Our Pastors

David Anziano

David Anziano was born in Painesville Ohio on September 14, 1974.  He grew up in Connecticut and received a Bachelor’s degree from New Hampshire College in 1996.   David moved to Tennessee in 1997 and started attending Grace Baptist Church in 1999.

David studied the King James Bible under Dave Reese, Don Harris, Whiting Delk and Jonathan Wheatley.  David was selected as a deacon at Grace Baptist Church in 2016 and was ordained to the gospel ministry by Grace Baptist Church in October of 2019.  Grace Baptist Church called Brother David to be their pastor in November of 2019.

David and his wife Deborah(Harris) were married in May of 2000 by Whiting Delk.  David and Deborah along with their two children, Luke and Ruby, live in Riceville TN on the family farm.

Whiting S. Delk

The Assistant Pastor of Grace Baptist Church is Whiting Delk. Whiting Samuel Delk was born in Clearwater, Florida, on August 2, 1945. He served in the United States Navy in the Submarine service
and made eight nuclear deterrent patrols aboard the USS Will Rogers, SSBN 659 as a member of the Blue Crew from 1968 through 1972. Whiting married his wife, Elaine Faircloth, in 1971.

After discharge from the US Navy, Whiting earned a Master’s in Nuclear Engineering from the University of Florida in 1978. While a student at the University, he served as the music director of Southside Baptist Church in Gainesville, Florida. Whiting and Elaine and their family moved to Tennessee where Whiting worked for the Tennessee Valley Authority from September 1978 till September, 2007 as an engineer and as a manager.

During the same time period, Whiting was selected as a deacon at Grace Baptist Church on March 6, 1983 and on March 24, 1993 he was ordained to the gospel ministry by Grace Baptist Church where he has been the Assistant Pastor to Pastor Donald B. Harris. Since retirement from TVA, Whiting has worked as a contractor for TVA, while continuing serving at Grace Baptist Church. Whiting and Elaine have four children and four granddaughters and resides in Athens, TN.

Jonathan Wheatley

Jonathan is the Associate Pastor of Grace Baptist Church.  He was born in Newhaven, Sussex, England in 1956. He is a graduate of Open Bible College, Millbrook, AL. with Bachelor, Master and Doctoral Degrees in Bible.  He is also a graduate of Maryville College in Maryville, TN.  Jonathan lives with his wife Kim in Maryville, TN. They have been active in the ministry of GBC since 1995, and Jonathan became the Associate Pastor in 2014.

Previous Pastors of GBC

Dr. Dave Reese

Dave Reese was saved in 1963 and been preaching ever since. He Pastored Sister Springs Baptist Church in Sister Springs Alabama, Community Church in Wildwood GA, Bible Baptist Church in Cleveland TN ( He was instrumental in starting those 2 churches) and then Bible Baptist Church in Selma AL. From Selma he pastored Victory Baptist Church in Millbrook AL.

Dr. Reese taught on faculty at Tennessee Temple University 1973-1977; and started 13 Christian Schools while teaching at TTU. He completed his Master’s Degree from TTU and received doctorates from Trinity Baptist Seminary.

In fall of 1977 he returned to pastor Victory Baptist in Millbrook, AL., and remained there until 1993 when he resigned and began Ends of the Earth Mission.(EOTEM). From 1993 to the present EOTEM has placed 35 missionaries in China, Hong Kong, Mongolia, Mexico, Ireland, and the Middle East. Sue and Dave continue a personal ministry in Mainland China (a training missionary school) in NE China and 2 Bible schools (four year residence schools on Panay and Mindanao islands Philippines). Locals are trained to go out and start KJB churches in remote areas of the Philippines. As of 2017 over 210 churches have been started by the Grace of God.

Brother Dave has served as an Associate Pastor (missions) of Grace Baptist Church for several years while maintaining the mission work in China and the Philippines. EOTEM has been a work operating out of Grace Baptist Church for many years.

Donald B. Harris

The Pastor Emeritus of Grace Baptist Church is Brother Don Harris; having now served as Pastor for 38 years. Donald Birch Harris was born on March 26, 1944 in McMinn County, Tennessee. He served in the U.S. Navy and saw two tours of duty in the Vietnam War era. After serving his country, Don enrolled at the University of Chattanooga (now UTC) and completed his RN training at Erlanger Medical School, along with his wife Vickie.

Don entered the Gospel Ministry and attended Tennessee Temple Schools in Chattanooga, TN. Grace Baptist Church called Brother Don to be their Pastor in 1978. Don completed his studies in Theology at Open Bible College and was formally ordained in 1985.

In parallel to serving as the Pastor, Don worked for the State of Tennessee as a Registered Nurse in the Public Health system for thirty years. Upon his retirement, the Bradley County Justice Center named their Clinic after him.