Leadership

Pastors & Staff

Elders

Randy Brown

Randy has been married to my wife, Rhonda, for 29 years. They have two, married, adult children, Grant (and Shelby) and Austin (and Leah).  Grant and Austin accepted Christ as their savior as children and were baptized here at Castine Church.  Randy is a farmer and a commercial/industrial electrician working for Studebaker Electric for over 30 years.
He has experienced God many times in his life. First and foremost, God blessed him with his wife and family.  he also experiences God daily as he walks through life and consider God his friend.
Over five years ago, Randy was extremely humbled to be called to be an Elder.  He spent time talking with God in order to discern whether this was what God would want him to do.  During this time of discernment, He experienced God in many ways through His people or events, that made it clear to Randy that having a role as an Elder is where God wants him to serve.

BJ Paulus

BJ and his wife Brooke have 2 children Olivia and Ezekiel and they have attended Castine for over 10 years together. They enjoy serving in the children's ministry, marriage ministry and are also apart of the connection team. BJ and Brooke have seen and felt God's amazing provision in bringing them together, building their business of Snapfitness and now as BJ serves in his first term as an elder at Castine.

Gale Shoup

Gale his wife, Deb, have been married 43 years. The Lord has blessed them with four married children and thirteen grandchildren ranging in age from 1 to 20 years old.  They all reside in the Pleasant Hill, Ohio area. Gale is thankful that all our children have accepted Jesus as their Lord and Savior.
In October 1981, Gale and his wife made a commitment to serve the Lord, and we were baptized at the German Baptist church. In 2006, they started attending Castine Church and have been a part of this congregation since that time. Over the years, they have been involved in missionary trips to Africa, Haiti, and Mexico, and Gale served as lead pastor for two years in Florida. Gale spent his vocational life in the commercial construction and development industry. In 2018 he turned over the operation of GLR Inc. to his son Brandon Shoup. Gale is currently involved in the development of commercial properties along with raising elk and bison. Through the years, Gale has prayed that the Lord would use his life for God's glory in an area that would be the most useful to his kingdom.

Casey Weiss

Casey and wife Krista have five children; Alex, Maggie, Katie, Charlie & Henry.  Alex and his wife Molly are expecting our first grandchild in November 2022.  They have been regular attenders of Castine Church for over twenty years.
He has been employed at JAFE Decorating for 19 years as the Research & Development Manager.  Krista has been an Elementary teacher for the Greenville school system for the last 20 years.
Besides raising their children on the farm, they also rear Milking Shorthorn dairy cattle, Corgi puppies, crops and hay.

Doug McAllister

Doug and his wife Tina have been married 28 years and joined Castine Church in 2010. They have two daughters, Samantha and Sidney. Doug and Tina both grew up in Ohio, with Doug being from Coshocton County and Tina from Preble. Along with their full-time jobs and service activities at Castine Church, Doug and Tina own and operate Alpha and Omega Genetics, a competitive livestock operation providing sheep both locally and to farms throughout the U.S.

Dan Marker

Dan and his wife Michelle, have been married 34 years and have been active in the Ministry at Castine since 2009.            They have 2 daughters, Hillary & Rachel, son-in-law, Caleb, grandson Paul Timothy and granddaughter Ruth Grace.
Both Daniel & Michelle have a passion and heart in ministering identity in Christ to the hurt and wounded alongside spiritual warfare training from Deeper Walk International. They enjoy reading, nature, walks, travel, and time spent with family & friends. "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold the new has come." - 2 Corinthians 5:17

Phil Bayer

Phil has been married to his wife Lisa for 42 years.  He is the CFO at GLR, a general contractor and has been blessed to be there for the past 11 years.
As a child his parents gave me a Christian upbringing from birth.  At the age of 19, He recognized that Jesus died for his sins and saved me from an eternity of pain and the misery of hell.  He accepted Jesus as my personal savior and was baptized into the German Baptist faith.  For the past 35 years Lisa & Phil have served the Lord at Castine.  He has served at Castine as a Deacon, Sunday School teacher, Church Treasurer, Church Board, Finance Team, Administration Leader Team and Elder since 2017.
He has enjoyed serving God and the Castine Church congregation as an Elder for the past 5 ½ years and believes God has called Phil to serve God and Castine in this role.

Ministry Staff

Greg Hyre

Senior Pastor
Pastor Greg has served at Castine Church over 20 years. He is married to Shaun whom he met in a local school and married soon after graduation. Greg and Shaun are native to this area having spent most of their lives in this community. Greg and Shaun currently live in Greenville. They have one son, Zachary, who is married to Tawnee. In his free time Greg enjoys hiking (he has hiked in different states) sports activities, reading, and occasionally watching sports. 

Christian Stewart

NextGen Pastor
Pastor Christian has been at Castine since June 2023. He was previously the minister at another church in Dayton, and has been in full-time ministry since 2019. Christian and his wife Sarah live in Arcanum with their cat, Vincent. Christian enjoys hiking, biking, reading, playing worship music, and spending time with his wife.

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Megan Foster

Arts Director
Megan has attended Castine from a young age and became the Director of Arts in 2019. Megan attended Anderson University, graduating with a degree in Music Education. She is married to her husband, Chris, and they reside in Laura with their two daughters, Aria & Harper. Megan enjoys traveling, hiking, & attending concerts & musicals. 

Support Staff

Gwen Gunckel

Executive Director
Gwen Gunckel is responsible for office administrative management as well as church and social media communication. She is the first point of contact for Castine Church in the church office. Gwen and her husband, Deron have two daughters. 

Tashayla Buffenbarger

NextGen Administrative Assistant
Tashayla has been a part of Castine and the NextGen Ministry since her early teenage years. Immediately after graduating from High school in 2018, she spent 2 years in Cambodia serving alongside a missionary family. Most of her days are spent working within the youth and sports ministry at Castine but in her free time she enjoys traveling, music, anything outdoors and spending time with family. 

Renita Hoblit

Custodial Staff
Renita has 6 children and soon to be 4 grandchildren.  Her favorite things are spending time with her family and friends, attending all the activities her kids are in, reading and gardening. She seeks on a daily basis to know and live out the identity and freedom she has in Christ.  Renita is passionate about helping others find that for themselves. 

Bev Garber

Administrative Assistant
Bev married her husband, Nate, in 1974. We have a daughter, son, daughter-in-law & 3 granddaughters. Bev enjoys being with her family, Bible Study Fellowship, filling in at the church, crocheting, reading & making greeting cards. Bev enjoys even more having her guy retired!