working as a teacher, he served in a variety of ministries at his local church and earned a Master of Arts degree in theology from Capital Bible Seminary. Although he had not yet sensed a call to the pastorate, Tom simply desired to be better equipped to minister within the local church.

It was not until the mid-1990s that Tom understood God's call on his life to enter into the ministry. He then moved his family to California so that he could attend the Master’s Seminary, located on the campus of Grace Community Church in Los Angeles, where Dr. John MacArthur preaches. Here he earned a Master of Divinity degree, graduating Summa Cum Laude in 1997. It was Tom’s desire “to be trained in a strong biblical philosophy of ministry.” While attending Grace Community Church, he served in various capacities, including: deacon in the Joint Heirs class; training in Discipleship Evangelism; teaching the Fundamentals of the Faith class; leading a small group; and assisting with the AWANA program.

Shortly after graduating, Tom was ordained to the gospel ministry at Congregational Christian Church in Los Angeles, where he had ministered while in seminary. His ordination was accomplished with the oversight and aid of the IFCA International, of which Tom has been a member since his ordination. While in seminary, the Lord had impressed on Tom the need for planting strong Bible-teaching churches—particularly in Maryland—so he returned there in the summer of 1997 to help establish Hope Bible Church.

Currently, Tom’s primary ministries are expository preaching, teaching, and supervising the planning and development of Sunday worship services. In addition, he focuses on developing leaders and helping all the members of the congregation to become mature co-laborers in Christ. Tom and Susan have four children: Hannah, who currently attends The Master’s College in California, Grace, Faith, and Josiah.

(Note: Tom is a member of The Shepherd’s Fellowship, a group developed through the annual Shepherd’s Conference at Grace Community Church in California.)

Alan H. Plumley (Family Discipleship, Finances): Dr. Plumley grew up in Delaware, and became a Christian while a sophomore in high school. For five years in college he grew and ministered as a student leader of the Campus Crusade for Christ ministry on campus. After graduating, he and Carol got married and joined the staff of Campus Crusade, volunteering to minister overseas by using their engineering and teaching skills (respectively) to help meet people's physical needs while working with a team of others through local churches to help meet people's spiritual needs. They ministered for five years in Southern Africa, focusing on evangelism, teaching, and training. While there, God gave Alan a growing burden to have a Biblical impact on the Family, the Church, and the State. Recognizing his need to be better trained in government, they returned to the U.S., where Alan eventually earned a Ph.D. in Public Policy from Harvard University. While working on his dissertation, Alan came to Maryland to work for the IRS Research Division in D.C.—learning taxes from the inside. He continues to work there as an economist. Alan and Carol were also members of Forcey Memorial Church for twelve years, where they worked with the Leakes in parenting and homeschool ministries, and where he taught the membership class. Dr. Plumley was ordained an elder at the first worship service held by what is now Hope Bible Church. His primary ministry at Hope is teaching. The Plumleys have four children: Chris, Trevor, Jan, and Sarah.

Aaron Jolly (Membership, Baptism, Fundamentals of the Faith): Charlie was ordained as the third elder of Hope Bible Church. Since his conversion, the Lord has introduced a number of people into his life who were instrumental to his Christian growth. Now as a mature believer, he tirelessly helps others understand the importance of being an active participating member in the church. He strongly believes in the mutuality of encouragement, as brothers and sisters grow to know one another through fellowship and prayer. In Charlie’s words, “That’s what church is all about.” One of Charlie’s distinctive characteristics is his enthusiasm for actively witnessing and evangelizing.

Charlie prepared for his ordination over seven years in HBC Leadership Training. Although he was an elder at this previous church, he realized that he was not ready for such a position, and opted to study harder and pray harder to ensure that he could live up to the challenges of the office as described in Scripture. (1 Timothy 3; Titus 1:5-9) Taking his calling seriously, he moved himself and his family from Southeast DC to Laurel in order to be able to improve and concentrate on his ministry at HBC. As an interesting aside, it was Charlie that introduced George Lawson to the Lord, and then continued to disciple and encourage him. George is now one of our missionaries studying at The Master’s Seminary in California in order to pursue a career in pulpit ministry.

Charlie’s wife, Rhonda is another key to Charlie’s strength in the Lord. She has been and continues to be a teacher in the Women’s Ministry, and has been a confidant and prayer partner to many Ladies of Hope, as well as an under-girding and supportive partner to her husband.

Charlie is a dyed-in-the-wool Dallas Cowboys fan.

Currently working at Kaiser Permanente as a Configuration Analyst, Charlie and his wife Rhonda have four children, Amanda (who is attending Cedarville University in Ohio), AJ (also attending Cedarville University), Joseph (age 11) and Stephen (age 9).

Deacons:

Tony Jolly: (Care Ministry): After many years of selfish living, even after being saved, the Holy Spirit and God's Word began to bring deep conviction to Tony of his dreaded sin. "And that battle that the LORD has won in my life and is still winning has brought me to where I am today." Tony desires to serve others joyfully and care for their needs for God's glory! He is married to Pam, and they have four children.

Craig Fyfe (Children's Ministry): With nearly 20 years of experience teaching Sunday School and currently being a Family Flock Group leader and a former small group leader in a local Christian middle school, Craig became the Children's Ministry Superintendent in 2002. In the summer of 2004, he was made the Deacon of the Children's Ministry. Craig and his wife, Belinda, have two daughters.

Ross Levin (Church Administration): In October 1997, Ross and his family followed the Leake family (their neighbors) from California to Maryland after the Leakes left seminary to plant what is now Hope Bible Church. Ross was saved in 1984 while serving in the U.S. Marine Corps, having first heard the gospel eight years prior while attending the United States Naval Academy in Annapolis, MD. After leaving the military in 1986, he served in various capacities, most applicably a 17-year stint in the financial services community as a Certified Financial Planner and Compliance Officer. God provided these administrative vocations to give Ross experiences and abilities that are now being used for His glory at HBC. Ross is a graduate of Master's International School of Divinity at Evansville, IN, where he earned his Master of Arts in Christian Studies in Christian Administration and Management. He is married to Becky, has a son and daughter at home, as well as two grown sons in MD and CA.

Roger Zeender (Visitors): Roger and his wife, Robin, are among the founding families of what is now Hope Bible Church. God gave them a burden to help plant a church like this that spread even to Pastor Leake while he was in seminary. From the beginning, the Zeenders have been used by God to spur our fellowship and sense of family. They have opened their home for numerous church gatherings — including Sunday worship for the few weeks between when we left our location in Laurel and when Fulton Elementary became available. They now lead the Greeter and Visitors Ministries as well as a flock group. They have three daughters.

Staff:

Ross Levin (Church Administrator): Apart from Pastor Leake, Ross is the church's only full-time employee and also serves as Treasurer. He was hired in 2005, having already served for many years as our financial bookkeeper.

Susan Leake (Senior Pastor's Secretary): In addition to her many other responsibilities as Pastor Leake's wife, Sue works part-time handling many of the administrative tasks associated with Pastor Leake's responsibilities, freeing him up for more effective ministry.