MEET OUR TEAM
LEAD PASTOR
JEFF HICKMAN
DIRECTOR OF COMMUNICATIONS & THE TABLE WOMEN'S MINISTRY
AMY HICKMAN
Jeff serves as the Lead Pastor at LifeSong. God called he, his wife, Amy, and his daughters to start the church in 2006 and they began with a handful of people in their living room. God has taken it from that small group to where it is today. His passion is to do whatever it takes to love like Jesus, live like Jesus, and leave what Jesus left behind.
Jeff and Amy have four daughters. Avery (21) and Quinn (16) are still at home and McKenna (24) is married to Johnny; Bailey(23) is married to Edwin and they have Jeff’s and Amy’s first grandson, Abner, and their new granddaughter, June, arrives the summer of 2023. In Jeff’s sparetime he loves fishing and spending time with his family. His dream trips would be to the Holy Land or Australia.
You can connect with Jeff on Instagram @jeffwhickman or Facebook at jeffery.hickman
Email: Jeff.lifesongchurch@gmail.com
PASTOR OF DISCIPLESHIP
TIM LYDA
PASTOR OF NEXTGEN
ROB WILLIAMS
WORSHIP PASTOR
KIEFFER MENDOZA
Kieffer serves as Worship Pastor. He first came to us by attending our youth group, where he came to know Jesus as His Savior. From that point, Kieffer put himself in environments where He grew in his relationship with God, as well as began serving using his gifts and talents in worship ministry, leading to him becoming our full-time worship pastor. He is passionate about allowing the Holy Spirit to lead in worship and providing an environment for the worshiper to be without distraction to worship freely.
Kieffer is married to Bree. In his free time he enjoys buying shoes - LOTS of them, playing basketball, writing music, and date nights with his wife. In Kieffer’s words in regards to traveling anywhere he could ever want he says, ““Uhhh A Europe tour where I take a train and ride through Italy, France, and all them places and eat all the food.” Sounds like the perfect plan!
Connect with Kieffer on Instagram @kieffermendoza
Email: Kieffer.lifesongchurch@gmail.com
Children’s Minister
GRETCHEN DURRELL
DIRECTOR OF FIRST TOUCH
KIM BLACKWOOD
Administrative Asset
BREE MENDOZA
Bree serves as Administrative Asset to several of our ministry teams, providing each team the assistance needed to carry out ministry with excellence. In addition, she serves as Director of LifeGroups, as well as Administrative Assistant at LifeSong Counseling Services. Bree is not new to ministry. She is the daughter of a Pastor and her upbringing has instilled in her a love of ministry and investing in the lives of people. Bree connected at LifeSong a little over two years ago when she began dating our Worship Pastor, Kieffer Mendoza (wink, wink). Now married and serving alongside her husband, she lives out a passion to connect others in community, whether it be in LifeGroups, Dgroups, or serving on ministry teams.
In her free time, she enjoys being outdoors, going on walks, watching movies, and hanging out with her nieces and nephews, or hanging out with friends over coffee or a basket of chips and salsa, and roadtrips with Kieffer to find any new spot around town. If Bree could travel anywhere, London is top choice, but she wouldn’t turn down a trip to Greece either!
Connect with Bree on Instagram at:
@breelyn18 or on Facebook at:
Breelyn Blankenship Mendoza
Email her at: Bree.lifesongchurch@gmail.com
TECHNICAL DIRECTOR
JOHNNY HURCOMB
Johnny is Technical Director at LifeSong and first visited us 5 years ago at a student fundraiser, where his future wife (also Pastor Jeff’s and Amy’s daughter) was attending. Johnny is passionate about equipping people with the confidence to use their technical skills to advance the kingdom of God. Johnny is married to McKenna and in his spare time enjoys DIY projects with my wife, cabinet restorations, walks with my wife and puppy Stevie. He also loves to fly fish and explore new towns. If he could travel anywhere in the world, it would be Australia.
Connect with Johnny on Instagram @johnnyhurcomb. Email: Johnny.lifesongchurch@gmail.com.
