Brief BioDr. Chris Dortch is a pastor who has been serving in ministry since 1993. He serves as the Lead Pastor of Grace Point Church of Lake Norman. He is the author of several books and the host of "Growing University with Pastor Chris Dortch" available on iTunes Podcasts. He is a graduate of Liberty University as well as Liberty Baptist Theological Seminary.
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Family Bio
Chris and his wife, Cheryl, have been married since May 16, 1992. They met during their freshman year of college (University of Kentucky) at Tatesbrook Baptist Church in Lexington, Kentucky where Cheryl’s dad served as the founding and Senior Pastor.
Cheryl is the Principal at South Elementary School in Mooresville, North Carolina. Cheryl began at South Elementary in July 2003 as a first grade teacher. She was awarded “Teacher of the Year” for both her school (South Elementary School) and entire district (Mooresville Graded School District) in 2011-12. Cheryl is a graduate of Western Kentucky University where she majored in Elementary Education. She earned her Master of Education from Indiana Wesleyan University in Curriculum and Instruction. She is currently working on her doctorate. She also has a gift of hospitality and enjoys cooking. If you’re ever given the opportunity, you’ll want a slice of her homemade apple pie.
They have one son, Carson, who graduated in the Class of 2012 from Mooresville Senior High School in Mooresville, North Carolina. He and his wife, Jessica, have been married since July 18, 2015. On July 4th of 2019, they welcomed their first son, Easton. They are expecting again in August 2024!
Cheryl is the Principal at South Elementary School in Mooresville, North Carolina. Cheryl began at South Elementary in July 2003 as a first grade teacher. She was awarded “Teacher of the Year” for both her school (South Elementary School) and entire district (Mooresville Graded School District) in 2011-12. Cheryl is a graduate of Western Kentucky University where she majored in Elementary Education. She earned her Master of Education from Indiana Wesleyan University in Curriculum and Instruction. She is currently working on her doctorate. She also has a gift of hospitality and enjoys cooking. If you’re ever given the opportunity, you’ll want a slice of her homemade apple pie.
They have one son, Carson, who graduated in the Class of 2012 from Mooresville Senior High School in Mooresville, North Carolina. He and his wife, Jessica, have been married since July 18, 2015. On July 4th of 2019, they welcomed their first son, Easton. They are expecting again in August 2024!
Ministry Bio
Chris’ first sermon was as a teenager at his home church in Beaver Dam, Kentucky. Although he did not sense God’s call into ministry until his Sophomore year of college, God was already preparing Chris for the work of ministry.
Chris was not able to continue his education at the University of Kentucky, in part due to the financial hardship of losing everything through a flood a mere 1 month and 2 days after they were married. Instead, they would focus upon finishing Cheryl’s education first. Therefore, Chris began serving as the Youth Pastor at a small rural church in Frankfort, Kentucky. Each week Chris would travel to Louisville, Kentucky where he visited the library of Southern Baptist Theological Seminary where he would study and pray that one day he could afford the courses to actually attend seminary. It was during this time that Chris began to build his personal library by purchasing course textbooks at the campus bookstore. Chris valued education, but didn’t want to allow his inability to afford and attend school to hinder his ministry. The first book he purchased at the seminary campus was a paperback copy of Herschel H. Hobbs’ Baptist Faith and Message.
In 1994, Chris partnered with his Father-in-Law to begin planting a church near Cynthiana, Kentucky. They began repairs on an old church building off Leesburg Pike (Hwy. 62) which was later destroyed by a tornado.
Near the end of 1994, Chris returned to his hometown of Beaver Dam, Kentucky and began supply preaching for churches through the Ohio County Baptist Association. In 1995 he was called to serve as the Pastor of Mt. Zion Baptist Church in Cromwell, Kentucky. The church was on the brink of closing its doors. Under Chris’ leadership the church was able to secure brand new pews for the church’s sanctuary through a grant from the Oldham Little Church Foundation (Sugar Land, TX). After a number of work projects around the church to improve the general maintenance of the building, the congregation began to experience growth and continues to grow today.
During the Fall of 1995 Chris returned to youth ministry with a call to Greenwood Baptist Church in Bowling Green, Kentucky. Chris served two years at Greenwood Baptist Church where he began to develop a Purpose-Driven Youth Ministry. Unaware of Rick Warren’s book, “The Purpose-Driven Church,” Chris began to develop a purpose statement and brochure for Greenwood’s youth group. The purposes were: evangelism, build unity, teach the Bible, fellowship, grow, missions, serve others, and worship. It wasn’t until 1998 with the release of the Purpose-Driven Youth Ministry by Doug Fields that Chris realized he had duplicated some of the purposes and then refined the purposes in his youth ministry to reach, build, teach, serve, and glorify. Chris often jokes that he has been doing Purpose-Driven Youth Ministry before he knew what Purpose-Driven Youth Ministry was.
