About Our Church Staff
Get to know our church leaders and staff.
Pastor Tim Hight
Senior Pastor
Dr. Timothy Hight began his ministry at GraceLife, formerly Main Street Baptist Church, in the spring of 1996. His passion is to faithfully proclaim the truth of the Scripture in a way that is relevant and applicable to everyday life and to see God’s people reach new places of spiritual growth in their walk with Christ.
Pastor Tim and his wife Dawn have served the Lord together for more than 35 years and have been blessed with five children: Whitney, Lindsey, Timothy, Valory and Courtney. Prior to GraceLife, he served as pastor of two churches in Arkansas: First Baptist Church, Newport, and First Baptist Church, Lepanto. His first ministry role was as a Youth Pastor at the Labelle Place Baptist Church of Memphis, TN. He received a B.A. in History from the University of Memphis and the M.Div. and Ph.D. From the Mid-America Baptist Theological Seminary in Memphis, TN.
In his role as Senior Pastor, Dr. Hight has extensive experience in counselling, preaching, teaching and missions. He has led international mission teams to Russia, Guatemala, Thailand, New Zealand, Macau, Taiwan, and Zimbabwe. He has held positions of leadership on state and national levels within the Southern Baptist Convention. He currently serves as a member of the Executive Committee of the Southern Baptist Convention and has served two terms as President of the SBC of Virginia. He has served as a guest revivalist and family seminar leader with Life Action Ministries and as an Adjunct Professor and course developer in the department of Homiletics at Liberty University School of Divinity.
Click here to connect with Pastor Tim.
Pastor Sean Simonton
Associate Pastor
Pastor Sean came to GraceLife in October of 2016, after 17 years of ministry in New England. He served as a church planter and in a variety of denominational roles, most recently as Church Planting Catalyst with the North American Mission Board, SBC. He received his M.Div. degree from Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary in NC and is currently working on a Doctorate of Education degree at Southeastern. Sean is passionate about discipleship, evangelism, and missions.
Sean and his wife, Michelle, have four children, Jenna, Jacob, Joy, and John Michael.
Click here to connect with Pastor Sean.
Pastor Jonathan Couch
Minister to Students
As Minister to Students, Jonathan Couch oversees the Youth and College ministries including Sunday Morning Life Groups, AXIS youth worship on Wednesday nights, our Youth Worship Band, and many other activities throughout the year. Jonathan is a native of Christiansburg, graduating from Christiansburg High School in 1996. He received a degree in business management from Radford University in 1999.
Jonathan and his wife Erin have been married since 1999 and have three children, Cara, Chloe, and Trey.
Click here to connect with Pastor Jonathan.
Pastor Dave Widgeon
Children’s Minister
Pastor Dave came to us from Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary where he graduated Spring, 2001. After growing up in Lynchburg, Virginia, Dave attended Virginia Polytechnic Institute (Virginia Tech) where he received a degree in computer engineering. While a student at VT, God called him into the ministry to be used in reaching/teaching children. As our Children’s Pastor, Dave coordinates and supervises the children’s ministries of Life Groups, AWANA, Upward Basketball, and numerous activities throughout the year.
Dave was married in the summer of 2008 to his wife, Angela, and they have two children, Benjamin and Evelyn.
Click here to connect with Pastor Dave.
Pastor Justin Smith
Pastor of Worship and Communications
Pastor Justin has been a worship leader since 2009. While he was in middle school, he knew he was called by God to be in full time ministry. Justin loves seeing all generations worshipping Jesus and encountering Him during corporate worship.
Justin is married to Aimee, and together they have three fun and rowdy boys, Graham, Kyle, and Hudson.
Click here to connect with Pastor Justin.
Support Staff
Connie Couch
Church Secretary
Connie is the staple of our church. She supports our pastors along with other staff to keep communication in order. Connie grew up in the Christiansburg area where she met her lovely husband, Jon. She is very proud of both of her grown boys, Sean and Jonathan, along with their beautiful growing families.
Amy Yelton
Finance Coordinator
Amy is our finance coordinator and takes care of all of the church billing and monetary donations. Amy and her husband, Lance, are raising two beautiful children, Mattie and Caleb.
Jacklyn Phillips
Graphic Design and Media Specialist
Jacklyn leads and helps facilitate graphics needed for the ministries of GraceLife along with branding specific packages for the pastors to utilize. Jacklyn went to Shepherd University where she earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree with a concentration in Graphic Design. She married her husband, Austin, in 2009 and moved back to the area shortly after to start a family in the New River Valley. Austin was a former member of Main Street Baptist with his family throughout childhood and Jacklyn became an official member of GraceLife in 2013. They are raising three beautiful children; Miles, Molly, and Mia. And have the most darling puppy, Ruby.
Heather Shaffer
Assistant to Discipleship and GraceLife Kids Ministries
Heather is the Assistant to Discipleship and GraceLife Kids Ministries here at GraceLife. She enjoys interacting with people through these ministries. Heather grew up in Pulaski where she came to know the Lord at an early age. She now lives in Pilot with her husband, Andy and their son, Brennan.