PASTOR OF OPERATIONS & FINANCE
JAKE HAWKINS
Administrative Assistant & Director over Community Transformation
ELENA BOWLING
Elena serves on staff as an Administrative Assistant, as well as Director over Community Transformation. Elena and her husband, Mark, first visited LifeSong in August of 2010 and shortly thereafter LifeSong became home to them. Ministry opportunities moved them away for a short time, but God brought Elena back in a way only God can. She loves to tell that story, so ask her when you meet her. Elena loves connecting people to opportunities that allow them to use their gifts and talents on missions, and seeing the impact of their service on the community. Elena is a widow with a heart for other women who have lost a spouse. She is an Empty-nester mom of three girls and loves being a Mimi to her granddaughter. When not working her favorite place is a tie between her sweet mill village home and the beach, so she considers her guilty pleasure traveling there when she gets the opportunity. You’ll also find her enjoying downtime with a paintbrush, acrylics, and a canvas.
You can connect with Elena on Facebook at Elena.Bowling. Email: Elena.lifesongchurch@gmail.com
Amy serves as Director of Communications and Director of THE TABLE Women’s ministry, in addition to planting LifeSong Church alongside her husband, Jeff, in 2007. Her primary ministry love is encouraging and supporting Jeff in any way she can, but she also has a deep desire that each person reading our church website, scrolling our social media, or reading our weekly communications is not just getting information, but more than anything they find encouragement to know they matter and that God loves them.
Jeff and Amy have four daughters, two sons-in-law, one grandson, and a granddaughter on the way - McKenna and Johnny; Bailey, Edwin, Abner, and June; Avery; Quinn. You’ll most likely find her spending her free time comfortable under a blanket binging Hallmark movies, loving her Thursday date nights with Jeff, or traveling. Her dream trip would be traveling to Australia.
You can connect with Amy on Instagram @amychickman. Email: Amy.lifesongchurch@gmail.com
Tim serves as the Pastor of Discipleship. God called he and his wife, Lynn, to LifeSong in 2007.
He is passionate about connecting people in relationship with Jesus Christ and walking alongside them in their spiritual growth journey - helping people become disciples who make disciples.
Tim and Lynn have two married sons, Matthew is married to Brittany and they have three children. Andrew is married to Jamie and they have two children. Tim and Lynn love being grandparents and spending time with their grandchildren. When not at work Tim enjoys mountain biking and often bikes the Virginia Creeper Trail. If he could travel anywhere it would be to the Holy Land.
Email: tim.lifesongchurch@gmail.com
Kim is the Director of First Touch, so she very well may be one of the first faces you see when you come to LifeSong. Kim and her husband, Mike, came to us 12 years ago when Mike was called to be the full-time Worship Pastor, a role he served in for over 10 years. Kim joined us on staff in 2016 to lead First Touch and our GameChanger Volunteer ministries, and she find so much joy in helping people find “the why” behind what they do when they are serving in our church, or anywhere, for Jesus. She loves leading others to discovering the joy that is found in spreading the Gospel in all we do.
In addition to being wife to Mike, Kim is mom to three adult children, Michael, Abbey, and Graham. In her free time she loves being outside soaking up the sun, spending time with her family, and enjoying a good book. She loves to cook and bake, often pretending she is an iron chef and the next Food Network Baking Champion. She loves traveling to the beach, but if she could travel to any dream destination, if would be the Holy Land.
Connect with Kim on Instagram@Kblackwood3
Email: Kim.lifesongchurch@gmail.com
Rob serves as the Pastor of NextGen. He and his wife, Morgan, came to LifeSong through a connection he had with the Blackwood family on staff, and officially becoming Student Pastor in the Spring of 2018. Rob is passionate about building relationship with the next generation and seeing them make a Kingdom impact now and in the future.
In addition to being married to Morgan, his high school sweetheart, they are parents to a one-year-old daughter, Davis, and a son in Heaven, Dreher. He is a huge sports fan, specifically the South Carolina Gamecocks, and enjoys watching and attending sporting events throughout the year. He enjoys music and you will usefully find him always listening to either music or sports podcasts. His dream trip is Thailand because it’s his wife’s dream trip and he would love to take her there one day.
