Church Staff

Dr. Michael Madaris

Senior Pastor

Pastor Mike Madaris loves doing what King Jesus has called him to do. His desire for Kelleytown is to cultivate a great desire for God’s people to love Jesus and others, and to serve Jesus and others with complete abandonment. He believes this is best accomplished through a consistent ministry of teaching and preaching the Word of God, and with the application of the content of God’s Word into the everyday lives of God’s people at KBC. His greatest desire for each member is to see them grow to spiritual maturity as disciples of Christ Jesus, and to see each member then skillfully lead others around them to do the same. His vision for Kelleytown Baptist Church is to see her become a sending station of called ones to the nations as bold and courageous ambassadors of the Kingdom of Heaven.

Pastor Mike was saved as a 5 year old boy, and surrendered to the call to vocational ministry at the age of 24. He has pursued that calling by serving two churches as youth pastor in both North and South Carolina. He has served as senior pastor churches in North Carolina and Florida since 2001. He graduated from North Greenville University with his undergraduate degree, and is a two-time graduate of Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary, receiving both his Master of Divinity and Doctor of Ministry degree.

He and his wife, Melissa, have been married since December 2000. They have two children: Morgan and Mya.

Pastor Mike believes that we are living in some of the greatest times of challenge and opportunity the Church has ever seen. “Fixing our eyes on King Jesus, let us take the gospel of Jesus Christ to the ends of the earth until the end of time.” “The light that shines the farthest necessarily shines the brightest at home.” “The gospel is Good News, but only if they hear it in time.”

Two of Pastor Mike’s favorite books are TalleyHo! The Fox, written by his mentor, the late Rev. Herb Hodges and the other is The Master Plan of Evangelism by Dr. Robert Coleman.

Pastor Mike enjoys doing a lot of different things, but his favorite things to do in addition to being involved with his girls’ sports activities are playing golf, flying, hunting and fishing.

One of his favorite Bible verses is Romans 5:8, “But God demonstrated His own love toward us in that while we were yet sinners Christ died for us.”


Eric Groves

Family Pastor

Growing up in Ohio, my mother was a strong faithful servant of the Lord.  With her example teaching me, I learned at any early age the principles of being a good servant.  Feels like I have always seemed to have a desire to serve the Lord and a desire to be led of His Spirit.  My love for ministry really grew strong as I was able to serve our local church camp, Camp Chautauqua.  It was during these years of going to college and working at camp that my love for teens matured.  Upon graduating from Tennessee Temple University and marrying Vanessa in 1999, we began serving together in Vanessa’s home church of Bear, DE.

While acting as teacher, coach, athletic director, youth worker, Awana T&T Leader, and bus driver; the Lord taught us so many things about the ministry, and blessed us with two wonderful kids of our own: Izabel and Andrew.  After 6 years, we moved to a church and school in Richardson, TX as the Facility Administrator.  While there, we were part of starting a Saturday night worship service and beginning a homeless ministry.  We also were blessed with our third child, Matthew.  It was while serving here that we would surrender to a call to be part of a church planting team.

In 2012, the church ordained me and sent us to St. Cloud, Florida.  While building the church there, I took on the role of producing pastor and youth pastor, opening up our home to teens every Sunday night.  While in Florida, we developed a passion for helping people come to know Christ in a personal, real, and living relationship.  It is our desire to share what God gave us to all that we connect with, the truth and freedom that Jesus offers us.

Since coming on staff as Family Ministry’s Pastor in June of 2021, It is with great humbleness and excitement to be given the privilege to serve my Savior and His bride through Kelleytown.

Lin Kirkman

Associate Pastor of Music and Senior Adults

Lin is a native of Columbia, SC and has served KBC since April 2000.  He is a 1982 graduate of Charleston Southern University and a 1986 graduate of Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary.  Lin has served churches in Texas and South Carolina.  
He is married to Yvonne, a school teacher, and they have two children, Mandy and Josh.  He enjoys working in the yard, playing the piano, reading, and playing video games.   He finds fulfillment in leading people in worship and building the body of Christ through music.

Psalm 96: 1-3 "Sing to the Lord a new song; sing to the Lord, all the earth. Sing to the Lord, praise his name; proclaim his salvation day after day. Declare his glory among the nations, his marvelous deeds among all peoples."


Connor Johnson

Director of Media and Communications

I joined the staff at Kelleytown in July of 2022. I handle everything from our communications, video production, graphic design, maintaining our social media, managing our audio/visual/lighting teams, building our website and mobile app, marketing, improving our worship experience, and so much more!

 A proud native of Hartsville, I pursued my education at Francis Marion University, where I earned a dual degree in Marketing. Beyond my professional pursuits, I have a deep passion for music and spend my free time playing the guitar and piano, as well as cherishing moments with my family.

My spiritual journey began early when I was saved and baptized at the age of 7 in another local church. In 2016, God called me and my family to Kelleytown, where we found a welcoming home. As I grew in my faith, I became actively involved in the church community.  

Using my spiritual gifts to serve the Lord and our church brings me immense joy. Each day, I am grateful for the opportunity to contribute to the uplifting worship experience at Kelleytown Baptist Church. It is my heartfelt desire to continue using my gifts to glorify God and strengthen the bonds within our church family.

Matthew 19:26 "With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible."

Kim Latham

Assistant Director of Children's Ministry

Kim joined the KBC staff in August of 2022.

She works directly with our children's ministry and with our family pastor Eric Groves to keep our children's ministry active. 

Tammy Johnson

Kindergarten Director

The Lord placed the call of serving children on my life many years ago and I am so very thankful for that. I have been teaching preschool for more than 20 years. My desire is that children will grow to love the Lord and learn academics and fun things along the way. I am married and have two children. God has blessed me tremendously with a wonderful and loving family. We are also thankful to be a part of such a wonderful church family.
“The Lord is my light and my salvation-whom shall I fear? The LORD is the stronghold of my life-of whom shall I be afraid?” Psalm 27:1