During the Fall of 1997 Chris was given his first opportunity to serve full-time in ministry as the Minister of Youth & Education at Hawesville Baptist Church. Although Greenwood had doubled Chris’ salary during the summer of 1997, it was with the understanding that he would return to part-time pay in the fall. With the offer to begin full-time ministry at Hawesville Baptist Church; Chris, Cheryl, and Carson moved to Hawesville, Kentucky. It was during Chris’ ministry at Hawesville that he developed comprehensive programming that matched the Purpose-Driven model. During Chris’ five years at HBC, nearly a dozen teenagers accepted a call into ministry. Some have become worship leaders, youth pastors, church planters, and one served with Chris in North Carolina as the church’s graphic artist and web-designer. Chris and the youth group of HBC were featured in the state’s Baptist newspaper, The Western Recorder, as well as Growing Church Magazine for being one of the fastest growing youth groups in Kentucky.
In late 2001, Chris accepted a call to serve as Youth Pastor at Christ Community Church north of Charlotte, North Carolina. CCC was already being recognized as one of the fastest growing Southern Baptist Churches in North Carolina based upon attendance and baptisms. Though the youth group at Christ Community was considerably smaller than HBC, it didn’t remain that way. The youth group at Christ Community Church grew to minister to over 350 students on an annual basis with approximately 150-200 students involved on a weekly basis through weekend worship services and small groups. Chris gave oversight to three ministries at Christ Community Church as the Lead Pastor of Children, Youth, and Young Adult Ministries. The church was running 600 in 2002 and reached 1600 by 2008.
After serving twenty years in ministry, most of which was with students, Pastor Chris transitioned into the role of Executive Pastor at Christ Community Church. As the Executive Pastor, he was responsible for executing the vision of the church and providing leadership in the daily management of all church staff. He was responsible to lead the staff and church in planning, implementing, and evaluating a comprehensive plan of business operations for the church; providing direct oversight to the pastoral staff, Office Manager, Finance Manager, and Facilities Manager.
In 2014, Pastor Chris accepted the call to serve as Lead Pastor of First Baptist Church of Mount Sterling, Kentucky. While in Kentucky, Pastor Chris served on the Kentucky Baptist Convention's Mission Board where he partnered with others on the Evangelism & Church Planting Team. Multiply East Kentucky is a KBC effort to plant more churches throughout the eastern part of the state. Pastor Chris also served through the Central Kentucky Network of Baptists in developing revitalization efforts among Kentucky churches.
He now serves as the Lead Pastor of Grace Point Church of Lake Norman, North Carolina. Grace Point is a community of believers who have covenanted together to fulfill the Great Commission in the Lake Norman area and to the nations. The mission statement of Grace Point states, "Where the Gospel Meets Life." Pastor Chris explains that the name of the church "Grace Point" references the intersection of the Great Commission (cf. Matthew 28:16-20) and the Great Commandment (cf. Matthew 22:36-40). The Great Commission is to make disciples by proclaiming the Gospel. The Great Commandment is to love God and love others. This is the heartbeat of the church and the pastors.
Chris was not able to continue his education at the University of Kentucky, in part due to the financial hardship of losing everything through a flood a mere 1 month and 2 days after they were married. Instead, they would focus upon finishing Cheryl’s education first. Therefore, Chris began serving as the Youth Pastor at a small rural church in Frankfort, Kentucky. Each week Chris would travel to Louisville, Kentucky where he visited the library of Southern Baptist Theological Seminary where he would study and pray that one day he could afford the courses to actually attend seminary. It was during this time that Chris began to build his personal library by purchasing course textbooks at the campus bookstore. Chris valued education, but didn’t want to allow his inability to afford and attend school to hinder his ministry. The first book he purchased at the seminary campus was a paperback copy of Herschel H. Hobbs’ Baptist Faith and Message.
In 1994, Chris partnered with his Father-in-Law to begin planting a church near Cynthiana, Kentucky. They began repairs on an old church building off Leesburg Pike (Hwy. 62) which was later destroyed by a tornado.
Near the end of 1994, Chris returned to his hometown of Beaver Dam, Kentucky and began supply preaching for churches through the Ohio County Baptist Association. In 1995 he was called to serve as the Pastor of Mt. Zion Baptist Church in Cromwell, Kentucky. The church was on the brink of closing its doors. Under Chris’ leadership the church was able to secure brand new pews for the church’s sanctuary through a grant from the Oldham Little Church Foundation (Sugar Land, TX). After a number of work projects around the church to improve the general maintenance of the building, the congregation began to experience growth and continues to grow today.