Connect with Rob on Instagram or Twitter @rcw_the3rd
Email: Rob.lifesongchurch@gmail.com
Gretchen serves as Children’s Minister. Our newest staff member, Gretchen came to LifeSong almost a year ago after being approached to join our team by Pastor Jeff. After she and her husband, TJ, spent time praying about where God was leading, they sensed Him leading them to join the Kingdom work here at LifeSong, and to Lyman, where they live. She is passionate about teaching children to love Jesus, equipping parents to disciple their children alongside the church, and building relationships with those in her ministry.
She and TJ have a daughter, Amaris, married to Lucas, and grandson, Jed, who live in Atlanta, Georgia. Their son, Joe, is a student at Anderson University. She loves being wife to TJ, a mom, and a grandma. In her spare time she loves to make things, read, cook, is a novice gardener, and starts puzzles that TJ usually has to finish. If she could travel anywhere, it would be Italy.
Connect with Gretchen on Instagram @gretchedurrell and Facebook at gretchen.durrell
Email: Gretchen.lifesongchurch@gmail.com
Jake is Pastor of Operations and Finance. Through a series of circumstances that can only be described as a movement of God, Jake experienced a career change and a sense that God was answering a desire of his heart he had prayed about long ago regarding a calling to ministry. The opportunity to serve on our team at LifeSong presented itself and God open the door for Jake to walk through - a call God reaffirms each day. He is passionate about serving and supporting the various ministries and teams within the church, helping them to accomplish their mission of making Jesus known.
Jake is married to Shannon and they have three children - Evan (23); Payton (19); Cooper (8).
In his free time he loves sitting in the surf of the Carolina coast with nowhere to go, holding his wife’s hand, and wondering how he got so lucky. Oh, and motorcycles. When you ask Jake about his dream trip he’ll tell you, “Previous military and corporate roles allowed me to travel extensively. I’m pretty much content with traveling to and from work at this point unless there’s a purpose beyond simply traveling.”
Connect with Jake at Jake.lifesongchurch@gmail.com
director of our Biblical Counseling Center
RHONDA LOFTIS
Rhonda Loftis is the director of our Biblical Counseling Center, The Haven, located at 1696 Hwy 357, Lyman and she and her family have been partners at LifeSong since 2021. Rhonda is a Licensed Professional Counselor in South Carolina. She holds a Master of Education degree, with an emphasis in Community Agency Counseling, from Clemson University. Rhonda has over 20 years of experience working with women, adolescents, couples, and families in a variety of community agency settings. For the past 15 years, she has been serving clients through her own ministry-based private practice and partnering with other agencies as an independent contractor to provide professional counseling with the integration of Christian faith-based principles. Rhonda’s experience includes individual, couples, and family counseling, facilitating therapeutic groups, and equine-assisted therapy. She also provides coaching to women/couples who are looking for support during seasons of life transition and/or in achieving overall life wellness goals. She is also. a Certified SYMBIS (Save Your Marriage Before It Starts) Assessment Facilitator. It is her desire to help clients positively respond to difficulties that arise from relational brokenness, loss and grief, and other life changes that may cause personal and relational distress. She is passionate about serving women and couples from a faith-based approach, graciously meeting clients where they are, to help them move forward toward healing and overall wellness with renewed strength, purpose, and hope anchored in the steadfast love and truth of Christ.
Rhonda is an original proud Texan at heart but loves the mountains and all things outdoors. She has lived in the foothills of SC for several years and has been married to her best friend
Michael for 23 years. She is a mom of 4 children ranging in age from 29 to 14 and a grandma of three. Her three teenagers are home-schooled. She is an active member at her church where she enjoys worshipping, discipleship, and serving with the body of Christ. Her hobby actually is exercise! She is a Certified Revelation Wellness Fitness Instructor and in her spare time leads
faith-based group fitness classes. Her ideal day starts with coffee and her Bible, catching a sunrise, and ends with hanging out with her family, reading a good book, and catching a sunset.
