Pastor Doug Ferguson

In November 2011, the Rev. T. Douglas Ferguson became the Senior Pastor of Mountaintop Community Church, one of America’s leading churches in outreach-focused ministry.

Doug was born in Charlotte, NC but grew up in Mt. Pleasant, just across the harbor from Charleston, SC.  Growing up along the Carolina coast he developed a passion for beaches, golf, history, and architecture. That love for architecture took Doug to Clemson University where he earned a Bachelor of Design and a Master of Architecture in 1986. More importantly, it was at Clemson where he met Kim Harrison, of Orlando, FL, who became Kim Ferguson in 1984. Doug practiced architecture in Charleston and Orlando and holds a License from the Florida Board of Architecture and Interior Design. During the years of beginning an architectural practice, Kim and Doug also began to build a family and welcomed three daughters Kelli, Jennifer and Jamie. 

As newlyweds, fresh out of graduate school, Doug and Kim helped to plant a new church in Mt. Pleasant, SC and through that experience Doug began to sense a call into full-time ministry.   Over the next eight years, as he continued to practice architecture God’s call to full-time ministry grew stronger and in 1993 Doug “retired” from architecture and enrolled at Columbia Theological Seminary where he earned a Masters of Divinity in 1996.  Doug was ordained into ministry by the First Presbyterian Church of Baton Rouge, LA and served that church as an Associate Pastor.  In 2000 the Ferguson family headed west to accept a call as the Executive Pastor of Menlo Park Presbyterian Church in Menlo Park, CA.  As the Executive Pastor Doug partnered with a Teaching Pastor to provide leadership for a large and growing church that had significant influence on the life and culture of the “Silicon Valley.”   In 2005 Doug was called as the Senior Pastor of Grace Presbyterian Church in Houston TX.  For six years he led the 4,000-member congregation in renewed efforts to demonstrate the love of Jesus Christ in word and in action.

Doug’s passion is to creatively lead a church to fulfill Jesus’ command to love God and our neighbors as we introduce the world to His life and love.

Mountaintop Community Church continues to grow with two weekend services, one midweek service, dynamic children and student ministries, adult small groups and classes, as well as multiple outreach and community and international ministries that reach thousands.

Most of all, Mountaintop remains committed to a founding vision to reach people who are far from God and to turn fans into players on Jesus’ team.  Confident that there are greater things still to be done, Doug, Kim and the entire Mountaintop family look forward, knowing that the best is yet to come.

Pastor David Peacock

David Peacock was born in Essex Jct, Vermont.  David became a Christ follower at 13 years old. 

He left Vermont after high school graduation to be a student athlete at Auburn University where he ran cross country and track.  He received a PR degree at Auburn with a major in speech communications and two minors in journalism and religion.  He received his Masters at Beeson Divinity School in Birmingham, Alabama. 

David has been a student pastor, a church planter and a lead pastor at churches in Atlanta, California, Colorado and Tennessee.  

He has been married to Jilfirst 21 years, and has two teenage daughters named Ansley Joy and Bailey,and two Bichon Frise dogs named Jack and Lucy. 

David loves running, juice, fruits and vegetables, drinking green tea, and cheering his girls on at soccer and running. 

David is the Family and Discipleship Pastor at Mountaintop Community Church.

Pastor Mari Beth Poor

Mari Beth Poor is a Teaching Pastor and Compassion (Missions) Pastor at Mountaintop Community Church in Birmingham, Alabama. She has been on staff at Mountaintop for close to 16 years. Mari Beth graduated from Samford in 1999 with a Bachelor’s in Psychology and received a Masters from Beeson Divinity School in 2006. Mari Beth and her husband Matt live in Helena. Mari Beth has a passion for teaching the Word and enjoys hiking, reading, hiking with her dog Moses, hanging out with friends and family and traveling.

Pastor Emeritus Dr. Bill Elder

Dr. William H. Elder, III is Pastor Emeritus and Founding Pastor of Mountaintop Community Church.  Born in New Orleans, Bill made a faith commitment to Christ at age 12 during a Billy Graham crusade. During his junior year as a cadet at the Virginia Military Institute, Bill sensed a call to ministry and then transferred to Baylor University, where he completed his B.A. in Religion in 1964. There he met his "Baylor Beauty," Linda Newman. Bill and Linda were married in 1965. Bill received his Master of Divinity degree from the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in 1968. He then returned to Baylor for his Ph.D. in Religion (Biblical Studies), which was completed in 1974.

In 1992, Bill and Linda launched a brand new church, Mountaintop Community Church, which would be singularly focused on reaching unchurched people. The church began with ten people and over the 18 years has grown to more than three thousand. Throughout those years the church has remained at 70% of their people coming from the ranks of the unchurched.

On Christmas Eve 2009, Bill suffered a major stroke.  God's hand has been on Bill and Mountaintop during the time since the stroke.  Bill continues to make astounding progress through rehabilitation and therapy.