Eddie Rester Email & Phone Number

Oxford, Ms, Us

Eddie Rester and Chris McAlilly launched a podcast called, “The Weight,” which airs weekly on Thursdays and has featured conversations on politics, race, sexuality, art and mental health, often featuring local and national authors and artists.https://www.theweightpodcast.com/

Our Mission: Pursuing a Christ-centered life in our self-centered world. We are focused on sharing God's love in our community. Key Accomplishments:Launched community-focused programming, positioning the church an an anchor organization in its community. Oversaw budgeting, stewardship, and missional alignment of $4.5 million annual budget, resulting in a $725,000 budget surplus for 2022.Established structures to enable engagement in healthy conversation around the organization’s future.

Major Accomplishments: Oversaw $12 million facility addition and renovation. Worship attendance grew by 11% and giving increased by 9% during the two years of limited facility usage.Grew annual giving by 50% over seven years ($1.5 million to $2.28 million) in addition to over $10 million given to capital projects. Developed and executed branding strategy, technology investments, and live streaming of all events for the organization.Adapted strategy and staffing to meet the needs of a large organization during COVID, constantly redesigning communication and engagement to continue to effectively meet our mission and purpose, resulting in an 8.5% increase in annual giving and return of almost 80% of pre-COVID engagement.

Initiated award-winning community partnership with local elementary school, moving the school from “failing” to “B-rated” through the work of the partnership. Grew staff from 5 to 12 full-time employees, building accountability systems and innovative problem-solving mind-sets. Led congregation through a multi-year $10 million renovation and construction project, including two capital campaigns to support the project. Utilized strategies and technology to increase congregational volunteerism by over 50%.Developed weekly keynote speech and curriculum development to increase worship attendance by 54% over 4 years. Launched a second site for ministry that included a recovery group meeting space and on-site counselors.

Produced, directed, and hosted a 30-minute television, radio, and live-streaming broadcast of a program called Time that Makes a Difference with 52 original episodes per year.Accomplishments:• Produced, directed, and hosted a 30-minute television, radio, and live streaming broadcast of a program called Time That Makes the Difference – 52 original episodes a year.• Editor The Time, a monthly newsletter mailed to over 13,000 supporters. • Organized and promoted fundraising activities including the expansion of sponsorship programs, growth of an endowment fund, and submission of grant proposals.• Led and managed a 35-member Board of Directors of business executives from across multiple states.

D.Min, Leadership And Emerging Culture

M.Div., Theology

Ba, Psychology