During the Fall of 1995 Chris returned to youth ministry with a call to Greenwood Baptist Church in Bowling Green, Kentucky. Chris served two years at Greenwood Baptist Church where he began to develop a Purpose-Driven Youth Ministry. Unaware of Rick Warren’s book, “The Purpose-Driven Church,” Chris began to develop a purpose statement and brochure for Greenwood’s youth group. The purposes were: evangelism, build unity, teach the Bible, fellowship, grow, missions, serve others, and worship. It wasn’t until 1998 with the release of the Purpose-Driven Youth Ministry by Doug Fields that Chris realized he had duplicated some of the purposes and then refined the purposes in his youth ministry to reach, build, teach, serve, and glorify. Chris often jokes that he has been doing Purpose-Driven Youth Ministry before he knew what Purpose-Driven Youth Ministry was.
During the Fall of 1997 Chris was given his first opportunity to serve full-time in ministry as the Minister of Youth & Education at Hawesville Baptist Church. Although Greenwood had doubled Chris’ salary during the summer of 1997, it was with the understanding that he would return to part-time pay in the fall. With the offer to begin full-time ministry at Hawesville Baptist Church; Chris, Cheryl, and Carson moved to Hawesville, Kentucky. It was during Chris’ ministry at Hawesville that he developed comprehensive programming that matched the Purpose-Driven model. During Chris’ five years at HBC, nearly a dozen teenagers accepted a call into ministry. Some have become worship leaders, youth pastors, church planters, and one served with Chris in North Carolina as the church’s graphic artist and web-designer. Chris and the youth group of HBC were featured in the state’s Baptist newspaper, The Western Recorder, as well as Growing Church Magazine for being one of the fastest growing youth groups in Kentucky.
In late 2001, Chris accepted a call to serve as Youth Pastor at Christ Community Church north of Charlotte, North Carolina. CCC was already being recognized as one of the fastest growing Southern Baptist Churches in North Carolina based upon attendance and baptisms. Though the youth group at Christ Community was considerably smaller than HBC, it didn’t remain that way. The youth group at Christ Community Church grew to minister to over 350 students on an annual basis with approximately 150-200 students involved on a weekly basis through weekend worship services and small groups. Chris gave oversight to three ministries at Christ Community Church as the Lead Pastor of Children, Youth, and Young Adult Ministries. The church was running 600 in 2002 and reached 1600 by 2008.
After serving twenty years in ministry, most of which was with students, Pastor Chris transitioned into the role of Executive Pastor at Christ Community Church. As the Executive Pastor, he was responsible for executing the vision of the church and providing leadership in the daily management of all church staff. He was responsible to lead the staff and church in planning, implementing, and evaluating a comprehensive plan of business operations for the church; providing direct oversight to the pastoral staff, Office Manager, Finance Manager, and Facilities Manager.
In 2014, Pastor Chris accepted the call to serve as Lead Pastor of First Baptist Church of Mount Sterling, Kentucky. While in Kentucky, Pastor Chris served on the Kentucky Baptist Convention's Mission Board where he partnered with others on the Evangelism & Church Planting Team. Multiply East Kentucky is a KBC effort to plant more churches throughout the eastern part of the state. Pastor Chris also served through the Central Kentucky Network of Baptists in developing revitalization efforts among Kentucky churches.
He now serves as the Lead Pastor of Grace Point Church of Lake Norman, North Carolina. Grace Point is a community of believers who have covenanted together to fulfill the Great Commission in the Lake Norman area and to the nations. The mission statement of Grace Point states, "Where the Gospel Meets Life." Pastor Chris explains that the name of the church "Grace Point" references the intersection of the Great Commission (cf. Matthew 28:16-20) and the Great Commandment (cf. Matthew 22:36-40). The Great Commission is to make disciples by proclaiming the Gospel. The Great Commandment is to love God and love others. This is the heartbeat of the church and the pastors.
Educational Bio
While working as the full-time Student Pastor of Christ Community Church in Huntersville, Chris was able to complete his Bachelor of Science in Religion through Liberty University with an emphasis in Biblical Studies and Theology. Chris graduated Summa Cum Laude with a 4.0 grade point average. He has a Master of Divinity through Liberty Baptist Theological Seminary with an emphasis in Pastoral Ministries. He also earned his Doctor of Ministry degree through Liberty Baptist Theological Seminary and graduated with High Distinction (4.0 GPA). His doctoral thesis provided six solutions for the three categorical reasons that young adults are dropping out of church.
